Rings vs Petals

IP was a ring bearer this Sunday in our friends' wedding. When I first informed IP that he was chosen to be a wedding ring bearer, he misunderstood me and said, "Can I wear my nose?" Nose? After some explanation, I discovered he heard "wedding reindeer" and wanted to wear his Rudolph flashy nose from Christmas. Later he interpreted ring bearer as "ring bear," so I changed the role to "ring holder." Then he found out his friend, Sonja, was invited to be the flower girl. I had to explain it was a girl's job. "Why can't I be a girl?" IP loves flowers, so I suppose the title seemed more desirable. I really hated having to stereotype roles; his first dose of discrimination. I then changed the role to "page boy." Every time we discussed the wedding, IP announced he wanted to be the flower girl. Finally, he changed his mind the day before the wedding. Alice, the bride, came over to our house on Saturday morning to prepare the wedding flowers. We asked IP to select the kind of ribbon with which the rings would be tied together. IP chose sage green to match his vest. After seeing Alice's bouquet and discovering what rose petals really are, IP decided holding the rings was far more important than tossing petals. First, the couple cannot get married without the ring bearer because he's holding the rings (oh, what a sense of power). Second, the flower girl doesn't get to hold the "big" flowers (bride's bouquet). Third, the flower girl only has bits of the flowers (petals) to throw, not real flowers. After examining a rose petal, IP wasn't too excited about the flower girl job. On the big day, IP exceeded our expectations and stood still like a champ through 75% of the outdoor ceremony. He picked up a little stick on the steps, scraped some dirt off his shoe, made silly faces at us, gazed lovingly at the violinist, and finally dropped the rings. He picked the rings up quickly and assumed his position. When the officiant asked for the rings, he handed them to the best man and then sat down with Mom and Dad. We are so proud of our little wedding reindeer. Congratulations Alice and Jonathan! It was a beautiful wedding.

UPDATE: Alice & Jon's wedding photos: http://prints.thefotostore.com/share/w9oSFRKbvL756