By the time you read this, Jason and Andi will have been married.

They asked me to perform the ceremony. Weddings can be a fun and festive occasion. Sometimes, they can be anything but.

Over the years I have seen all sorts of things happen at weddings. I once performed a double ceremony. That was tricky trying to keep all of the names right.

I also once performed two weddings on the same day in the same sanctuary, which was another tricky maneuver.

Then there was the wedding where both the bride and the groom were hours late. Once the ceremony began, out of the corner of my eye I saw a bridesmaid fall back and pass out. Then on the other side, a groomsman fell to the floor.

“They must be really tired,” I naively concluded.

Any time small children are involved in a ceremony, you invite the possibility of something occurring that is not in the program.

Outdoor weddings can be another platform for drama. And we haven’t even started about the parents and other related family members who feel as if they have a personal stake in someone else’s ceremony.

It’s funny, but we typically remember the disasters and forget all of the normal weddings we attend. Normal is where everyone shows up on time and gets along and the bride and groom love each other.

You know, the ones where they do not bring a dozen doves to release or insist all of their pets join the procession (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Imagine my joy when the prospective bride said, “We want a simple ceremony.”

Now that can be accommodated. It would be a pleasure to perform a simple but personally meaningful wedding ceremony.

One important thing I miss about being a minister is the joy you get by being invited into people’s lives at their crossroads moments — such as birth, marriage and death. It is a joy being a welcome part of people’s lives during these and other memorable moments.

My favorite part of the wedding ceremony is the one called the “charge.”

This is where the officiant gives encouraging words to the new couple before pronouncing them husband and wife.

I notice that everyone else especially listens in on this part and takes these words to heart.

There goes another couple walking hand in hand into the future.

You can reach Tom Rupp at truppfolsom@yahoo.com or thomaswrupp.blogspot.com.