The Wedding

The wedding went splendidly, all involved were very pleased. There were some hurting people this morning, I can tell ya. We stayed at the hotel (where the reception was going to be held) on Friday night, and the groom's family and friends from Belfast all flew in that afternoon, and I was drinking with them until the wee hours. It started off in the evening when Emma (Lucy's older sister) and her husband arrived... I hadn't seen Emma for nearly 5 years, since she lives in Coventry, about 35 miles away, so when I'm in Wolverhampton she's not usually around. So we had a round of drinks, then Dom (Ruth's fiance), and his family from Plymouth showed up after dinner, so it was another round of drinks. I met Dominic back during that crazy Christmas of '97, when he and Ruth were still studying at the University of Salford in Manchester -- Lucy and I just flew back from Amsterdam, and her car keys got stolen when we stopped at McDonald's on the way ... (what a story)

Anyway, the last couple of visits when I saw Ruth and Dom I was just passing through, so it was nice just to spend time with them in leisurely conversation. Just before they went off to bed, John the groom showed up at the hotel lounge with his dad and his mates from Belfast, fresh from closing down the Oddfellows pub down the road. The best man, Brian, fell asleep in a chair, and the rest of us had a tableful of grog on the go. I kept waking Brian up to remind him that he was in charge of John, and to make sure they made it back to the Novotel (where they were staying) in one piece. Scottish Brian would open his eyes, say "Oh, aye" and promptly go back to sleep. Finally, I couldn't last any longer -- I hadn't had a proper dinner but had already outlasted two groups of people. John's dad had toddled off to bed, which left John, Anto(ny), Marty, Peter, Kieran, Dee, Brian, and me with a night porter-bartender and a bar full of booze. There was no way I could keep up with the lads from Belfast, so I waved the white flag some time after 3am.

I was staying with Lucy in the bridal suite, but she forgot I didn't have a key, and locked the door. Thank goodness the suite was only near the top of the stairs -- I was holding a pint glass of water with one hand and the railing in the other. I had to pound on the door to get back in, and then took the longest shower ever... when I set the alarm, it was after 4 o'clock in the morning. I even pumiced my feet... I was so loud Lucy could hear me scraping away, even though the suite was huge. Apparently she called out to find out what on earth I could be doing in the bathroom, but I don't remember that. After more than a decade of shenanigans, Lucy has lots of stories about the stuff I get up to when I've had a few too many.

The three hours before the alarm went off felt like a minute. Lucy wanted the bridal party to have breakfast together, so Lucy's sisters, Ruth and Emma, joined us and I scoffed the full English breakfast to try to detoxify... I saw Anto at breakfast, and he was looking pretty bouncy, considering.

The whole day went tickety-boo. What a relief. It took all morning, but we all got ready in time... Hair appointments went smoothly (I did my own hair, which took all of my concentration), and Lucy was corseted up well before the photographer arrived. We, the bridesmaids, were in a white vintage Rolls Royce, followed by Lucy and her dad on their own Rolls Royce on the way to the church. Lucy's dad sang during the service, which had the entire two front rows sniffling and nose-blowing, and Lucy and John made it through their vows without a hitch. They signed the register in the vestry with us, and we left the church down the centre aisle with flashbulbs blinding us. I was just happy I didn't trip and fall while I was up near the carpet. I even TAPED on the straps of my slingbacks onto my ankles so they wouldn't slip off... which looked ridiculous, but my dress was really long in the back so nobody would notice.

After the confetti-throwing and a kazillion photos, I got the chauffeur to pour Lucy and John the champagne I sneaked into the car before we left the hotel. I was going to steal the glasses from the bar, but thought I'd better keep my nose clean and ask permission instead... the hotel people were pretty accommodating with that. Meanwhile, I was snapping as many photos I could for the wedding book I bought on Friday, and staying away from the Moet Lucy bought for us to drink in the morning while we were getting ready.

The weather held out for the big photo session in the afternoon before the reception, thankfully. The reception was in the Grand Hall, which was indeed very grand (photos forthcoming), and Brian successfully delivered the speech he'd been getting wound up over... he told me how nervous he was when we were dancing the second dance (the best man and chief bridesmaid, as they're called here, dance together, and the bridesmaids, Lucy's sisters, danced with John's brothers the groomsmen, as they're called in Ireland but ushers as they're called in England). The evening guests arrived after 7 o'clock and we had entertainment in the form of Irish dancing and singing, and a disco. I was kept busy taking everyone's photos and printing them out with the photo printer, which had everyone oohing and ahhing. I alternated between shooting and printing, and steered clear of the bar, only drinking the odd glass of vino that people would foist upon me (ha!).

By the time the DJ packed up, the Irish contingent was still raring to go, but it was different staff on who closed down the bar tills completely and sent everyone off to bed earlier than they would have liked. Peter wasn't making any headway trying to convince them to keep serving us, and pleaded with me to sweet-talk them into opening the bar up ("C'mon Gail, they'll listen to you"), but meanwhile Lucy's Uncle Steve had roped me into this totally nonsensical conversation about iron and steel and Mexico?? I was tired but totally sober and I still couldn't figure out what he was on about.

I'd moved all my stuff over to the Garden Suite next door from the bridal suite in the afternoon, which I was so thankful for when I dragged myself upstairs at some crazy hour of the morning. I was trying to print out the rest of the photos, but I was falling asleep in the chair supervising that little operation, and eventually lay on the bed with all my clothes and makeup still on... at least the shoes were off...

I checked out as late as possible, got onto the hotel's internet and booked the TGV for Wednesday, and managed to get one hour at Lucy's parent's place, where they were putting on a spread for the Irish families who were returning to Belfast later in the afternoon. I had to basically dine and dash, even though I would've liked to stay longer.

Lucy and John are off to Barbados for their honeymoon! Congratulations!!