I’ve been accused of presenting an imbalance of information
when writing about the FOC. I have written several blogs about the good things
Followers do for each other, and today I am presenting another positive aspect
of Follower life: bridal showers.
Have you been to a bridal shower? I’ve been to
hundreds, and that’s not an exaggeration. The main event, the entertainment,
consists of a time of blessing the virginal young bride. The bride and most of her
bridesmaids stand on the pulpit in front of a long table overflowing with
beautifully wrapped gifts, large and small. A card table stands at the end of
the gift table and holds a basket full of cards stuffed with well wishes and
money.
A young lady, one of the bridesmaids, sits at the
card table. It is her job to record the gifts on each of the cards, so the
bride can later send out thank-you cards. On the other side of the scribe,
another bridesmaid stands at the microphone and reads out the names on the
cards as the gifts are opened. A very sweet tradition is that many ladies will
make beautiful gifts for the new bride, and when one of the homemade items is
held up, the caller will say, “and she made it” and the five hundred or so
ladies of all ages break into an appreciative applause.
Little girls, selected by the bride, serve as
package carriers. They wait in line on the steps to the pulpit to receive the
gifts and carry them down the benches to the left of the stage (where young
boys and bachelor men sit during church services). The gift opening can last
well over an hour.
One of the most exciting gifts are the ones the
bride and her friends got to shop for themselves. In the weeks before the
shower, bridesmaids will take a collection from ladies who want to donate money
(en lieu of bringing a gift), and then take the bride out to pick out several
nice outfits to start off her married life.
After the gifts are opened, the bride gives a thank
you speech and welcomes the guests to enjoy the delicious food set out on the
long tables in the back room. The girls and women visit, walk the isles of
gifts admiring all the nice things the bride has received (especially the handmade
items), and enjoy the wonderful banquet of food. The food provided at Follower
events is impressive. Dozens of women volunteer to bring dishes to contribute
special recipes, sweets, various snack foods, bowls of punch, cheese balls, and vegetable trays.
It is one of the nice traditions and passages into
adulthood to honor a young woman who has saved herself for marriage.
