Apparently, Elvis has left the building. Photo credit: marryinglaterinlife.com.
When two colleagues, Ed and Chrissy, announced their plans to go to Las Vegas and get married by an Elvis impersonator, I was appalled. How could they treat such an important event so lightly, I wondered?
We wrote our own vows, read from Sandburg, Saint-Exupéry, and Gibran, and sang songs by Jacques Brel and John Lennon.
I thought back to my own wedding. The best word for it was earnest. We took it very seriously and poured into it everything we thought about the world in 1973. Patti, my bride, spent weeks sewing an exquisite gown, while I wore a peach ruffled shirt under a rented white dinner jacket. The venue was an old-fashioned candlelit chapel from the early 20th century.
We wrote our own vows, read from Sandburg, Saint-Exupéry, and Gibran, and sang songs by Jacques Brel and John Lennon. Since Patti was Catholic and I, Jewish, we recruited a Unitarian minister who decided to revise the priestly blessing (may the Lord bless and watch over you) because he didn’t want to tell God what to do. My grandfather cried through the ceremony, as though he knew mine was the only grandchild’s wedding he would attend. My parents and grandmothers sat stonily, skeptical of a non-Jewish daughter-in-law. (They didn’t know then that four of five of my siblings would also intermarry, and the fifth would end in divorce.) Afterwards, at dinner, the two families warily sized each other up, like boxers circling, while my college roommate tried to pick up one of Patti’s girlfriends—less than a year before he came out.
When Ed and Chrissy brought back their wedding photos, I was struck by how much fun everyone was having—the bride and groom, their relatives, their friends, even Elvis. It did not seem like a bad way to start a life together.
John ZussmanJohn Unger Zussman is a creative and corporate storyteller and a co-founder of Retrospect.
Little did I know, when I told Aaron that I’d date him next year if I didn’t marry Dan, that in 364 days, I would marry and Aaron WOULD come out. HA! At least when I was living in Chicago, he gave me the name of a really good dance studio and I got good ballet instruction. That was a bonus. Still a big Patti fan! IF WE ONLY HAVE LOVE!
Enjoyed reading this–weddings bring people across the aisle, so to speak and I loved reading about the joining of 2 different cultural traditions and faiths in your marriage. The humor in your writing was so understated, I liked it a lot. Maybe I just like reading about weddings!
Great story! I love that Betsy revealed herself in the comments as the friend that your roommate tried to pick up. Would be nice to see a photo of you and Patti instead of – or in addition to – the photo of the Elvis impersonator.
Wonderful story John, of both your & Patti’s earnest wedding ceremony and your friends’ less reverent Elvis one!
If you haven’t seen the film True Romance, do so – and wait for Elvis!
Thanks, Dana. I’ll put True Romance on the list.
Funny story! It reminded me of the time back in the early 80s when I and a young Jewish lady were starting to discuss getting married. It didn’t pan out, but I have often wondered how that might have gone.
Is that YOUR Elvis impersonator, or a generic?
Generic. But it wouldn’t have been mine; it was Ed and Chrissy who were married by “Elvis.”