Not many fathers have the privilege and blessing of both walking a daughter down the aisle and then officiating her wedding upon arriving at the altar. This was my great honor at 11 a.m. March 17, 2012, at the magnificent Cloister Resort in Sea Island, Georgia.

I reflected on what it would all mean months before and it brought me to tears just thinking about it. To be respected and endeared enough by one's flesh and blood and the groom, to have this honor, gave me a great deal of joy.

 

Just prior to the wedding ceremony, I was escorted into a room along with the junior bride's maid and flower girl. I anxiously waited the moment that my wife and other family members had prepared seemingly hundreds of hours. And then I looked down the hallway and there appeared suddenly my daughter who was simply breath taking. The gown with its exquisitely detailed embroidery fit perfectly after multiple fittings in the nation's capitol. This moment nearly compared to the day she was born. What a sight to behold. What a beautiful bride I thought. Hotel employees, who we knew from previous visits to the resort, came by to observe and extend heart-felt congratulations.  I heard one after another proclaim "You are such a beautiful bride!" And then the moment arrived for my daughter and me to begin the long walk from our secluded room into the beautiful garden. We walked slowly; I was determined not to step onto her gown.  At rehearsal, my oldest daughter had warned me not to let her sister fall. We held each others' arms. We exited the door and were greeted by the bright sunlight and bountiful nature. As we turned the corner toward the wedding site, we were then greeted by a sea of blue. Quite fittingly, the wedding theme was "shades of blue."  Female guests were adorned in every shade of blue imaginable. And the men had on their "Sunday best." The guests' smiles were contagious. Cameras clicked all-around us. What a beautiful audience I thought. What a blessing to be part of this moment.

Upon arriving at the altar I handed off my daughter to the one she chose to be her life partner and soul mate. I said, "This is the day for which you have been waiting for a long time. Are you ready to say your vows?"  My official comments began with an acknowledgment that none of us would be present without the blessings of God who woke us that morning and brought us to Sea Island and the Golden Isles, a place God must have had in mind when he created the biblical Garden of Eden. I then greeted and thanked our guests; all of them came from long distances to be with us for the occasion.  I thanked my wife who tirelessly carried out her tedious preparations for the wedding. I took the time to acknowledge that she was a role model for our children and others. I also thanked my oldest daughter, whose wedding planning talents are well-known. I also thanked the groom's mother, who told my daughter during an initial visit to the family home in Miami that she did not believe in sparing the rod while she raised her son.  No doubt her parenting skills helped him to be the man that he is today.

Early in the ceremony I called upon the groom's sister to join me in a prayer of thanksgiving and to pray for the success of the marriage. One of my daughter's best friends and classmates from Howard University then read a beautiful poem. After this, I elected to incorporate a teachable moment for the bride and groom about love, the only thing that can keep them together. I read from 1^st Corinthians Chapter 13.

.......Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ...It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

And then it was time for the bride and groom to state the vows. Midway through reciting the traditional vows I gave way for them to speak to each other from their hearts.  I hope they will always remember what they said to one another.
And finally, we ended with prayer to the same God that turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana, as his first recorded miracle. At press time, the newlyweds, Edner Escarne and Camille Jordan Webster, and their families are still giving thanks for the many blessings that made this wedding in the Golden Isles so very special and memorable.  To God be the glory!

The Newlyweds  Camille Jordan Webster and Edner Escarne