Memoirs of a Counselor
Weddings
By Gamegoddess

Weddings were always a special event in Ultima Online. Some were very elaborate and some were very simple. Either way, Counselors were there to provide the service

Almost all couples wanted an engraved ring which meant a request. In the early days the Seers made the rings. This was then handed over to the GMs. As we got the requests we turned them in to be made and when enough of them were requested the GMs would make them and deliver them to whoever was in charge of the Britannia Jeweler. I can still remember the time I went and got my rings from her as a player. This was even after I was a counselor. I had no idea this was a npc that was played by a Counselor. Although thinking back on it I should have known. When I was running the jeweler I always had all kinds of fun with the people. When the rings were ready, a note would be sent to the party that had ordered them. A time would be arraigned for them to meet with the jeweler and they would meet. The most important thing was to get the right rings to the right person. This would seem like an easy thing but you have to visualize the backpack of the jeweler. There could be 10 or more sets of rings. First you had to make sure each set was right. I kept all orders in a book to answer any issues about this.

There was one wedding that was famous. The wedding of Tess and Flint Ironforge. This wedding was both an ingame wedding and proxy for the out of game wedding. It was performed by Lord Blackthorn (Starr Long). To my recollection it was written up in People magazine at the time.

The weddings that I remember doing were always eventful...sometimes you would arrive and have to issue some warnings due to people trying to mess with the couple. I can remember a time or two when I had to jail several people just to perform the wedding. Then of course you would turn around and let them out unless they had really pissed off a GM in the course of things.

The weddings themselves were pretty cut and dried. We had a macro program that you had to program with the couples names and the right ceremony and you were off and going. You just had to sit and push the buttons. Before we had this program it meant a LOT of typing.

The special weddings were always fun...my wedding was one such wedding....any counselor that got married with their player character always invited all counselors and GMs. If we had a birthday party we did the same. My wedding had several counselors and GMs and I can remember doing several such weddings. You would arrive and you might look up in the rafters and see it lined with blue, purple and red gm robes.. Of course this meant a little added stress to get the ceremony right.

Most people would ask the Counselor to hang around after the wedding for the reception which was always fun. The reason you could stay if you wanted to is because you were doing this on time you weren't doing your other duties. It was an extra duty but a fun one and one that most of us dearly loved.

Till next time....