blue swiss army knife

Carrying a pocketknife to a wedding ceremony might seem like an unusual practice for a wedding officiate, but it could come in very handy, even if you do not live in Arizona.  It has helped me and others more than once.

It was just a couple of months ago that I was performing a wedding for a young couple.  It was a second marriage for both of them.  The bride’s young son, about 4 years old, was the ring bearer.  As happens quite often, the ring bearer carried a pillow with the wedding rings tied on top.  He came in just right, stood in the right place and waited patiently for his cue. 

When the time came for the ring vows and the exchange of rings, I said to the groom as I always do, “What token do you have to give to your bride as a symbol of your love and affection and a seal of your marriage?”  He answered, “A ring.”  The Ring Bearer stepped forward perfectly and held up the pillow. 

Normally, the rings are tied on in such a way that when the bride or the groom can simply pull the ribbon and the knot is untied and the ring is loose and can be easily removed.  However, sometimes when the ring bearer is very young, the person who ties the ring on is afraid that the young child will accidentally untie the knot and the ring will be lost, so they tie the ring securely.  (This is a good reason to use ornamental or fake rings on the pillow and let the best man carry the actual rings.) 

myswissarmyknife

The person who tied the rings on the pillow on this day must have been afraid the little fellow would lose the rings or did not know how to tie the appropriate knot.  When the groom reached down to take the ring from the pillow, and pulled the ribbon, the ring did not come loose.  I think you can imagine the slight panic and embarrassment as he tried to untie the ring.  However, since he had pulled the ribbon, as he should have, the knot tightened instead of loosening.  The groom, had a nervous laugh.  People began to see what was happening and also joined in the laughter at his predicament.  He tried unsuccessfully to untie the knot for a few seconds which seemed more like a few minutes to him. 

Even though I could not see everything because his body was between where I was standing and the actual pillow, I knew what was going on.  As the wedding officiant, I try to never get flustered and help everyone up front to keep calm and accomplish their roles without being embarrassed.  I reached into my left pocket and pulled out my little Swiss Army pocket knife.  It has a small blade, a file, a small screw driver, a toothpick, tweezers, and scissors and is only about one and one half inches long.  I opened the scissors, and handed it to the groom.  He was so focused on untying the knot that he did not even see it, but the bride did and took it from me and handed it to her groom. 

He was very glad to receive it.  He cut the ribbon and proceeded with the ring exchange.  Obviously, we had to use the scissors for the groom’s ring, too, a few minutes later.  She was prepared to receive it.

I have carried a pocket knife like this for years.  It is just a $10 item and fits so easily in your pocket.  I have used it just like this in more than one ceremony.  I have used it before the ceremony to do any number of helpful things.  I would encourage you to get one and make it a habit to carry it with you at all times, unless you are boarding an airplane.  You might just be the hero the couple talks about for years to come.

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