AN AUCKLAND WEDDING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18753, 5 January 1923, Page 5

AN AUCKLAND WEDDING

SERIES OF OCCURRENCES. SOME GILBERTIAN SITUATIONS. (Fbov Ovn Own Cobbesposdent.) AUCKLAND, January 4. A wedding celebrated at one of .the Auckland churches just before Christmas was characterised by a series of situations which would have,done credit to the moat fantastic of comedy plots. The first hitch in the process was procrastination on the part of the bride, of whom there was no appearance. Some very - considerable time after the hour set for the event, the parson, the bridegroom, and the best man fretted and fussed about the altar, awaiting the belated lady, until the clcrgymaiT announced that ho had another important engagement to fill and could wait no longer, but promised to return as soon as he could get the other affair off his bauds, which would be an hour or two. He had hardly got beyond call when the bride arrived, much heated and distressed over the delay that had been caused by an obstacle at home. After a korero the party decided to despatch the best man for another clergyman rather than wait an hour for the one originally engaged, and he.set off in a taxi to a distant suburb. Hardly had he got out of eight when the original clergyman turned up smiling, having made a rush job pi his other engagement, and it was decided to go ahead with the ceremony in the absence of the best man. This decision, however, was momentarily held up by the discovery of the fact that the best man had taken the ring away with him, and there was another delay while a hunt was made for a substitute ring. This was at last obtained, and the ceremony was proceeding when the best man arrived in time for the original ring to be used for its destined 'purpose, and the affair ended happily. . Some tipie later the custodian of the vestry cam© glong to lock up> and to mike the discovery that a pair of gold sleeve links, which was included- in the vestry property, was missing, with the result that a police interrogation was added to the several annoyances suffered by the parties concerned in that particular weeding. It probably did not mitigate their final cross to any great extent to know that there had been other weddings in the church the same day, and a number of other persons shared with them the vexation of inquiries about the missing golden links. ■