The Wedding of the Year took place on the 1st June, but now the Parish Magazine has its own special "Hello" type reporting, exclusive of course, on the Big Day! Our intrepid reporter writes:
OUR GREAT BIG CELTIC WEDDING
Even the weather couldn’t get organised for Ghislaine’s big day on the 1st. There was warm sunshine, torrential rain, thunder, lightning and hailstones as big as gobstoppers. Reports of plagues of locusts and frogs are slightly exaggerated! Since access to the front door of the Church - magnificently festooned with the Jenkinsons’ floral baskets- is through closes from the car parks all under several inches of water, fake tans were running wild and Jimmy Choo sandals were rapidly decomposing. The Braveheart theme welcomed the bride and glorious confusion was the order of the day! But that was the way Ghislaine planned it! Not for her the pomposity of specially selected stuffed shirts, exclusive fashions and hired suits all sitting in orderly rows singing from the same antiquated hymn books. She invited everyone to her wedding and had no idea how many would arrive.
Indeed, the fate of her Stirling relatives was in serious doubt due to a hiccough with the coach ordering which meant that the bride spent her pre nuptial morning with the Yellow Pages and on the ’phone instead of at the beautician! For the fashion conscious it was ’anything goes’. There was a solitary hat (Fran’s) , umpteen anoraks, a plethora of sweatshirts, strappy WAG style frocks, substantial raincoats and enough kilts to have inspired the new Shrek tartan which appeared two weeks later. Ghislaine was in a beautiful dramatic tartan and white gown with no baseball boots. Her hair was enhanced with extensions and her outfit was designed for maximum arm movement to allow her to enjoy the service and lead the congregation in a rousing final Amen Chorus. Ricky was in the kilt teamed with a Jacobite shirt and appeared to be the most composed person in the Church. The floral arrangements were of thistles and broom in keeping with the whole Celtic theme.
The vows were exchanged with so much love, clarity and confidence - no muttering from behind a bouquet. The music was provided by a Praise Band who struggled to keep up with the words on the screen being operated from the laptop! Nobody minded and a kind of euphoric chaos broke out when Kenny stopped speaking. We could then enjoy the melodious tones of mobiles (one of which was the bride‘s), digital cameras and milling weans. The bouquet was thrown, caught by Margaret Hardie and quickly passed on to a grateful spinster of the parish!
Over at the Masonic the celebrations continued with no speechifying, no formal photography and a clootie dumpling for a wedding cake. All was spontaneous with Ghislaine infiltrating the company to ensure that everyone was having as great a time as she was. ‘I’m dying tae get this rug aff ma heid’ , she exclaimed as the dancing grew faster and more furious.
Aye, it was a memorable day for St. Augs. Thank you, Ghislaine and Ricky, for showing us how welcoming, versatile and full of love a Church can be.
This last pic is of Ghislaine teaching folk the African Alleluia which she wanted instead of the Wedding March! Much more appropriate!
