Weddings Shmeddings

So about a year ago I was asked by my friends to be the officiant for their marriage ceremony. I was flattered to have been asked and really enjoyed being able to do this for my friends (not including the sleepless night beforehand).

Then, about a week ago, I was asked to dinner by some acquaintances - somewhat out of the blue, but not unwelcome since they are great people. I went over to their house last night and they proceeded to mention that they remembered I had performed a ceremony for my friends last year and asked if I would be willing to do the same for them this August. Not knowing either of them extremely well I was caught a little off-guard by this request but mentioned that I would think about it and let them know. At this point they mentioned they would be willing to put me up in a hotel room and pay me $100. I was, again, a little surprised.

I then proceeded to ask them questions about their understanding of marriage, why they decided to take this step, etc. Neither of them are religious and I thought it would be prudent to understand what they thought they were getting themselves into before agreeing to perform the ceremony. We found out that we have very different viewpoints on marriage. Then we chatted a little more, played some games, and had a nice evening.

This morning I got an email from them stating very nicely that they decided they don't want me to be their officiant but that I would be very welcome to come as a friend. I can't really say that I'm offended since we have such different opinions of marriage; I believe you should be married by someone that shares similar notions of the commitment and what it means. Still, I can't help but be a little curious exactly why they made this decision. I guess I'll never know.