Dear Reverend Amy,
I officiated my first wedding on April 12, 2010. I had no idea that in helping the couple that I would feel so physically, mentally and emotionally drained. I mean I got home with my wife (the matron of honor in the same wedding) and just flopped on the bed and suddenly the exhaustion hit me like an avalanche! I couldn't move or anything. Finally, my wife cajoled me into taking a shower and that did the trick. Don't get me wrong: I'm not complaining at all; in fact, I was riding the crest of that wave for well over a week and a half! Nothing could go wrong! I found it rewarding in a way I'd never experienced before.
Of course I was nervous about performing the wedding, but I'd bulwarked myself by deciding firmly to read my part like the late, great Walter Kronkite. I was outside reading the work for about the third or forth time, I looked up and in all earnestness said the Shepherd's Prayer (irreverent, yes; but earnest none the less) when the DJ came out. We made introductions, and I explained that it was my first wedding and that there had been no rehearsal (no, I'm not kidding). Fortunately, things went so well that those who complimented me on the service were very surprised that it was my first wedding. I couldn't have done it without the tools the ULC gave me.
Thanks!