Winter Weddings

Yesterday I went to the best Wedding I've been to in years. 'On a Sunday?', said my daughter's disbelieving boss when she said why she couldn't work the extra shift.  Yes, a Sunday.  And a Sunday is a good day for a wedding because even though it was the only wedding I've been to in years it would have been the best even if I had been to hundreds.

If you are from a large family, as I am, family weddings can be awful.  You can feel that you have been invited out of a sense of duty and that the couple would have much preferred to have a friend sitting in your seat.  You might not know them very well, or worse, not even like them very much.  Yesterday though, a wonderful couple got married.

Dressing for a winter wedding can be a fashion nightmare. My parents wedding was in April, on a snowy day and their wedding photos include my grandma in a huge fur coat and a cousin in mac, welly-boots and a balaclava.   I wanted to wear a dress that the long-suffering husband bought me for Christmas a few years ago but as it is sleeveless I was worried about goosebumps.  In the cold I can look like a plucked chicken. The only solution was to buy another cardigan.  I did feel sorry for the bridesmaids who had bare shoulders and no cardigan and the bride who had to spend a lot longer outside than anyone else  posing for photos.

False nails look lovely but are terribly impractical.  I'm not used to long nails as they click on the piano and so my idea of a manicure is a quick trim with the nail clippers.  I did make an effort and stuck on some beautiful false nails.  Going to the toilet, taking my contact lenses out and picking up anything small suddenly became challenging tasks.  Although, I used lots of glue one of the nails did pop off while I was taking a canapé.  I would therefore like to make a public apology to anyone who had a small piece of crunchy plastic in their tiny salmon tart.

There were so many great things about this wedding.  Games on the table, in case you got bored; a small bag of sweets, in case you got hungry; fantastic speeches, especially from the bride and groom's small son, who grabbed the microphone and said, "I've done a poo.";  a great cake, that looked like cheese but tasted of the most perfect Victoria Sandwich sponge.

I hope the couple will be very happy.