Get Me to the Church ...

How late is late, for a bride? I’ve had a few weddings where the bride arrived an hour late. It happened often enough for the Church to impose a levy for late brides, but in practice we never used that rule. I assisted with a wedding where both the bride and groom arrived 2½ hours late -- and it was no small wedding. Guests hung around inside the Church, and in the Church garden, and lined the street. The officiating minister said to me as we waited, "The couple are not our members. If they were, they would be disciplined!" And he had booked seats afterwards to see his aged father play at a jazz festival. He didn't make it.