Monday, August 18, 2008

2 down 1 to go (or 1 down 2 to go)

The first refers to the number of the summer weddings we’ve been to out of the three we are invited to.

The second is my mother’s perspective since her middle daughter out of three was married on Saturday.

The first wedding was two weekends ago. A countryside setting, with drinks in the parents’ garden, a marquee, a speech that name dropped Jacqueline du Pre and in sharp contrast, a DJ-set by my OH that involved a medley of Chas and Dave records.

The second wedding was my sister’s this weekend, which was a very different affair, but none the less still lovely. Despite being in the rain-soaked North, the weather was bright for most of the day. The little bridesmaids were cute, but proved the rule of “never working with animals and children”.

As the OH once said in a Best Man's Speech "Weddings are emotional occasions. Even the cake is in tiers". I came close to tears no fewer than three times during the day. The first was in the morning when we were all in our dresses ready for the photographer. I was banished to the kitchen to avoid setting my sister off, only to find that my other sister was already in there trying not the cry as well.

The second time was during the speeches, where my sister made the unconventional move of doing a speech, mainly with the purpose of thanking our mother for giving her away and how it was a shame our father wasn’t there to do it. The OH held my hand to see me through that, and luckily the Groom gave his hilarious speech next that cheered us up.

The third was when they did their first dance. My sister has a great love of show tunes, so it was “All Ask of You” from The Phantom of the Opera. Not a song I had any great love for, but again the tears started to fall. The Groom’s father was so overcome by this that he had to go outside.

The only bad point of the day was the Groom’s mother’s hair. For some reason known only to herself and the world’s worst hairdresser, her hair had been badly dyed purple for the occasion. It was so bad that on seeing from a distance, the Groom had asked why she was wearing a stupid hat! It really will be a blight on the photographs, but perhaps Photoshop can make it a normal colour.

We have a few weeks off now until the third wedding.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was not a 'wedding weeper' until after I got married. After having stood up there saying my own vows and really feeling the gravity of that moment, it all comes back to me when I watch others doing it. I get weepy feeling the pureness of that moment again. I know some people don't believe in marriage and argue that it's just a piece of paper and all that, but I think they are discounting the feeling and the bond that moment delivers. It has stayed with me for almost 15 years now, and I expect it to be around for a good while longer.

Congrats to your sister and her husband.

SandDancer said...

I didn't feel like crying during the ceremony as it was a very upbeat service. It was in a church but they had picked very upbeat songs (not sure they were even what I'd call hymns) so it felt quite relaxed. It was more the emotions about families and everyone coming together that got to me.

Mellifluous Dark said...

I agree with M's comments above. The first wedding I went to after my own made me madly weepy. I had a huge lump in my throat despite it being upbeat and very happy. The emotion overwhelmed me.

Your sister's wedding day sounds lovely, Sanddancer. And how touching that your sis gave a speech to thank your mum. Gosh, that must have been so poignant.

Glad you had a good day.

Sam said...

I don't normally cry at weddings but I nearly cried with joy when I saw that cake - fantastic stuff!!! Glad they were good fun though SD