By Denton Josey, Features Editor

I lost one more friend this past weekend. To marriage. He was only 23.

Josh Glaze, my friend since fourth grade, used to tell his friends he wasn’t going to get married in his 20s. He said, “Jesus didn’t lay down his life until he was 33, why should I give mine any sooner?”

Such stout resolve did not last, however. He started dating this girl and eventually proposed at Niagara Falls. She said
“yes,” and soon I was invited to be in the wedding.

I arrived in Florida for the wedding this past weekend. It was a busy few days full of tuxedos and details. I kept thinking how it all seemed like too much fuss for such a short ceremony.

Really, months go into planning this thing, (and for some girls, years) and it only lasts a few hours, give or take a bit.

The big day came Sunday. As I stood under the hot Florida sun in my black tuxedo with sweat cascading down my back, I made up my mind about a few things.

First, I don’t think getting married is good until the third decade of life, but so did Josh.

So if somehow I, too, get ensnared, I will at least stick with this resolution: Don’t wear tuxes.

They are fancy-looking sweat suits. Also, they are expensive and don’t allow for dancing after the wedding. I wanted to run and slide across the dance floor, much like the folks on “Footloose,” but in a rental, that would be a bad idea.

Also, weddings take a lot of effort and planning because they are so fancy. Does it have to be this way?

I contend it does not. I mentioned my thoughts to another groomsman, and he said he heard that eloping or having a destination wedding is the way to go. I think he is right because with a smaller wedding there are fewer people to be embarrassed in front of.

Why would you be embarrassed? Because sometimes people cry at weddings. My friend Josh, in a priceless moment, started crying as he said his vows.

He half laughed as he stood there, tears rolling down, and said, “Through laughter and tears.”

Still, despite my ideas on weddings, I will say they have their good parts. I’m glad I got to be in Josh’s wedding.

After college, it gets a lot more difficult to keep up with your friends, so this wedding was a great opportunity to spend time with people I rarely see but really love.

As I write this, Josh and his wife, Charlotte, are somewhere in the Mediterranean on a honeymoon cruise.

I’m in college despite graduating high school five years ago. Though it isn’t for me, perhaps my friend Josh is onto something.