WAITING AT THE CHURCH

Otaki Mail, 10 January 1923, Page 3

WAITING AT THE CHURCH

COMEDY IN REAL LIFE,

A wedding celebrated at one of the Auckland churches just before Christmas was characterised by a series of situations which would have done credit to the most fantastic of comedy plots, says the Auckland "‘itut." It w m- made notable by no less than three false starts before the harasesd couple got properly away with a clear run for the matrimonial stakes, and even then the event was complicated by a vexatious after-event. The first hitch in the process of getting hitched was procrastination on the part of the bride, of whom there was no appearance till some considerable time after the hour set for the event- Parson, bridegroom, and best man fretted ant. fussed about the altar awaiting the belated lady until the clergyman announced that he had another important engagement to fill and could wait no longer, but promised to return as soon as he could get the other affair off his hands, in an hour or two. He had hardly got beyond call when the bride arrived, much heated and distressed over the delay that had been v aus v d her and others by an obstacle at home. After a korero the party decided to dispatch the best man for another clergyman rather than wait an hour for the one originally engaged, and he set off in a taxi to a distant suburb. Hardly had he got out of sight when the original clergyman turned up smiling, haying made a rush job of his other engagement, ana it was decided to go ahead with the ceremjr.y m the «'■' sanee of the best man. This decision, however, was momentarily held up by discovery of the fact that the best man had taken the ring away with him, and there was another delay while a hunt was made for a substitute riug_ Thb-

uas at lasi obtained, and the ceremony, ’was proceeding whan the best man ar- j rived in time for the original ring to be used for its destined purpose, and the j affair ended happily. Some time later , the custodian of the vestry came along 1 to lock up, and to make the discovery. that a pair of gold sleeve links which ( was included in the vestry property was missing, with the result that a police , interrogation was added to tho several annoyances suffered by the parties con- j cerned in that particular wedding. It 1 probably did not mitigate their final cross to any great extent to know that there had been other weddings in the church the same day, and a number of other persons shared with them the venation of inquiries-- about the missing golden links Taken all is all there were incidents and omen- enough about that- wedding to have satiaded the most bloodthirsty village Oracle in the supersPlupus Victorian days, and probably to have turned the affair into a matter of real and 'lasting unhappiness for the principals, instead of just a passing comedy of coincidences providing humour for a good honeymoon mu o h.