Weddings

 Like many women, I love looking at wedding dresses.  Any weddings here that I am not involved with I hang out the window to get a look at the bride’s outfit. 

On Friday, I had the chance to admire one to my heart’s content when the middle son (Cyril) of one of our Lay Reader’s (Sydney) got married and we were invited to the reception.  With most weddings taking place on Saturdays, even when we are invited we are almost certain to be unable to go, but a Friday, well, that certainly made it more convenient for us! 

The wedding Simon took a fortnight ago started an hour and a half late.  As Sydney himself, originally from Sierra Leone, has said to Simon on similar occasions:

“You are on BMT now – Black Man’s Time!”

This time, the bride and groom were determined that things would run in a timely fashion – the invitations were printed up with the service to start at 11.00 am, Simon, myself, the organist, and the bride and groom, however, all knew that the official start was planned for midday.  I was running late and arrived, with quite a lot of other people, at 12.30, which turned out (as I’d suspected) to be perfect timing!

After the service Simon came home to get changed into a suit and tie – Oh happy day! I love seeing him in suit and tie! – then we set off for the reception.  It took us an hour to drive to the hotel where the reception was, south of London, in Surrey.  When we arrived, however, we knew why they had chosen it – it was lovely, luxurious, old-fashioned in its classiness, with a big lawn and lots of trees.  We were wined and dined extremely well. (Well, in my case orange juice-and-watered and dined!).  It felt like such luxury – being treated to a slap-up meal in wonderful surroundings at no expense.  Everyone was in a good mood (sadly a rarity at weddings) – and the speeches were the best I’ve ever heard on such an occasion, funny yet very moving.  The bride and groom themselves are a lovely couple, so no wonder everyone was happy to celebrate with them.  Not having seen their wedding gift list we didn’t know this before but they had not one but three charities down on the list. 

We didn’t get home ’til gone 10.00pm, relaxed and happy, both feeling that we had been treated to a day in the lap of luxury.