Washington, DC, USA
Doing a bit of a belated wedding update, but I figured that since this entry was titled "Wedding", it belonged here, rather than in today's entry. Unfortunately, I've forgotten most of what happened.
Anyway, on to Sunday.
We all woke up and went downstairs for breakfast, which was approximately a Full English. Mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs, black pudding, toast, some other stuff. I don't remember there being any fried bread, which was probably a good thing. Then Graham got his stuff and went to Mark's room to get changed and I went to go do have my hair done. Alan Milburn's girlfriend Cheryl generously offered to do hairdressing for me and my bridesmaids. No other hairdressers would come out on a Sunday morning, especially as it was Mothering (Smothering?) Day in the UK.
She did a great job and then I got started on my makeup. Mom and I had been to a couple of shops that week and had picked up some things I would need. I ended up with several of those long-stay lip stains, b/c I kept getting the wrong color. So far, the range of colors isn't that great, but I figured out that if you only apply a little, then it's okay. The photographer, Liz Denton, gave me some make up tips, though as an artiste, hers tended to be complicated, so I decided not to risk Advanced Eyeshadow Application and went the 101 route.
John Denton, the other photographer, came in a little while later, hoping to take some pictures of me in my dress, but Mom was obsessively ironing it and wouldn't let go. So I put my veil on and he did some close-up shots, which turned out very movie star-ish. Eventually my gown (originally my mother's wedding dress) showed up and I put it on. Katie showed up at this point, as did the Kathryn, the flower lady (not to be confused with my sister) and we spent the next few minutes taping the dress to my bra straps and my bra straps to my shoulders. I continued to adjust them all morning.
A quick note on names. When in doubt it paid to go with either Kathryn or John. Not just my siblings -- also my best friend, the florist, my mom- kind of, my father-in-law, my uncle-in-law, and the photographer. And probably some others.
After a while with the photographer, the registrar showed up and asked what personal line I wanted to include at the beginning of my vow. Graham and I had decided to write a paragraph and then write individual first lines. I had been hoping that he would have forgotten about it, but she had already visited him and assured me that he hadn't. So I decided to pump her for information. I asked if he had written a lot. She indicated that it wasn't nothing. So Katie asked, "Do you have it with you?" (hint, hint) But she claimed not to, or at least wouldn't let us see it. I'll leave you in suspense until we arrive at the actual ceremony.
A few minutes later the photographer popped his head back in the room and announced that it was time to go. Me: "Wait, already?!" I felt like there should have been a 10 minute "Time to Freak Out" warning. Perhaps it was for the best. We walked down the side stairs and out the door so we could enter through the front of the house. Everyone went in as planned and just before I walked in, I turned to David, the [guy who is in charge for the day] and said, "Crazy!"
We walked in to Monteverdi's Vespers, which we pretended was from the overture to Orfeo, but was actually from a mass, and was also included in the wedding recessional at the beginning of La Reine Margot. You can't have anything religious in a British civil ceremony. I could probably have our marriage license revoked just for writing this.
When I got to the front of the aisle, I turned to Graham and he whispered, "It's crazy!"
The wedding ceremony was very nice. Our registrar, Frances Archer, said some nice things about the meaning of marriage and commitment. Graham began his vows by saying that I was his best friend and how much he valued me. I began mine by saying, "Graham, you are.... no good."
March 29, 2006
Brandon, Co. Durham, UK
A Very Special Wedding Issue!
I was going to do it in an extra-cute baby pink, but it was too hard to read.
So, here's the play-by-play Jenny's version account of our wedding.
Friday night: Went out with American friends to Perdu, a new bar in Newcastle with excellent cocktails. The manager there was great and let us hang out in the VIP section, where there was enough seating for us all to fit around one booth. Their chef had left early, so the manager booked us into a great restaurant down the street. Then we went back to Perdu and hung out for a while. Much more entertaining than it sounds. But then I haven't yet mentioned Graham wearing a veil or the "Bride to be" sash I was given. We shared the ball and chain.
We went back to our place on Friday night and Jim and Maria had arrived while we were out. We got in at around 1 or 2 and were told that my mother had been by ironing until midnight. Note that there is no scientific evidence linking my mother's flu and fainting spells to her overexerting herself every single day she was here.
Saturday: We hung out with Jim and Maria on Saturday morning. I can't remember really doing anything, except making sure we had our stuff together for the weekend.
We arrived at Eggleston Hall on Saturday afternoon and were shown to our current apartment-sized bedroom and bedroom-sized bathroom. The place was huge. And they had Green and Black's chocolate bars on the dresser.
They served tea with some fabulous tea cakes and scones in the afternoon and people arrived in a steady stream. Dinner was traditional English fare that night. Meat pies, sausages (I think), other stuff, etc. Graham gave a nice speech thanking everyone for coming. Afterwards we had a quick rehearsal and we practiced our walking (note that Dad and I both forgot to walk properly at the wedding).
After dinner, Graham and Mark Farrar had a trumpet session and when Marcus Andrews arrived, I think he played the piano with him.
I'm going to have to go over this with a fact checker. My memory of it is pretty much, "Family! Friends! Party! Wedding! Pictures! More party! The end." Not too clear on the details.
Next installment.... The Wedding!