Vati and I arrived at the church to be greeted by the pastor. The pastor went back into the church to get T who he brought to the entrance to greet me. He then said the traditional prayer for the bride and groom in the foyer of the church. The two men turned to go down the aisle towards the altar.
We had anticipated that there may be a stuff-up and had told our friends. The organist obviously hadn't had my wishes explained to him and launched into the wedding march as soon as he saw T and the pastor move off. T sped up only to be grabbed by the arm and he and Pastor Sandeck ended up walking down the aisle arm-in-arm to 'Here Comes the Bride'. Several of the guests had to stifle giggles.
My three bridesmaids and flower girl organised themselves after T and the pastor reached the front of the church and we had our little procession and I had the lovely symbolism of my father 'giving me away'.
I really don't remember much about the service but I do remember being thrilled when I got to the end of the aisle and saw T's best friend who had had his hair cut and styled and beard trimmed. He looked like a film star. I also remember kneeling on the satin cushion in my long dress and new slippery shoes concentrating on not sliding off. When it came time to signing the register I didn't know which name to sign - my new one or the old one? Pastor Sandeck didn't know which one I should use and now I don't know which one I used.
After the service, which people apparently enjoyed a lot ( it certainly was different considering that we were in the midst of renovations, the bridal procession had an amusing start to it and the service and hymns were in two different languages) we went outside to have a few photos taken.
After that the bridal party all piled into our maroon Mercedes Benzes, the guests went off to their cars and we all called out,"see you at the reception". T and my car was leaving last and proceeded to break down about 2 metres into the trip! The chauffeur was beside himself. He jumped out of the car, put up the bonnet and frantically started clanking about. T and I didn't mind. We were having a bit of a pash.
When we finally arrived at the reception venue people had begun to wonder where we had got to. I had been slightly apprehensive about the state of the place, given how grotty the church was, but I needn't have worried. The wallpaper and carpets had been replaced and looked lovely. The reception room was beautiful and our guests were enthusiastically getting stuck into canapés and our vast stock of beverages.
The band was fabulous and our guests sang and danced up a storm. The meals were delicious and the speeches hilarious. Even the staff and some hotel guests got into the swing of things and joined in when a conga line started and wound its way around the room and out through the foyer.
Everyone was having such a good time that my parents had to rehire the band three times. Finally T and I went off to dress in our 'going away' outfits. The wedding bouquet was thrown, the guests made a big circle and T and I went around farewelling everyone and thanking them for coming.
By now my father had forgiven T for the piglet disaster earlier in the day and had been beaming with pride all evening. My parents were the last two people I was saying goodbye to. My father threw his arms around me, his face crumpled and he cried. I was shocked. I had hardly ever seen my father cry. It made me cry too. T put his new wife in the car where the groomsmen had piped 'Just Married' on the windows with shaving foam and tied cans to the back bumper and I cried all the way to the hotel where we were spending our first night together as husband and wife.
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