The truth about a TV vs actual church wedding

Many, many years ago, as a student, I was invited along with all my classmates, to my teacher's church wedding. I gladly accepted the invitation; for how many times does one get invited to such things?

We all (us classmates) arranged to meet up at the church in question. Since we lived in different parts of town, it was the best arrangement & not meet each other, then go as one group together. What a waste of time it would be.

What did I get for my teacher as a wedding gift? Well, a "congrats to your wedding" card & a pair of drinking glasses. That, I think is suitable present from a student to a teacher.

Arriving at the church, we students sat awkwardly behind, keeping very quiet amongst the guests. We were at our best behaviour. There was no pushing & shoving, like in school.

When my teacher arrived, she looked so lovely (like all brides do, they look most beautiful on this special day) in her white wedding gown, on the arms of her father.

Now, this is the part where a real-life church wedding differs from a reel-life church wedding.

A reel-life church wedding has the wedding vows all said & done in less than 5 minutes. Guess how long the real-life church wedding proclamation of wedding vows took?

Over two hours was how long the vows took. There we were, up & down, singing the wedding vows. I wanted to ask (there & then) how come it was so different from what I watched on the telly.

Much later, I learnt that Christians consider the saying of the vows to be a holy & sacred thing & binding in the eyes of The Lord. Which is why, it was explained to me that that on TV, they have a quick but non-binding wedding vows proclamation. Plus, it makes TV sense. Who will want to watch a TV series on a wedding scene taking over 2 hours? They have other storylines to pursue.

Later, after my teacher & her new husband took their vows, there was a wedding reception at the church itself. After nibbling a bit & going up to my teacher to congradulate her, I left with my classmates.

Now, many years later, when my good friend is getting married, I think back on that church wedding that I had attended. These are 2 different types of wedding that I will get to attend, so it does not make sense to compare. Each has their own customs to follow.