The Bride Fainted at the Altar

And she did it with such grace and beauty.

Yes, the bride fainted during the vows. Twice.

I officiated a wedding at 5:00pm this afternoon for a wonderful young couple who will remain nameless here. As the guests were being seated, a nice big cloud kept the afternoon sun away. But as the father of the bride gave away his daughter's hand that cloud suddenly disappeared. The wind stopped and it started getting hotter and hotter.

The Bride and Groom were very attentive as I gave the wedding message. I must have been a sight, wearing my dark blue "wedding suit" and sweating profusely in the dead-on July sunshine. I wasn't the only one bothered by the heat. I could see groomsmen with seriously dripping foreheads. Ladies in the crowd started using the wedding programs as fans. The mothers of the bride and groom looked like they were suffering greatly in their summer gowns as they looked on with sweltering smiles.

All was well until the groom got halfway through his vows. She reached for him. At first it appeared to all that she was so struck by the beauty of the moment that she couldn't resist an affectionate embrace. But when she fell into his arms before he could say "till death do us part", we all knew we were in trouble. Heatstroke.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the pictures and watching the video for this one. She never fell to the ground, but as the second closest witness present, I attest that she fainted twice. Bridesmaids screamed. Women in the audience gasped. Some of the older men started shouting out directions. And all the while her faithful groom gently held her up and comforted her, whispering words of love and care in her ear. Someone brought a chair. Another brought a glass of water. Her mother frankly reminded us all that this had happened before, sunstroke while she was riding horses. Quite a scene. All the while, I was there, trying to keep the wedding ceremony together and get this couple married...quick.

Her second fainting spell happened just as she was saying "in sickness and in health." You couldn't hope for better drama. It was at this point that her groom insisted that she take some water and stay seated through the rest of her vows. We started over at "in sickness and in health" and after a short delay, got her through the vows.

As they exchanged the rings, she wobbled again but stayed strong. Through it all, this perfectly beautiful bride showed her character as she looked at her parents in the crowd and laughed and said "Who would have thought?"

She had fainted with grace and beauty. She laughed and allowed the audience to laugh with her. At perhaps the most significant public moment of her life, something terrible was happening to her, something beyond her control, and she handled it with humor and grace. I think that's because as a Christian she finds her identity in something so much more precious than in her appearance as a bride, beautiful as she was. I know that she had experienced the grace of God in her salvation and many other times in life. At this most important moment during her wedding day, she was able to respond to difficulty with that same grace from God and give it to all who were gathered there today. Beautiful.

She recovered quickly. The crowd cheered when I pronounced them man and wife. They cheered again more loudly when I introduced them as husband and wife for the first time. The party afterward was spectacular. The dance floor was full the entire time. And she and her new husband greeted everyone during the party and laughed and continued to display the goodness and grace of God.

Yes, she fainted at the altar. Twice. And it was a perfectly beautiful wedding.