As I was walking towards the front gate of the church, a mother butler on her way out greeted me saying, "There's none! The wedding's cancelled!" She said the wedding was off. I was rather incredulous. The wedding "was off"? And so she suggested that since I was already there, I might as well go in and look for myself.
No Sign of the Wedding
My first reaction was "What, the couple just separated, and decided to call it quits?" My second thought was, "I braved this rainy day, walking and getting wet in the process, for THIS?"
There were cars in the parking lot, so yeah, there were folks there. But the inside of the church was still dark. There were no busy bodies like the mother-butlers.
There was no sign of anybody that would form the entourage. I looked up the choir loft and nobody was there. It just looks like something's amiss.
I couldn't find my partner-lector for the day and so I went behind the church towards the parish store, hoping to find her there and finally to talk to someone.
Confirmation of Wedding's Cancellation
She was there, along with the parish's wedding minister assigner, Nadya. Nadya swore she didn't know the wedding was cancelled and was apologetic. I sort of joked that maybe couple just broke up. It is more likely that the wedding has been rescheduled.
Then I wondered out loud how, apparently, the choir knew there would be no wedding - while we didn't. Nadya didn't know either. I sort of nudged her that we go to the parish office and asked why she, the wedding minister assigner was not informed. I trust Nadya to immediately relay that sort of urgent information to us lector and commentator. That way, we wouldn't needlessly have to go to the church.
How to Prevent this from Recurring?
The sad part is, Nadya was a bit hesitant to approach the office. But I said, "How do we prevent this from happening again? If this happens again, your lectors and commentators may just lose their eagerness to serve." Feeling my exasperation, we both entered the office.
The Fr. Joe was there and so was the clerk, Annie. Annie was at a loss for words when I announced that the wedding was cancelled. She didn't know either. Fr. Joe simply asked "What about the flowers?!?" My immediate reaction was, he was concerned that the wedding flowers might have been delivered, even if the wedding was cancelled. Presumably, even if the wedding was cancelled, the parish would have pay, if the flowers were delivered.
A few thoughts came to my mind. Choirs are getting paid for singing in weddings. We, lectors and commentators, are not. Would that have been the reason why the choir was informed of the wedding cancellation in a timely manner? That they need not come to the church? And that while we were just volunteers and wouldn't have mattered?
Of course all of these are mere conjectures of mine.
No Endorsement from Clerk on Vacation?
Annie got her cellphone and immediately tried to contact another clerk, Shaina. Shaina, unfortunately was on vacation. I was assuming then, that it was Shaina who knew about the cancellation and probably failed to endorse these updates to Annie.
Rather than finger-pointing someone to put the blame, I was looking for solutions. A big board, maybe? Where the clerks could all UPDATE and SEE ???
Probably sensing our impatience, Annie went out of the office with her cellphone to get "a better signal". Fr. Joe was looking at some papers on Shaina's table. It was rather awkward to be at the office waiting, and so Nadya and I just went out.
Without knowing whatever happened, I supposed that was that. I just left the church, feeling frustrated, and went home.
