Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted May 7, 2021 / Written by Boshmi
“Reverend, er, everybody… would it be acceptable if I had a best woman instead of a best man?”
"What?"
"It’s Arabella, see? I think she’s got her heart set on being your bridesmaid, dearest, and, well, I know you can barely just tolerate her."
"That is not true, Jacob,"
"But she’s been a real pal to me and well… ahem… she kinda got us two together and, well, she brought us all here together today, even you, Sir… somehow or other. It’ll stop her pestering you about being a bridesmaid, dearest, and, to be honest, why, I’d be happy to have her by my side to hand me the ring.”
Thomas frowned, struggling to recall exactly what the verdict was on this sort of thing. "I can't say that it's explicitly forbidden anywhere, but it would be highly unorthodox." he chimed in, though Clara seemed to have her own ideas. He got the inkling that this would be symptomatic of their relationship to come.
"Very well then, I will ask Arabella to be my bridesmaid but Emeline... Mrs. Blakesley is still going to be at the wedding."
"Mrs. Blakesley could act as Bridesmaid as well, or Maid of Honor, if you wanted." Thomas offered. "The procession would function much the same, simply with the Bridesmaid following the Maid of Honor in line." As things stood, Jacob's side of the wedding march lay awfully bare, but perhaps that would be remedied soon.
"Now then, Reverend, there will be absolutely no Mennonite service. Make it Presbyterian or Methodist and make it brief, to the point. Again, I wish to stress this will be a small simple service. Immediate family on both sides and just a few guests. Soon as the service is over we shall make our way to the farm. If that is acceptable?"
"Yes, it is, daughter.
"I will see to it there is food on the table. If your sister and your grandmother wish to bring some, that would be appreciated."
"Oh and as for rings, we cannot afford any rings. I do believe rings are not a necessity for a proper wedding."
"No, they are not." Thomas confirmed, as he quickly revised the notes sheet upon the lectern; scribbling out 'Mennonite(?)' and adding 'Arabella Mudd', 'Emeline Blakesley', and 'No ring exchange.'
"It is also possible to exchange some other item, if you so desire, but again, this is not necessary."
"Now, we can sort out attendants as we move forward. At the altar, I will give a... Methodist service..." he said slowly, to allow for any objections, "Followed by your vows. There are three ways we can go about the vows; first; I can read them to you in turn, and you will reply with 'I do' or 'I will.' Second; I can read each line one by one, and you can repeat them after me, or third; I can tell you the vows now, and you can recite them from memory on the day, unassisted."
"Yes, Dear"
Posted May 7, 2021
Well, Jacob’s novel idea of having a best woman was swiftly shot to sh... shreds, but at least good old Reb would get the sort of starring role she’d covet. Mrs Blakesley was pegged for some kind of Matron of Honor role, which would make Clara happy. That left him back with a gap on Team Lutz. Good grief, it’d have to be Wigfall after all.
"Now then, Reverend, there will be absolutely no Mennonite service. Make it Presbyterian or Methodist and make it brief, to the point. Again, I wish to stress this will be a small simple service. Immediate family on both sides and just a few guests. Soon as the service is over we shall make our way to the farm. If that is acceptable?"
"Yes, it is, daughter.
"I will see to it there is food on the table. If your sister and your grandmother wish to bring some, that would be appreciated."
Jacob nodded dutifully at all this, only raising his hand at the end tentatively and adding a correction to the minutes “Er, only Reverend, it’s a Reformed Mennonite service we won’t be having, if you could, er…” he gestured absently to Reed’s notes. After all, all his Daddy had left him when he died was two sisters; his mother’s wedding ring, which Josephina had nabbed; and a stupid religion – they might as well get the name of it right!
"Oh and as for rings, we cannot afford any rings. I do believe rings are not a necessity for a proper wedding."
"No, they are not." Thomas confirmed, as he quickly revised the notes sheet upon the lectern; scribbling out 'Mennonite(?)' and adding 'Arabella Mudd', 'Emeline Blakesley', and 'No ring exchange.'
"It is also possible to exchange some other item, if you so desire, but again, this is not necessary."
“Whoa – oh no – er, I’ll get a ring!” Jacob suddenly piped up. “No wife of mine’s going to get married without a ring.” He thought to look at Clara’s fingers to see how big it would need to be. Hmmm, they were quite pudgy really. Damn, that would add to the cost, he assumed.
He smiled at Clara reassuringly, wondering where the heck to get a decent ring from, for only gold would be fine enough for his beloved Clara.
"Now, we can sort out attendants as we move forward. At the altar, I will give a... Methodist service..." he said slowly, to allow for any objections
Jacob nodded compliantly.
"Followed by your vows. There are three ways we can go about the vows; first; I can read them to you in turn, and you will reply with 'I do' or 'I will.' Second; I can read each line one by one, and you can repeat them after me, or third; I can tell you the vows now, and you can recite them from memory on the day, unassisted."
“Recite them from memory on the day!” snapped back Jacob immediately. “Unassisted!”
Posted May 7, 2021
"Mrs. Blakesley could act as Bridesmaid as well, or Maid of Honor, if you wanted." Thomas offered. "The procession would function much the same, simply with the Bridesmaid following the Maid of Honor in line."
"Yes, that could work," Clara nodded, she would ask Emeline her view on the matter, as long as Emeline attended, that was the important thing.
Clara sighed just a little as Jacob corrected the good reverend about exactly what sort of Mennonite service they WERE NOT HAVING. Like she cared. But if he thought it important......so be it.
For just an instant she thought that scrounging up a ring or rings was not going to be an issue but Jacob was having none of it.
“Whoa – oh no – er, I’ll get a ring!” Jacob suddenly piped up. “No wife of mine’s going to get married without a ring.”
"I do not need a ring, I have you, that is all I want...well, that and our baby," Clara had no idea where Jacob was going to get his hands on a ring without spending money. Unless, there was a ring in his family that was unworn at this time? Maybe...
Aurelian kept quiet, regretting now he had sold his beloved wife's ring after her death. But he had been so desperate for money and even then, it did not fetch much. But he knew Catherine would have backed him up, the children came first.
Fr. Thomas announced then a Methodist service, Clara nodded and glanced at Jacob who agreed too.
"Followed by your vows. There are three ways we can go about the vows; first; I can read them to you in turn, and you will reply with 'I do' or 'I will.' "
Clara nodded, that sounded simple enough.
"Second; I can read each line one by one, and you can repeat them after me."
That was good too, Clara felt, one less thing to worry about regarding the wedding.
"or third; I can tell you the vows now, and you can recite them from memory on the day, unassisted."
Ugh, that was that much more to do, adding to the pressure of all this and what if she messed it up? She had so much on her mind already. Not to mention she just knew she was going to be nervous.
“Recite them from memory on the day!” snapped back Jacob immediately. “Unassisted!”
Clara looked at him as if to say 'are you kidding?'. Then gave a big sigh.
"Very well....we can memorize them. After all I have nothing to do prior to the wedding anyhow do I?" she once more gave in to Jacob.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted May 7, 2021 / Written by Boshmi
“Recite them from memory on the day! Unassisted!”
"Very well....we can memorize them. After all I have nothing to do prior to the wedding anyhow do I?"
Thomas nodded. "Very well. I'll uh, write these down..." he said, as he rifled through the papers atop the lectern for another spare sheet.
"Right, you will join hands before the altar, and Jacob, you will go first. The vow is as follows; 'In the name of God, I, Jacob Lutz, take you, Clara Redmond, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.'" Thomas said, copying out each word as he went.
"Clara, your response is the same, merely with the first line as; 'I, Clara Redmond, take you, Jacob Lutz, to be my husband,' of course."
He wrote out the vow once more on a separate sheet, though with said amendment.
"Just before the vows, you will both declare intent, and I will ask the greater family if they give their blessing, at which point, Mr. Redmond, you and others of the family present must reply unanimously with 'we do.'" he told Clara's father. "Once that is sorted, you may exchange rings, or items, and say a piece of your own, if you so desire. I will bless the items, then your marriage, and finally, you will be man and wife, given that we have signed the certificate, either before or during the ceremony."
The priest took the vows he'd written and moved down from the lectern to pass them to Jacob and Clara. "They aren't too long, so it shouldn't be all that difficult to memorize them."
"Yes, Dear"
Posted May 8, 2021
"Clara, your response is the same, merely with the first line as; 'I, Clara Redmond, take you, Jacob Lutz, to be my husband,' of course."
Jacob smiled warmly at Clara, his heart filling with joy at the thought of it, and catching Aurelian’s eye a lesser, more respectful one.
He wrote out the vow once more on a separate sheet, though with said amendment.
"Just before the vows, you will both declare intent, and I will ask the greater family if they give their blessing, at which point, Mr. Redmond, you and others of the family present must reply unanimously with 'we do.'" he told Clara's father. "Once that is sorted, you may exchange rings, or items, and say a piece of your own, if you so desire. I will bless the items, then your marriage, and finally, you will be man and wife, given that we have signed the certificate, either before or during the ceremony."
Compared to many other undertakings in life, the whole thing seemed ludicrously simple: there seemed to be only one factor that could make it go wrong; the usual one; people.
The priest took the vows he’d written and moved down from the lectern to pass them to Jacob and Clara. “They aren’t too long, so it shouldn’t be all that difficult to memorize them.”
Jacob glanced down his script, and then folded the paper, and closing his eyes intoned in a sort of sing song voice he used for memorising poems and passages of prose he liked: "So… 'Inthe nameofGod,…. I JL, take you, CR, tobemywife, tohaveandto holdfromthisdayf’rw’rd, forbetterfor worse, forricherfor poorer, in sickness and in health” for some reason he said these words more distinctly, like they were less familiar or didn’t quite fit into his mnemonic process “…toloveandtocherish, untilwearepartedbydeath. Thisismysolemnvow.In the name of God… yeah, I think I got it." He opened his eyes to see everybody staring at him.
“What?” he asked, blinking.
Posted May 8, 2021
The good reverend had the kindness to offer to write down justwhat it was the couple were going to have to recite from memory and scribbled the words down as he said them too. Clara was grateful for that much. Her dripping sarcasm seemingly had failed miserably on Jacob so she was stuck learning this. Fortunately it did not seem too long or so bad. That is if her nerves didn't fail her. Well, she would just have to find out. Besides, even if she bungled the vows, it could be easily sorted, nothing was going to stop them from getting married!
Hearing that all present would have to agree to the marriage gave Clara a bit of a new worry. Unanimous? So it would take only one to ....to scuttle the whole thing? A new thing to be nervous about. Afterall there would be Granny Miggins present.......oh and Arabella too. So far Arabella had been most supportive about the young couple but it was afterall Arabella. Mercurial described the child to a tee.
Clara took her copy, "Thank you, Reverend."
Then Jacob began to recite the whole thing. Now? Both Redmonds turned their gaze to watch and listen to the little performance. Strange.
When he had finished, Clara could only comment, "You are a bit early. This is not the ceremony yet."
Since Aurelian could not help with the ring, he then turned to the minister, "What is the cost of the marriage ceremony, use of the church and such? I will pay for it. It is tradition the father of the bride pay for the expenses."
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted May 8, 2021 / Written by Boshmi
Jacob's performance certainly was odd, considering that he had at the least a day or two to prepare, but if he felt it best to recite the script now, then Thomas was hardly in a position to argue. He'd certainly seen stranger reactions to one's wedding vows.
"What is the cost of the marriage ceremony, use of the church and such? I will pay for it. It is tradition the father of the bride pay for the expenses."
Ah yes, no doubt the church board would want something out of all this. It was unpleasant, for matters of finance to bar matters of love, but an unfortunate necessity, to keep the things funded properly.
"I shall have to check with the board." Thomas told him. "Though as a small affair it will likely be on the lower side of ten to fifteen dollars, simply for the sake of validating the certificate and using the church grounds. Without the fanfare of a choir or elaborate decorations, that is."
"Yes, Dear"
Posted May 9, 2021
Everybody seemed confused by him practicing the lines: but that was how he usually learned things, he had to repeat them the first time he read them. Of course, he was used to doing that sitting in a barn or on a mountain side, not surrounded by people. He had a lot to learn: he was Clara’s husband to be, no longer just Hayseed the nature boy.
"What is the cost of the marriage ceremony, use of the church and such? I will pay for it. It is tradition the father of the bride pay for the expenses."
"I shall have to check with the board." Thomas told him. "Though as a small affair it will likely be on the lower side of ten to fifteen dollars, simply for the sake of validating the certificate and using the church grounds. Without the fanfare of a choir or elaborate decorations, that is."
“We’ve got some money!” blurted Jacob, not wanting to seem like some begging pauper “But thank you Sir, I guess we need to save as much money as possible for when the baby comes… she’ll need things.” Unconsciously, he had picked up on Arabella’s pronouncement that the child would definitely be a girl.
He was vastly relieved. Only an hour ago Mr Redmond had seemed like the biggest, scariest obstacle to their dreams; now he was part of the solution.
“Just one more thing for your notes, Father.” He said sadly “You’d better put down a name for the best man… Hector Wigfall.” He even winced as he said it, there was something about the feller, people just didn’t like him. His sister was kinda strange, too, but you could put your finger on that: she was unattractive, had a bizarre interest in the dead, and looked at you with those beady little eyes like she wanted to do something to you that was beyond the powers of a normal person’s imagination to guess.
Heck, though: he was good looking, clever in his way, skilled at his job and played the fiddle (usually enough in itself to ensure popularity) but he just seemed to rub people up the wrong way, somehow. But beggars couldn’t be choosers, Jacob supposed.
Posted May 9, 2021
"I shall have to check with the board." Thomas replied,. "Though as a small affair it will likely be on the lower side of ten to fifteen dollars, simply for the sake of validating the certificate and using the church grounds. Without the fanfare of a choir or elaborate decorations, that is."
“We’ve got some money!” blurted Jacob.
Clara glanced at him, shouldn't they save that for....
“But thank you Sir, I guess we need to save as much money as possible for when the baby comes… she’ll need things.”
Ahh, Jacob suddenly realized the same thing. Clara realized a lot of people probably didn't think much of the gangly farm boy that was Jacob, but they were wrong. He was smart, very smart, and to her he was handsome but both those qualities were less important than he was kind and a good person. No, she counted herself lucky to have met him.
"Yeah, Jacob, you certainly will. Don't turn down any opportunities you get to save money. And besides, like I said, it is the tradition the bride's husband pays for the wedding," Aurelian pointed out very calmly. One could perhaps see where Clara got her own measured and calm personality from.
“Just one more thing for your notes, Father.” Jacob said, “You’d better put down a name for the best man… Hector Wigfall.”
Clara had no idea who this was but obviously Jacob did so good enough for her then. She obviously raised no objection. Now there was ONE final decision though.
"Might we have the ceremony tomorrow, Father?" Clara now requested.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted May 9, 2021 / Written by Boshmi
“We’ve got some money! But thank you Sir, I guess we need to save as much money as possible for when the baby comes… she’ll need things.”
"Yeah, Jacob, you certainly will. Don't turn down any opportunities you get to save money. And besides, like I said, it is the tradition the bride's husband pays for the wedding."
Thomas was pleased to see that father and son-in-law-to-be were getting along, or at least were on better terms than they had been some minutes ago. It would make the wedding less tense for sure, and maybe lead to something resembling a friendship in the future.
“Just one more thing for your notes, Father. You’d better put down a name for the best man… Hector Wigfall.”
"Of course." Thomas replied, adding the name to the list. Like Clara, Thomas had not yet heard of a Hector Wigfall, and could only assume the best about him, considering that young Jacob was prepared to consider him the legally binding witness to his marriage.
"Might we have the ceremony tomorrow, Father?" asked Clara.
"I don't see why not." he said. They had stated that they wanted it to be a quick affair. "So long as you can inform the attendants by then, I'm sure I can prepare the church and a service."