Knitting a Wedding

Charlotte and I debated over wedding present to give for a long time. Nothing normal would do for us. This was our first wedding in the family. The present had to be special to match. Which meant that we'd have to make it ourselves.

Out came the knitting books, the needles, the wool. We consulted patterns, surreptiously bought new wool and beads, and knitted like mad. No one else knew of our project. We never spoke of it. But every spare moment, we'd grab our needles and knit, knit, knit.

As the deadline drew closer and closer, I started to panic. Still so much to do. How would we ever finish in time? But we wouldn't give up. Not after so many weeks of solid knitting. We battled on.

Mum came into the secret only a couple of days before the wedding. She contributed a gold box and a reel of gold ribbon. But the present wasn't done yet! I went into overdrive, knitting faster than ever, finishing the final piece on the way to the wedding practice the day before the big event.

Wedding morning dawned, and Charlotte sewed the last pieces together. We put the present in the box, and wrapped it in gold ribbon. Done! And only just in time.

It wasn't until the reception that we actually gave the present. Felicity took our large gold box and attempted to undo the ribbon. Then she handed it to Graham to undo the ribbon. Uh oh, I'd done it up too tight. Stepping forwards I released the tight knot and stepped back again.

Felicity lifted off the lid, moved aside the tissue paper and...

"Oh they're lovely." She lifted out, piece by piece, a woollen replica of the wedding party. The professional photographer snapped photo after photo. Everyone oohed and aahed as they identified themselves.

Next time there's a wedding, I want to make another special present. But the things I've learnt from this? Always start months ahead, and never give up.

Lessons Learned From Weddings

I'd never been to a wedding before. The only one I'd been invited to, was during a camp, which made it impossible for me to go. So I had absolutely no idea what they were like, though I liked to try and imagine it.

So my sister Felicity's wedding was a completely new experience for me. Planning a wedding when both the bride and groom are a whole country away, is not easy, but somehow we managed it. And along the way, I learnt several very important lessons.

Weddings are hard work. It's easy enough to work this one out when you're faced with baking, wedding favours, music, a church and priest, dresses and other important details to sort out. After an eight hour shift in the kitchen baking the wedding cupcakes, I never wanted to hear the word 'wedding' (or 'brownie') again.

Groomsmen and bridesmaids do not like to get dressed. By the time we left the house on the wedding morning, the groomsmen had only just managed to get into their suits, and the bridesmaids were still frizzling their hair as they attempted to curl it.

It's hard to sing in a fitted dress. Charlotte and I were two of the five bridesmaid, but I was also greatly involved in the music. A lot of elaborate arrangements were implemented so that I could be down by the organ at the appropriate times. But the church was beautiful to sing in, even if the dress wasn't.

Never wear new shoes to the reception. After the wedding and lunch, it was time for the reception with it's speeches and toast, and beautiful food. But my swollen feet in their new shoes were blistered, so I removed my shoes for comfort's sake. It seemed to start a new trend for, first the bride, then Mum, then Callum's girlfriend removed their shoes.

Weddings seem better when they're over. At the time the wedding seemed like a lot of work. Everything was moving too fast to really be noticed. But, at the end of the day, it's so much easier to see the beautiful parts of the wedding.

I'm glad the wedding is over now, despite how exciting it was. It may sound strange to say this, but I'm looking forwards to normal life and school work. Though how normal life will be with NaNoWriMo starting tomorrow, I don't know.

Have you ever been to a wedding? Have you ever helped organise one? What do you think of weddings?

Mum has also written a post on the wedding, for those dedicated wedding fans

Miss Elvis

I have always been fascinated by the formality of names in Jane Austen's books. After reading The Jane Austen Guide to Good Manners, Charlotte and I had some very good conversations about why Jane Bennett was called 'Miss Bennett' while her sisters were only 'Miss So-and-so'.

The natural conclusion of this, was our working out our own titles according to the rules of Regency England.

"I'm Miss Charlotte, and you're Miss Imogen," Charlotte said.

"Which makes Felicity 'Miss Elvis'," I decided. "Someday I'm going to be Miss Elvis."

"Yes, but Felicity has to get married first."

Yesterday, Felicity did get married in our little local church. All her friends were there. After weeks of frenzied preparation and miss-communications, the big day had finally come. Charlotte and I wore our beautiful Regency style bridesmaid dresses. The two smaller girl flitted around like puffy clouds. Camera clicked and flashed, capturing the day Felicity stopped being an Elvis.

So, after years of waiting, I am Miss Elvis now. It sounds so grand. I feel ready to bring out the long Regency dresses, tie up my hair, and travel back in time so I can enjoy being Miss Elvis to the full. One day I'll pass on the title of 'Miss Elvis', but for now I'll make the most of it.

"Hello, I'm Imogen Elvis, but you can call me Miss Elvis."

Waiting for a Wedding

I came out of my room this morning, intent on finding a diagram of skin for my biology notebook. As I stepped into the family I found my three sisters gathered round Mum and her lap top.

"What's going on here?" I asked them.

"We're looking at flower girl dresses for the wedding," Gemma-Rose told me excitedly. Our eldest sister is getting married in a month and a half.

I bent over the computer and saw the pretty dresses with their brightly coloured sashes. Someone soon informed me that these dresses had not one, or two, or even three, but six layers.

"I want a fuchsia coloured sash," Gemma-Rose said.

"I want a lavender one," Sophie chimed in.

"We'll have to do some measuring," Mum said. She handed me the tape measure and set me to measuring the two girls. Soon we found a problem.

"Sophie's too tall and Gemma-Rose is too small," Mum said. "And you're both too thin."

We debated over the sizing for ages until finally, we daringly bought two ivory coloured dresses with six layers.

"Thank you Mum," the girls cried in great excitement. I thought about the long, regency style blue bridesmaid dress hanging in my cupboard and grinned. It seemed such a long time to wait until the wedding.

Lunchtime came, and with it came more discussion about the wedding, the clothes and the guests.

"Will children be allowed at the wedding?" Sophie wanted to know. "I hope so."

"Do you remember how every time we measured me for my dress, I seemed to have shrunk," Charlotte laughed. "And then it turned out to be a little too long. I hope I've grown."

"I hope I haven't," I said. "My dress fitted me perfectly when I got it."

"How long is it until the wedding?" Gemma-Rose asked. "It seems like forever."

I can hardly wait for the end of October, when I'll go to my very first wedding ever. What will it be like to be a bridesmaid? I can hardly wait to find out! And once it's over, I'll have plenty of beautiful photos and memories. Plus a lovely, long blue dress!