Eagle Wedding

I attended a wedding in Eagle. I was invited, not because I was especially close to the bride or groom, in fact I had never met them until their actually wedding day, but because everyone was invited. A sign had been put up at the post office inviting the entire town to the ceremony and reception. This was my first hint that it would not be a wedding like in the lower 48, nor would there be an open bar.

I was working on the wedding day, which meant that I was wearing my uniform. It also meant that I was dressed as nicely as the groom, in as far as we both had on collared shirts that were tucked into our pants. The wedding was a relatively informal affair.

The wedding was scheduled for 2:30pm in the town chapel. I had wrongly assumed that the chapel would have been a buzz with activity for the entire morning. I envisioned relatives and friends putting up flowers and lights, and all the other annoying things that always make weddings so expensive and over the top. But not so in Eagle. In fact, I thought the wedding had been cancelled because I hadn't seen anyone around the chapel all morning, and it was after 2pm.

At 2:15pm the groom showe up and rang the church bell, and about 15 cars and 40 people descended upon the chapel in the course of 10 minutes. We all moved inside and were ready to start the show at 2:30…I couldn’t believe it.

The bride walked down the little isle, but I don’t really recall anyone playing music on the old organ. The entire service was barely audible over the din of the kids in the back and the whisper like sermon deliverd by the elderly town minister. It was over and done by 2:40.

At 5pm everyone met at the community center for a reception dinner consisting of Vienna sausages, potato chips, fry bread, jello salad, oreo cookies, and Tang. We watched the newly weds open their presents consisting of dinner plates, a bed spread, and naturally, a crock pot.

The entire experience was nothing that I could have anticipated. The biases I brought with me from 'down south' had no place in Eagle. No less important or meaningful because it was simple and modest; it’s a wedding I’ll remember for a long time.