Mickey and Julie Got Married

Last Saturday, July 31, my friend Mickey got married to his fiance Julie. How it happened is a little vague to me. I met Mickey when we both worked for Lockheed Martin. Truth be told he didn't seem the marrying type to me. He had an occasional girlfriend off and on, but nothing really strong.

That is until a year or so ago. He met Julie through eHarmony. (Ok, I guess eHarmony works for some people.) They seemed to work together really well. One thing led to another, and eventually they moved in together, bought a house, and he proposed. It all came to a marriage three days ago.

Julie's family is Catholic. (I don't know if Julie is practicing or not.) They got married in the Good Shepherd Catholic Community Church. While this isn't a church review, let me share my observations nonetheless.

Good Shepherd Catholic Community Church
1000 Tinker Road
Colleyville, TX 76034
(817) 416-4267
gscc.net

The church is fairly large. The main auditorium could easily seat 1000 by my estimate. In the middle of the main auditorium is the altar, pulpit, lectern, and baptismal font. The main auditorium itself is very light and airy. There are a lot of sidelights, and one side of it has large picture windows that open onto a courtyard. There is a beautifully carved crucifix at the altar. All in all it is a very beautiful auditorium.

SIDEBAR

I'm not using the term sanctuary because in Catholic terms there are apparently two areas in an auditorium: the assembly and the sanctuary. The sanctuary is where the priests, choir, and other church personnel are situated. The assembly is where the audience sits. I make this point because I made the mistake of commenting on the beauty to one of the deacons of the church, and he explained the differences to me.

END SIDEBAR

There is apparently a very large choir to go with this church. The choir area takes up approximately 25% of the auditorium. We did not do any singing, so I don't know what kind of music to expect, but there were hymnals (paperback and current to this year), an organ, and what looked like an orchestra area. While there were hymnals, there were two retractable screens with projectors cleverly hidden behind two of the pillars in the building. It takes a lot to impress me about architecture, symmetry and clean lines, and I was impressed!

As to the wedding itself, it was a fairly standard wedding, but also a fairly traditional wedding. A cross was carried in at the head of the processional. (I'm wondering if this is a Catholic thing as I've seen it done in every Catholic service I've seen.) There was no censor being carried in. The processional was otherwise normal save that the priest was also in the processional as opposed to standing at the front, or center in this case. There was a lot of scripture reading and responsive reading. Mickey and Julie took their vows simultaneously, which I thought was a nice touch. They then did their promises and exchange of rings. During the homily, everyone sat down. In my opinion this should be a rule in weddings as it gives everyone a chance to rest a bit, and this was especially important in this wedding as the air conditioning did not kick in until the very last of the photographs were being taken.

When all the pictures were done, the reception started, and I was completely unprepared for it. I had talked with Mickey off and on this last year, and I heard a lot of the stories of the preparations that were going on for the wedding, but not a lot about the reception. I was expecting the standard hour-long cake and finger foods thing, but Mickey and Julie went all out! There was a DJ, dancing, hors d'oeuvres, nametags for place settings, party favors, the whole smash! The food was excellent as was the entertainment. I stayed through the first dance, food, toasts, and dances with the parents. At that point it was late, and I was getting depressed (as I always do at weddings not my own), and left.

All in all it was a good night. I took a lot of notes from the wedding concerning the church and photography--it turns out that I do all the same things as Mark, Mickey's and Julie's photographer. (I felt pretty good about that.) The food was good, and I got to see two friends get married. I just hope my day isn't too far down the road.