Well, it was such fun getting ready and being at the Bride's mother's house, getting all the makeup done, the endless cups of tea whilst the hair is being teased into shape... playing with the youngest member of the family who keeps telling everyone he is going to be married today.... in fact it is his mother who will be the bride, but he thinks its his day anyway!!
I left my house earlier, and had the gift all wrapped up with the card attached to the front, saying Nicole and Paul... . I needed to adjust the boot cover, so opened the car door, made the adjustments then drove off out of our drive. A couple of miles or so down the road, I arrived at the house, and looked in the car for the gift I had bought for them... No gift... Thinking about it, I rationalised that my husband would surely have stopped the car because if I had left the gift on the roof of the car he would have seen it? So I thought that I must have left it in the hall, and so could get it another day to give to the new married couple later.
Sitting in the front room sipping slowly a flute of Champagne, there was a knock on the door and a man holding my present!! He had been driving along and seen something fly off the roof of my car, and stopped to see what it was, then he had lost me as I drove along the road out of sight. This man, a complete stranger to me, had seen the card saying Nicole and Paul and thought that the only Nicole he knew was getting married today was the girl who's mother lived opposite him, and so here he was hoping that his instincts proved right!!!!!
What were the chances of this little inexpensive gift being delivered to the right address after flying off the roof of a stranger's car!! It would be difficult to calculate I am sure, but the odds would be many many millions of times over !!
As I noticed one of the younger aunts was rushing around getting her children ready, and also the baby of the happy couple, and was looking a bit flushed, I sympathetically said to her' You'll have a minute in a moment to get ready' upon which she said,' I am dressed already!!' Did I wish the ground to swallow me up? You bet!
Finally the bride is dressed and comes down the stairs looking wonderful in a long flowing ruffled white gown and veil... the special vintage car awaits her, and off we set.
I don't know the way, so I am following the bridal car... leaving the village it turns up an alley way and of course I follow it, only to see it turning round... as it comes closer to me, the driver winds down his window and says he has to return to the Post office we have just passed, as he has to collect his pension!!! I am utterly lost for words, this is not his day, but the Bride's...... however I turn around too and wait for him to complete his pension collection and then follow him all the way to a wonderful open countryside golfing retreat and hotel.
By this time we are so late, that they had all thought the bride had got lost in her vintage car, and of course I had to scuttle in before the bride, and was the last guest to arrive!
Rain had been forecast for this Tuesday, so I had put an umbrella in my handbag...but it was not needed at all.. the ceremony was in the open, just like in a Hollywood film, and a red carpet where our lovely bride and her bridesmaid, the mother of the bride and the uncle who was giving her away, walked to where her new husband to be was waiting. They all looked so smart and the colour was purple accents and it looked stunning..
The Aunt of the Bride who is a registrar, delivered the ceremony and her husband, Nicole's uncle, gave a short reading on the meaning of marriage.. Nicole and Paul's little son who is only 2 and a half, was so good during the actual giving of rings, and then turned to everyone, and said he was married now!!
Instead of rain, the sun blazed overhead, drinks were served whilst we waited for the photographs to be taken. There was about 35 people there and it felt charming and intimate, and the whole affair was utterly lovely in its simplicity.
Inside the hotel, the meal was served in great style and the speeches afterwards made everyone laugh and feel so happy... it genuinely was a super day to celebrate a wedding between two young people who had their son to keep them on the straight and narrow, but the joy of it all was delightful.. I am so glad I went.
I have foot-in-mouth disease too. But last week I heard the worst foot-in-mouth story. I was in a local thrift store and the worker at the front was speaking to a couple of women. One was about 50 and the other was about 22. The worker said to the older lady, "Oh, is this your daughter" She said, "No, she's my wife". GULP!
ReplyDeleteI renews my faith in humanity that someone would go out of his way to find you to deliver a present.
I am glad you had a nice time!
What a giggle!it's the kind of thing that you see in the movies! at least the weather stayed fine for you all. My dad did something similar to you when I was aged ten. we were in Jersey and a young lady was swinging her handbag as our car passed. The bag got stuck on our bumper and we merrily drove on to our Hotel. Eventually my dad realized what had happened and the girl was traced, but my Dad was so proud ~ there was a new bottle of Vodka in her bag totally unharmed & from then on this was my Dad's 'proof' of his excellent driving skills!
ReplyDeleteOh my god, that was such a hoot! Thank you for sharing a memory that will last for many years to come. Glad to see I am not the only one who does things like that!
ReplyDeleteLike Sally above, I thought this could be the opening of a film!
ReplyDeleteWonderful that the gift arrived. What a kind man.
This was such an enjoyable post to read... full of AWWWWs and OHH's ... thank you for filling us in on such a wonderful happy day!
ReplyDeleteIs your real name Agatha Raisin?
ReplyDeletehee hee