Margaret's Wedding ; Sunday May 22

The weather wasn’t particularly good when we arrived in Wales and it was raining on and off up until Saturday. Justin and Margaret were fretting about the prospects of rain for their big day and consulted various sources of weather forecasters on line. I went by the trusted BBC who said that the long range outlook was good. Despite the occasional shower, strong winds and cold I got back into running. I was out each morning before breakfast and had a pleasant jog round the nearby lake which was overrun with birdlife. There were swans, various varieties of ducks, coots and Canadian geese with flocks of tiny goslings waddling behind.

The first job we had to do on the Wednesday was pick up the suits for the groom, best man, Justin’s father, the ushers and myself. I was wearing the full Highland Dress and was able to try everything on at the hire shop. The waistcoat and jacket were too big and the colour grey instead of black. They promised to have replacements for the following day, at least the kilt fitted well. The rest were wearing Morning Suits and they came round in the evening to try them on. Some of the coats were on the big side and trousers too long. We changed them the next day when my replacements arrived, everything fitted me nicely now.

One of Margaret’s bridesmaids, Roxanne, a friend from University arrived on the Wednesday from London. She was sleeping on the floor downstairs on the lilo. She moved to stay with another of the bridesmaids when Suzy and Gavin arrived on Saturday. We moved on to the lilo and gave them the use the bed upstairs. Alex also turned up on Saturday but he had arranged accommodation at an hotel in Usk, the village where the reception is to be held.

On the Friday evening we had the rehearsal at the church, St Margaret’s parish Church, only about 5 minutes from the house. The vicar a cheery young chap took us patiently through everything. With this preparation there shouldn’t be any problems come the day.    

    

  Margaret was up and about at 6:30 on Sunday morning; she probably couldn’t sleep with the excitement of her big day. She said it had been raining during the night but now looking out the window the sky was blue, promising  a good day for the wedding (actually as forecast by the BBC weather people). There were two beauticians coming this morning at 9:00 to do the women’s hair and makeup then at 10:00 the photographer would arrive to start her day by taking pictures of their preparations. I decided to get out for a run before all these activities started.

Isn't she beautiful

After my stretching routine and some crunches I set out on a familiar route of round the park and the lake. Although it was dry now there was a strong wind which was quite uncomfortable blowing into my face, and when I was in the shade it was very cold. I took it steady, but was a little slower than on previous runs, especially with the wind. It was a good run and I felt the benefit for it. Back at the house I stretched again before showering.

I had breakfast and had a read of the ‘Sunday Times’ that Moira had gone out for before the arrival of the hairdressers. There was Margaret, Moira and the three bridesmaids to be done and it was all go for the next two hours. The photographer arrived as planned and she was dotting about the place snapping anything that moved including the cat. Gavin was up now after a long lie and set about making bacon and eggs for everybody as we wouldn’t be eating until about 4:30. Alex brought all the flowers; he had picked them up the shop which was close to the hotel where he stayed last night in Usk. After the hairs and faces had been titivated, the girls had to get dressed and that was more work for the woman with the camera. She then wanted me to get ready early, as she was going off to the church to take pictures of the groom and best man pacing about nervously. I got ready and she got to work on me with her camera before dashing off to the church.

Arriving at the Church

Everyone was now ready by 12:15, three quarters of an hour before the service was due to start. Moira got off with Gavin at 12:30 and the taxi arrived for the bridesmaids at 12:40. There was a tendency for them to want to get going but I held them back until 12:50 then let them set off for the church. By this time the Rolls Royce, a 1935 yellow limousine had been waiting for 5 minutes; we kept it waiting for another 5 minutes and left at 12:55. We got to the church fashionably late by 5 minutes but this was increased by another photo shoot, sitting in the car, getting out of the car, walking up the path and with the bridesmaids who were already there waiting. The vicar then held us up for a while so that we were all settled and ready before leading us down the aisle in procession to the organ playing Pachelbel’s Canon in D major.

After the Ceremony

Stained glass window in St Margaret's

The ceremony was straight forward along the lines that we had rehearsed on Friday. The rehearsal had taken nearly 45 minutes but the service was no more than 30 minute and seemed to go much faster. The longest part was when they went to the crypt with the tombs to sign the wedding register, they went through the signing requirements then had to re-enact the procedure for the benefit of the photographer. When the photos were taken, us parents with the minor bridesmaids joined the main wedding party in the crypt where we prepared for the triumphal procession down the aisle, and out of the church. Then there was another half an hour photo session of individuals, groups, and of course the happy couple. I took the opportunity of a lull in the proceedings to get back into the church and get some photographs of the beautiful stained glass windows. Soon the bride and groom were on their way to Usk and the reception. Most of the guests were transported there by coach, while we drove in Margaret’s car. Margaret had arranged insurance cover for Moira so that she could drive the car there and it would be available to them tomorrow morning.

Arrival at the Recertion

It took about half an hour to get to Usk and the hotel. When we arrived they had a number of waiters with trays with either of champagne or Pimms but no soft drinks. I asked for something non-alcoholic and the waiter said he would get some orange juice but didn’t make any move. I had to ask another couple of times before somebody moved themselves and fetched a few glasses of orange juice that didn’t last very long. I had to make do with one small glass but later they came out with trays of different types of canapés which were very nice indeed and kept us going until dinner was to be served, nearly two hours away.  When Margaret and Justin arrived in the Rolls it was the start of another long session of photographs, more of the same groups as before but on the hotel lawns and in the sunshine. There was also some pictures taken of the whole ensemble, the photographer had been at it all day and she was still to do the cake cutting and speeches. This was to be her last photographic session at a wedding here as she was off to Bangladesh in a couple of weeks time with her husband and family. They were both art teachers in their ‘day jobs’, and would be overseas for two years on a teaching contract. She was very good and allowed people to stand beside here to take their own snaps of the posed groups etc, not like the one at Suzy’s wedding who objected to other people pirating his scene.

Cutting the Cake

At last there was a break before we went in for dinner, most people were in the bar paying exorbitant prices for drinks. I went up to our room we had booked for the night to check it out, it was alright but nothing exceptional. The dinner stared at 4:30 and it was very good, I started with duck pate then it was roast lamb, which was nice and they piled on loads of different vegetables. I finished off with strawberry cheesecake and stilton cheese with my coffee. I asked Todd the best man to see if there was anybody who could sing and help me out with ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ (Justin is a fervent Liverpool supporter) at the end of my speech, but he couldn’t find anyone able or willing. I asked him to help me out by encouraging the guests to join in. Suzy and Gavin were busy during this period organising a contest for the person who could predict the total length of all the speeches.

Making my speech

My speech went well and I ended up singing the song at the end and don’t know if many joined in, as later Margaret told me that they are nearly all Man U. supporters. Justin was next up and he basically thanked everyone from the ushers through to his parents. Todd, the best man told of his friendship with Justin from primary school to University, and recounted many incidents and anecdotes that probably Justin would have preferred to remain secret. . After the dinner I went up to the room and left my jacket, sporran and belt there to be more comfortable for the dancing. The band was setting up when I came down, so I went into the bar with Gavin and Suzy where a Scots couple bought us drinks. The guy was the only other person there in a kilt, and we all had a good chat about Scotland, football and Burns, who I had quoted in my address.

The band started at 8:30 and we had a good time, they weren’t that good but their repertoire was varied, and we knew a lot of the numbers they played. We dance quite a lot, but they only played for an hour before having a break. They were now dishing up roast pork and salad which was too soon after dinner for me. There was also wedding cake, which was little individual cakes that a woman had baked as a wedding present. I would have eaten some cake but there wasn’t any tea or coffee to go with it, Moira collected some of the cakes for us and also for Fiona, Sandra and Audrey, they don’t send cake now to people who have given presents but can’t attend.

The group came on again at 10:00 and only played for another hour; one number was ‘Happy Birthday’ in advance for my 70^th tomorrow. From 11:00 to midnight there was a disco, most of which we spent in the bar with Gavin, Suzy and Alex. We dance a few of the disco tunes, old ‘Twist’ numbers then it was all over. Margaret seemed to enjoy herself, and Justin and she were still going the rounds of farewells to departing guest when we went off to bed. The bed was comfortable but then we can sleep almost anywhere and we soon dropped off, it had been a long day with plenty of activity. 

The happy couple and their guests.