The Cultural Hall Run-Around

[_Rambo]

Someone clue me in...

Why would Condoms be at a wedding reception?

Parking lot shenanigans. Guests are warned not to smoke on the premises; they go to the parking lot to drink and smoke and do whatever. The "cleaning crew" from the family never cleans the parking lot in the middle of the night; the bishopric picks it up the next morning. Been there, done that.

Invite me to those type of weddings Yahoo Bot. Sounds like a good time!

Never thought of being a Mormon wedding crasher. Sounds like the ones in Cali are way different

Are weddings up here consist of slide shows, desert (mostly there is never real food), musical number, and speaches. I do like seeing the random "immodest" girl that is there though.

[_MsJack]

honorentheos ~ I personally haven't seen anything along the lines of what you witnessed at your Catholic friend's wedding at any of the weddings I've been to. However, I have seen similar things at new member ceremonies and baby dedications. The pastor I had in Provo engaged the congregation in a set of vows at my daughter's baby dedication, and my current church did something similar when it officially accepted its next round of new members. I certainly like the idea of involving the community in the joining together of the couple.

It's possible that the woman who performed the ceremony was a Protestant minister. She also may have simply been a friend of the family who got "ordained" online to perform the ceremony. It's becoming more and more common these days. My father married a Catholic woman in August of last year, and the ceremony was performed by her Protestant brother. He wasn't a minister, so he got an "ordination" online to do the ceremony.

But I think any dominant culture anywhere you go becomes the vehicle for social jockeying, comparisons, and stratification. It gives one insight into New Testament Temple Judaism and the sort of things being protested in the Gospels by Christ.

I think that's a very profound insight. I've long thought that we probably would have had a much easier time procuring a cultural hall anywhere but Provo. (And Yahoo Bot's ward, apparently.)

That said, Mormons were tremendously good at assisting us and helping us carry out the wedding and reception in other ways. This was really my first run-in with Mormons who were so uncharitable, so it was kind of a shock to my system at the time.

[_hobo1512]

I haven't read any positive posts by you about any church other than LDS and of course what you've said regarding non-LDS is quite negative. MsJack is correct in pointing out your bigotry towards Protestant faiths.

You and your taliban catholic friends on the catholic apologetic site have made it a past time to attack the Mormon church. When I was on that forum I brought out that no faith has a perfect history nor perfect people. For me, it was laughable to see antimormon comments about Mormonism during the priest abuse scandal. Or to read negatives about Mormon history from catholics whose church is far from a perfect history. And of course, if one brings this up on the catholic taliban site, one gets reported and then banned.

In a nutshell: catholics and protestants do not need to be negative about the LDS church when their own church histories and people are far from perfect.

This coming from someone who has never provided a post of "substance", only takes pot shots, and never responds to questions asked of you.

You are definitely a "piece of work", and only working with selective memory.

[_cinepro]

So I did. I got on the phone with the bishop and I explained to him everything that I had told my roommates about the run-around we were getting. He said wedding receptions were allowed at their student ward, and he would check for me to see if I could use the cultural hall for my reception. The next day, it was done.

Well, I'm glad your story had at least some sort of happy ending.

I suspect that the rules for wedding receptions (and the unsympathetic responses you received) are more related to logistics than any sort of personality defects. My wife served as a facilities scheduler for a few months, and it was a very, very difficult calling. You just can't imagine all the different things people want to use a church building for, and how upset they get when they find out someone else is using the cultural hall, or kitchen, or softball field, at the same time they wanted to.

As for weddings in chapels, I've only been to a few LDS weddings in church buildings, and they've always been performed in the chapel. In fact, one of the best weddings I've ever been to was in the chapel of the Los Angeles Stake Center (a.k.a. the "Los Angeles Tabernacle", a.k.a. the "Mormon Cathedral").

Yes, this is a Chapel in a Stake Center:



It's a gothic chapel with fine woodwork, and the bride was Korean so they had the ceremony performed in both languages, with a Korean choir and other musical numbers. Then the reception was in the cultural hall with great music and food.

[_why me]

As for weddings in chapels, I've only been to a few LDS weddings in church buildings, and they've always been performed in the chapel. In fact, one of the best weddings I've ever been to was in the chapel of the Los Angeles Stake Center (a.k.a. the "Los Angeles Tabernacle", a.k.a. the "Mormon Cathedral").

It is unfortunate that Jack chose to be married in her church. If she would have been married in the chapel much hardship in finding a place would have most likely been avoided since it would have been easier to coordinate the two activities.

Jack did not understand that getting married in the chapel was an option, at least this is the impression that I got reading her posts.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

It is unfortunate that Jack chose to be married in her church. If she would have been married in the chapel much hardship in finding a place would have most likely been avoided since it would have been easier to coordinate the two activities.

Jack did not understand that getting married in the chapel was an option, at least this is the impression that I got reading her posts.

Why do you hate women so much?

[_honorentheos]

honorentheos ~ I personally haven't seen anything along the lines of what you witnessed at your Catholic friend's wedding at any of the weddings I've been to. However, I have seen similar things at new member ceremonies and baby dedications. The pastor I had in Provo engaged the congregation in a set of vows at my daughter's baby dedication, and my current church did something similar when it officially accepted its next round of new members. I certainly like the idea of involving the community in the joining together of the couple.

Thank you for the reply, MsJack. While I am not particularly religious anymore, I found that moment to be positive in a genuine way that lingered with me through the night and into the next day. I was curious if it was common or something unique.

I'll have to ask my friend when she gets back as to the pastor's denomination and standing. It hadn't occurred to me that it could have been a temporary or special ordination. My impression was that she was a close acquaintance of the groom's but not his regular pastor. That would make sense. I'll post an update when I can.

[_MsJack]

That's a really gorgeous chapel, cinepro. Never seen an LDS one like it.

It is unfortunate that Jack chose to be married in her church.

Speak for yourself. I thought it was a beautiful wedding and I was glad I was married in this church by this man.

If she would have been married in the chapel much hardship in finding a place would have most likely been avoided since it would have been easier to coordinate the two activities.

Desperate wishful thinking on your part.

[_Analytics]

What interested me was that, during the ceremony and after the bride and groom had said, "I will" to the formal vows, the minister then engaged the entire audience at the wedding as witnesses. I don't remember all of the words, but in effect we were asked, as witnesses to the marriage, to not only ascent to it but to enter into a promise to support their marriage, not interfere with their relationship, and something to the effect of doing all in our power to build it up and ensure it lasted.

I've been to weddings where they did this as well. I've also heard it said that even if it isn't explicit, if you go to a wedding you implicitly agree to recognize and support the union. When this covenant is made explicit, it adds a powerful touch. The lack of this implication in temple weddings is the main reason I believe they are in fact inferior.

[_Yoda]

As for weddings in chapels, I've only been to a few LDS weddings in church buildings, and they've always been performed in the chapel. In fact, one of the best weddings I've ever been to was in the chapel of the Los Angeles Stake Center (a.k.a. the "Los Angeles Tabernacle", a.k.a. the "Mormon Cathedral").

It is unfortunate that Jack chose to be married in her church. If she would have been married in the chapel much hardship in finding a place would have most likely been avoided since it would have been easier to coordinate the two activities.

Jack did not understand that getting married in the chapel was an option, at least this is the impression that I got reading her posts.

Actually, I think that getting married in the actual chapel is supposed to be avoided, and is very rare anymore. Most of the time, non-temple LDS wedding ceremonies are performed in the Relief Society room.

Also, I think that Ms. Jack and her husband agreed that they would have a blended faith marriage. Even now, her husband takes their daughter to Church one week, and then she takes her daughter to her Church the other week. It makes sense that Ms. Jack would want to have the wedding ceremony in the tradition of her faith, and then, to accommodate her husband's beliefs, and the friends they have in common who are LDS, have the reception at an LDS building. I really don't find this situation at all that unusual.

If you read some of Ms. Jack's blog entrances, or even read some of her early posts here, you will see that she and her husband put a lot of thought into their decision to marry, and how they would manage an interfaith marriage. Both of them went into this with their eyes wide open. Sometimes, I get the sense, Why Me, that you think that Ms. Jack just "dissented from the ranks", or has a deep rejection for the LDS faith. That is actually not the case at all. I have seen her treat LDS members with nothing but respect. And, even when she disagrees with points of doctrine, she is very even-handed, and handles herself in a civil way.