That is today. Today, October 11, 2012 is 10-11-12.
It is one of the days that brides and grooms have hit upon as a good day to be married. I think it has something to do with the novelty of the succession of numbers. I have seen 10-11-12 called "cool" (as if wedding dates fit into the same catergory as Dave Brubeck, Ray-Bans and a 1966 Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto). Oh really? I am so sorry for all of you out there who picked an un-cool date for your wedding. Kind of like having music by Lawrence Welk at your reception and then driving off in your pale green metalic Plymouth Reliant K car.
What a shame you did not pick a cooler wedding date!
Cool or not, I think 10-11-12 for weddings may have more to do with helping the groom keep his anniversary date firmly etched in his memory. To make sure the day "counts"!
So today, 10-11-12, is a popular day for a wedding. If you are the bride or groom.
Not so much if you are a pastor or church organist or one of the others who are there to see that the wedding goes smoothly and well. It is in fact very odd and unusual for a church wedding to happen on any day but Saturday. Why is that? There is no great Biblical or theological reason for keeping the nuptials on Saturdays but there are plenty of practical reasons. Mostly having to do with the busy world of the church during the rest of the week--and the fact that most churches do keep most Saturdays "in reserve" for the requests for weddings that come along.
If we were to have had a request for a Thursday wedding on, say, today, we would have had to move some important mission and ministry activities of the church.
During the day, we are the home of the Christian Child Center, which has an enrollment of about 200 children who are in the building from the start of the day until mid afternoon. Do they use the Sanctuary? Yes indeed, for Chapel, led by our Director of Christian Education, Miss Laurie. We are also the home of a 12-step support group every weekday at noontime. The group meets in a location close to the sanctuary. To hold a wedding on a Thursday would be to disrupt and displace these groups.
And in the evening, which presumably would have been even more popular with potential brides and grooms, Wekiva Presbyterian Church began and continues a free tutoring program for elementary aged children, staffed by church member volunteers, called Tutor House. Not to mention Chancel Choir rehersal.
Most churches would have similar programs and activities going on, on any given weekday. This would not have been to say that the church was not happy for the bride and groom to be. But it would have been to say, the several hundred people who would need to be moved simply could not be moved. Sorry about that.
Now, a potential bride or groom who goes looking for a church wedding location on a Thursday might not ever have the notion cross their mind that "the church might already be busy that day". But more than likely, it is.
To my knowledge, we did not have any requests for a wedding on "Ten, Eleven, Twelve". For any and all wedding couples for whom today is their big day--congratulations and best wishes to you!
And if perhaps you had trouble finding a church that could move heaven and earth to accommodate you today... now you know the rest of the story.
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