File#5 - the Moment the Music Hits
Music hits differently in your actual wedding ceremony. Even though you chose it in the first place, you’ve listened to it a dozen times in planning, maybe even hummed it while writing your vows. It’s just that, on the day, it starts and suddenly it’s not just a song anymore.
It’s the song.
You see your guests’ faces tilt upwards as they realise what song it is. Someone in the second row presses a hand to their chest. You and your partner lock eyes and forget the rest of us exist.
I’ve watched it happen with Beyoncé, with Fleetwood Mac, with a brass band covering Arctic Monkeys. It’s not about the song itself, really. It’s about that split second when everything comes together: the nerves, the joy, the “we actually made it here” feeling.
That’s the magic bit, isn’t it? Ceremony sneaks up on you. One minute you’re sorting buttonholes and stressing about whether you should have ordered a photo booth for the reception and the next you’re standing in a moment that’s bigger than you imagined.
And that’s why I’ll never stop loving this work - because meaning doesn’t announce itself. It drifts in quietly, usually to music.