I often ponder about what type of wedding I would choose if I were getting married today… sometimes I even think I would love to be married again so that I could plan a great party, wear a fabulous dress and enjoy the celebration with friends and family all over again… The truth is our wedding was just as I wanted and I would not change a thing… I couldn’t reproduce that moment in time… even if I tried… For me, the 27th November, 1982 will always remain a perfect day… Surrounded by my family and best friends, I married the man I love and we went blazing into an unknown future… that was one potent cocktail.
I have always known what I like and don’t like… one of those characteristics that you are born with… I am not sure if it is a good or a bad thing… but it is how I am… My wedding was no different… I had dreamed of an all white wedding… dress, flowers, decor… and that is what we had. I suppose it’s easy when you know your own mind… deliberation is exhausting and too much choice is aways the death knell to a great experience. I knew that I wanted to be married at home, in the house I grew up in…with a reception in the garden… and that’s how it was… All white and all at home… My mother tells me I have always done things ‘my way’ and my wedding day was no different.
If I were planning a wedding today I would naturally want to host it in my own home… May, in southern France would be the perfect month… A ceremony under the rose bower and a sit down lunch in the garden… followed by a dinner dance in the evening. I like to think that my ideas have progressed in 30 years and that I would decorate differently from my own wedding… but I wouldn’t… My first love, white, is always my preference for traditional weddings.
As a rose lover I think that would be my flower of choice for the table settings and for the inside of our home… Loose and natural arrangements of our white icebergs would be in every room… and small posies of our scented creamy coloured roses would provide the fragrance. The tables I would cover in French quilts… white embossed… and the china… in my dreams Astier de Villatte or a Provencal equivalent of the same feel… old embroidered linen napkins tied with lace… and cut crystal vintage wine and champagne glasses… Chairs… French garden chairs… the decorative iron type with a pretty little cushion added for comfort… A traditional wedding but with a relaxed feel… and a French touch.
What to wear if I were a modern bride? That is the one thing I would do differently… as much as I loved my gown back then… it was the era of all things ‘meringue’ and Princess Diana… Today I would choose a more simple shape, something more figure flattering… how I took for granted my slender waist and slim legs back in my early 20’s… What was I thinking? That’s the advice I give to my girls… to embrace their looks and their beauty now, every day… be happy and be content with themselves because it’s pretty fabulous… The benefits of hindsight talking here.
The biggest challenge in planning my French wedding would be coercing mother nature… hoping that the roses bloomed magically at the right moment… that the weather performed… but for now, I can rest easy because it is all in my imagination.
What I would like to say about a wedding, any wedding, is that while we strive to create this unforgettable day… this symphony of setting and romance… all that really matters are the two people making their commitment… I am a great believer in commitment… in committing… in standing up, moving forwards and having the courage to follow your convictions. How it happens and where it happens doesn’t really matter… whether it’s legally binding or a verbal declaration between two people in love… being together, being united is what matters… Having each other’s best interests at heart in all weathers… that is a true definition of marriage.
Please visit Marsha at Splenderosa for a link to all of my friends posting about weddings today… reminiscences, sentimentality and beauty abounds… be prepared to be misty eyed… I am… xv
