The afternoon of the wedding arrived at last and the cars arrived to pick us up from our B&B. Imagine how surprised The Boy and his cousin Tyler where, when a vintage Rolls Royce’s pulled up to carry them, their grandparents and Tyler’s older brother Zach in such style to the Wallingford Town Hall. Another vintage car came to pick up the groom and his groomsmen as well. The rest of us slid into a couple of taxi vans; we were on our way to D’s wedding! While The Boy is (obviously) right at the front of this picture, The Dad (playing the role as The Best Man on this day) is back and to the right of the picture. Hey, they match – and we didn’t even try to do that!
The wedding, itself, was a lovely and joyful affair. The Wallingford Clerk officiated and he was a very pleasant man, serious about the legal and emotional bond they were committing to each other, but also lively enough to crack a joke or two. We all had a very hearty laugh, as the 1950′s era Good Wife’s Guide was read out to Virginia from two of her friends. As you can see, V is holding an envelope in addition to her bouquet. That is a signed, official copy of her marriage license, which the clerk noted is always presented to the bride for safekeeping.
As they were about to leave the hall and go outside to greet everyone for the first time as husband and wife, the Clerk instructed D to always escort his lovely wife on her left-hand side, so that his sword-carrying hand would be free whenever he needed to protect her honor.
There they are, the pretty, glowing bride and her smitten, handsome groom outside the Townhall in picturesque Wallingford – a 9th century town, thank you very much. Flint is in such ample supply in this part of England, that many of the buildings have it incorporated into their facades. It has a lovely shimmer, especially when wet.
See the boutonniere on D’s lapel? That didn’t arrive until just moments – seriously moments – before the wedding. The Bride was “most seriously displeased” by the performance of the florist at the wedding (forgetting to do half the work, bad form), but the reception flowers were perfectly executed.
Here are some of The Americans, as we were collectively called. It was rather warm when we got to the reception, so we moved into the shade to drink our Pimms with fruit and to nibble on fresh baked scones smothered with clotted cream and jam – oh, heavenly bites of goodness!
The Dad and I listen with interest while D’s roommate Wine Chris (not to be confused with groomsman, Film Chris) discusses something of dubious note. I don’t remember what, but it was probably something about the lack of sufficient scientific funding or the state of grapes in the Sonoma Valley. He’s wicked smart. And nice. And fun. And single. (California-based girlfriend applicants can email me for further details).
There’s the dress that it took me so long to find. I borrowed the necklace from a friend, but I forgot to ask what the secret was to keeping it centered on my neck. I kept having to move it back into place for some reason.
D was forced to pull out the shades due to the bright sunshine outside the restaurant, but perhaps this was simply a gut instinct living in sunny California as he does, while V cozies up with a cup of tea.
Danielle, 18 and legal in England, double-fists it for the camera — and probably to make her mom even more nervous about the volume of her drinking today: wine getting ready, wine in the limo, a glass of Pimms here, a glass of Pimms there… (In truth, her several drinks were over the course of several hours and were not excessive. I just wanted to point that out, for the record).
The absolutely GORGEOUS wedding cake. The portions for dinner were so large, though, I don’t know how many people actually ate any of the cake. My niece’s lobster appetizer was HALF a lobster and The Boy’s steak appeared to be made from at least the rear half of the cow!
The Dad got to sit at the head table with the couple’s parents (V’s mom is next to D). La-di-da-da. So there.
D took his wife out for a swing around the dance floor (after the tables were removed THROUGH THE WINDOWS), while their dance instructor Film Chris and his wife Sandra supervise. In a former life, Film Chris was a dance instructor – now he’s out in CA waiting for his big directing breakthrough.
And finally, The Boy pulls out all the dancing stops. He was SO cute and the band had a great time seeing he, Tyler and Danielle really cut a rug out on the dance floor, while most everyone else stood around gabbing and drinking more wine – or spilling it all over the front of their spouse (in my case).
