Wedding!! Friday 23rd May 2008

Friday 23rd May 2008. Wedding !!

Ellie’s parents are getting married today. This is very exciting. We haven’t been to a wedding for ages.

A few days ago, Ellie’s mother, Melinda, rang. 

‘Hi,’ she said  ‘Ross and I are getting married. Will you and John be able to come? It’s on Friday. Will John be able to get the day off?’

‘Wow!’ I said ‘Why?’ I said ‘Of course we’ll come.’ I said.

Melinda said it was purely financial. Then she said it wasn’t really. Then she said that she had found a beautiful dress in Islington and that she needed to find some shoes to match and that did I eat fish because afterwards everyone was going to Morgan M for lunch and could we come to a party in the evening as well? She also said that she and Ross hadn’t told Ellie yet because they thought it might freak her out a bit.

This is such fun, but I am worried about Ellie.

Abigail tells me that Ellie has worked out that her parents are getting married and that she is very confused that they haven’t told her. She found a few e-mails and caught the tail-end of a few conversations and worked the whole thing out. 

‘She is feeling a bit upset, frankly.’ says Abigail.

I phone Ellie.

‘Ellie’ I say ‘They will tell you, they will want you to come. They are just being protective that’s all. Don’t be cross. Parents are always making mistakes. The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions’. I say. I am not sure that was the right thing to say.

Ellie’s not sure either.

Later in the week Abigail tells me that Ellie’s parents have told her and that she was cross and now she isn’t at all cross and is going to take lots of photographs.

The wedding is in the Town Hall. I am wearing my Royal Garden Party Outfit with a Black Straw Hat from Fenwicks with feathers in it and orange shoes. I might be overdressed but I think, if in doubt... overdress. There is nothing quite so Dull as looking Understated.

At the Town Hall, John and I realise that we are almost the only friends that have been asked and that almost everyone else is Family and we feel quite shy.

Ellie rushes up looking sparklingly beautiful and welcomes us.

Ross and Melinda arrive. Melinda wears a silver dress and looks very gorgeous. 

Ross and Melinda get married. 

Ross’s mother recites from memory...

Had I the heaven’s embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I being poor, I have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet,

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Ross’s mother speaks in the softest Irish accent which is one of the very best accents for poetry and I am very moved and I look at John. He is very moved too.

We go to Morgan M. 

I sit opposite John and between Ellie’s stepbrother and a slender Brazilian girl.

Morgan M is a Very Posh French restaurant. Ross and Melinda have hired the whole thing. 

All Ross’s brothers are here. One is a Cardiologist with 8 children. His wife is a Gynacologist so she probably was quite good at dealing with tha Awful After-Effects of having 8.

Melinda’s father is here and her twin brother. John and I have a very nice time talking to the Brazilian girl who is married to Ross’s cousin. I have fun talking to Ellie’s Step Brother. He is very sweet and funny and he tells me that he is glad Ellie has a new boyfriend because he had to sit on his hands to stop himself punching the last one.

The food is amazing and we drink too much wine. 

Later john and I fall asleep on our bed. We are not very good at drinking during the day. We have to go to the Wedding Party this evening and we are glad of the rest. Luckily my mother is still with us and she feeds Maisie and rolls her eyes at us. She is coming to the Party too.

The Party is heaving. 

Everyone is here. Fran and Bill have come from Hampstead. Claire has come alone as Paul has gone to Australia to sort out a complex part of his father’s estate. Abigail and Ellie and their friend, Abigail R. are here too and Bella comes but she goes home quite soon because it’s all Too Much. Claire does some Karaoke with Abigail R’s mother. Maisie talks to Bill, she loves Bill. Abigail falls asleep in a heap. One of Ross’s brothers says he can’t remember who he is. 

Melinda stands still and serene, talking to people, she looks very beautiful and happy.

Ross and Melinda have gone to Paris on Honeymoon. They will live happily ever after.