An English Country Wedding Party (Day 276-277)
The day has finally arrived. The special day of an English Country Wedding Party
Off to Salisbury for hair and nails to be done. And what a difference in service! I arrive at JAS Hair where a lovely receptionist greets me warmly and introduces me to Pippa, my hair stylist. She takes me upstairs and offers me a cup of tea, which soon arrives; china teapot, cup and saucer and a small glass milk jug. We discuss my hairstyle and quickly and efficiently, she swirls and pins my hair up into a fancy French pleat, whilst chatting away about travel and life in general.
A little while later, I meet up with Georgia, Laura and Tim’s Mum Kath for us to have our nails done. It was like going into a factory, we are a process, not a client. A girl hardly looks up, realises who we are and carries on with her work. 6 young people are busy cutting, filing and painting nails. We wait patiently and eventually two of us have our nails done. I must say that they were done very well and I was thrilled when the guy offered to add a false nail top (I am sure there is some technical name for this!) for my severely broken nail and it was seamless. Georgia and Kath had to wait for ages and time was ticking. Eventually, we left, nails all colourful and bright, but we felt exhausted – not the most relaxing of places. What a difference to the hair salon.
We gulped lunch down, put on our glad rags and makeup (I had to buy some, all of mine is hidden away in the loft somewhere!) and the taxi arrived. Down narrow country lanes, through villages, past church steeples and then we noticed a bright yellow sign “H + J”. We are on the right track. Finally, the taxi turned into a field and there in the distance was the marquee.
Wow – what an amazing place; fields surrounded by trees that have probably seen life float by for a few hundred years with a folly amongst a coppice, probably used as a hunting lodge. The marquee was beautifully decorated with homemade wool balls of pastel colours and fairy lights cleverly fanned out from the tent poles. The bar and seats were all made from Pallets and homemade large foam seats and cushions adorned them. So clever. Hugs all around and there was the Bride, our gorgeous niece Hannah. She looked a picture of joy, beautiful in a flowing delicate ivory dress glittering with sequins. We are so happy for her and her new husband Jack; such a well suited, happy couple who complement each other so well. Always being kind to one another, always looking as if they are with their very best friend.
The party got started with an array of wonderful speeches, not the usual funny clever trite telling stories of misdemeanours, but sincere stories, full of love, full of joy for this lovely couple, which caused quite a few tears trickling down cheeks amongst the crowd….including mine!
Food, drink, chatting, laughing and much dancing followed. The homemade dance floor got a pounding as an eclectic mix of music was played, much of this chosen by each of the guests. Tim chose “Walking in the sunshine” by Bad Manners and I chose “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves – it was a fluke that we chose songs with very similar titles. Being together near enough 24/7, I am sure that our brains are fusing together!
Our taxi turned up too early. We hadn’t finished our evening yet, but sadly, like well-behaved children, we climbed in, sad that the evening had ended.
After a good night’s sleep, we eventually got out, with breakfast packed to return to the field. Tired, happy people greeted us, some wandering around aimlessly, and some busy packing away. After eating our breakfast, we got into action. Glasses packed, fairy lights and woollen balls are carefully taken down, floor up and a very well-directed dismantle of the marquee. We finally left with just the mess tent up, hoping that Tim’s sister Jo and husband Robert only needed to do one journey back to London.
A wonderful, wonderful, wonderful time. Weddings don’t need to cost thousands upon thousands. This wedding didn’t, yet it was one of the most special, loving weddings one could wish for. Perfect.
(PS thanks for photos Laura and Rosie)
