[Originally at What Made This the Greatest Wedding of My Life by Isaac Huss]
PC: Elissa Voss Photography
My friends Marcellino and Augusta were married in May on a ranch in spotty-cell-phone-coverage country in the north of Texas, and it was like no other wedding I’ve been to. And I’ve been to a few weddings in my day.
I’m not the type, however, to get too caught up in scrutinizing every last detail about a wedding. I’m going to have fun, support the couple, and have more fun, and not necessarily in that order. If the couple wanted judgment from their wedding guests, they’d just invite more family members. Juuuust kidding. Kind of.
That being said, I notice when a wedding is done right. That can mean all sorts of different things of course, very few of which necessarily involve spending all that much money, mind you. And sometimes it’s hard to describe. But you’ll typically know it when you see it.
Lino and Augusta’s wedding? You could tell from a mile away it was going to be legendary.
Their wedding was probably the most unconventional wedding I’ve ever been to, and it was without doubt the greatest wedding I’ve ever been to (with apologies to my brother, sister, and everybody else). Here’s why.
I was pumped to go for all sorts of different reasons. One of which was I knew there’d be a ton of cool contemporaries of mine — and most of whom I’d never met before. That’s a bit intimidating of course, but this group is a fascinating combination of talented artists, entrepreneurs, and generally fun, smart, and interesting people. Or, in the case of Marcellino and Augusta, all of the above.
It was exciting to know I’d be meeting all these different people — and I was sure to meet them. You see, I’m not sure Marcellino and Augusta have any acquaintances. They have relationships. So I was pretty sure there wouldn’t be much small talk going on. I was right — as soon as I stepped on campus at the
Lone Oak Retreat Center, I made friends.
And by “retreat center,” they mean ranch. Yes, the entirety of the wedding festivities — save for the ceremony held at a local country church — was held on a sprawling ranch. I had a bunk house waiting for me somewhere in the dark when I arrived on Friday around 9 p.m. But before I was to retire for the night, I (what else?) made some friends, and passed around some craft beer and bourbon.
But before bed, there was a surprise (to me, at least) on the agenda.
We were summoned for — wait for it — night prayer. I was exhausted after an early-morning flight, an extended layover in Denver, some pesky work in between, and the two-hour drive in Friday night Dallas traffic out to the ranch.
And I wasn’t the only one feeling tired.
But there we all were, gathered in prayer as Marcellino and his twin brother Anthony played guitars and sang praise songs while the rest of us sang and prayed along. I didn’t know most of the words, but it didn’t matter. I just sat in the back and took in the opportunity for peace, clarity, and focus on God. Not insignificantly, I also gained insight into this engaged couple’s love for each other, and where that love came from.
If you want to read more, the original article is at https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/best-wedding-ever/, or you can see more cool wedding write-ups on our blog.
No matter what background, tradition, or cultural heritage a couple hails from, it’s awesome to see them passionate about it. It’s always awesome too when a couples put a lot of themselves into both the ceremony and reception. When a wedding is personalized with beliefs and traditions that a couple hugely respects, it shows. And this is a cool write-up of a wedding that embodied their closely held beliefs. And it definitely showed.
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