Weddings past and present

I went to my niece's wedding in Cheltenham last Monday. She's in the middle picture above with her new hubby, Rory. It was a brilliant day at a gothic mansion in spectacular grounds. We even got to stay the night at the place, meaning that we could eat and drink ourselves unconscious. The wedding was even themed to Game of Thrones with a 'Blood Wedding' cake and all dinner tables named after the various houses in the book. I was on Lannister of course - the bad guys. The wedding had pretty much everything, including me in a pink, taffeta tutu at one stage (pictures available only to a very select few).

It got me thinking about weddings that I've attended in the past. I should say at this point that I rarely get invites to weddings, for reasons that I can only guess. Honestly. There have been occasions when the entire office gets to go, except one. Occasions when I would have believed that I would be in the top ten on the invite list. And then... not even in the top hundred. Maybe it's the fact that I might end up in a pink tutu, which scares the happy couples off!

Stepping back in time, my own wedding (the first one) was a very sedate affair. Almost formal. I got to go to that one. It was in Japan in 1979 (yes, I know, that long ago - just after Henry VIII ruled the kingdom). I married my Japanese boss, Kumi (the picture above, on the right). I must have been keen, because we actually had three ceremonies. Yes, that's right - three. The picture is of the official Shinto one, when we got to dress up spectacularly (well, Kumi did) and visit a big shrine in the middle of Tokyo. Just the two of us in a stunningly beautiful garden. Then we had a Buddhist one, which I only remember for the massive dinner afterwards. The third was at Wood Green registry office in north London - quite a comedown, after Tokyo.

The photo on the top left is of my parents' wedding in the 1950s, my mum and dad stepping into their carriage, which was to whisk them away to a new life in the paradise that was Northamptonshire. I was told by my mother that the ceremony was rememberable mainly for guests having to nip out of the church constantly to have a sly smoke. My, how things have changed.

I wonder how guests at that ceremony would have reacted to me in pink tutu, cavorting at the dinner afterwards! Funnily enough, I think my mother would have loved it!