It was the most fabulous wedding–a wedding of a lifetime–one in which 1 million people gathered in London to be a part of the celebrations. It was a great moment for the British people, the Monarchy, for England, for all the British Commonwealth, and the world!
May God bless your marriage with many happy days ahead. Congratulations to the “Duke and Duchess of Cambridge”.
The procession was filled with anticipation and excitement; and the recession was simply grand. As the newly wedded couple recessed out from the west doors of Westminster Abbey, I actually felt a sense of new excitement–a new couple had just emerged into the world. It was an excitement that I could not easily express because it felt like this was the couple that may give new hope for restoration of dignity and honor to the British Monarchy. I do hope and pray that Will and Kate can show young people around the world that marriage can be honored.
The feeling inside was filled with excitement and expectations of happiness and joy for the royal couple. The Westminster Abbey looked magnificent from the inside and outside. The camera shots from a birds-eye-view inside the cathedral were amazing. Too bad the viewing public didn’t get to witness the signing of the marriage certificate; it happened inside in another section of the chapel–away from the cameras. We had a lot of shots of the guests during the service, of the men and boys choir singing; but it would have been nice to have seen a bit more of the orchestra-musicians too. I don’t know why they decided to put trees inside the Abbey; it blocked much the view. Perhaps hanging plants a little higher up by the pillars would have been better.
From a minister’s point-of-view, I thought the wedding service was simple and straight-forward. The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams presided over most of wedding service. Tt must have been an honor. (If given the opportunity, I would have liked to presided over their wedding too—why not? ) The liturgy for the Solemnization of Matrimony was word-for-word from the Book of Common Prayer (Church of England). The sermon by the Bishop of London was very good—well-thought out and theologically sound–and it challenged the new couple to live spiritual and honorable lives in submission toward one another, and toward God. Thank you Bishop!
( By the way, I would like to get my hands on a copy of the wedding sermon, scripture readings, hymns, and liturgy of the entire service. If anyone out there is reading this blogpost, any ideas where I can get a copy? ) (photo: by CBC.)
Personally, I’m into the Stanley Cup playoffs and the Vancouver Canucks hockey team right that’s happening right now. For males, it’s probably not the coolest thing to be so completely dazzled by this ‘wedding thing’ for Prince William and princess-to-be Kate Middleton. On the other hand, if you’re a female, this is ‘the thing’ to be watching on the television early tomorrow morning. I’m not trying to be sexist but this is absolutely a ‘woman thing’. But male or female, this couple has caught the hearts of many people, young and old, rich and poor, all races and nations.