Weddings are a curious mixture of fraught and fun. In laws and Out laws. Old husbands and new husbands. Step mothers and watchful ex wives. Smiles to hide fright. Smiles as manners. Smiles as snippets of joy. Smiles that are all eyes and no eyes at all. The children dipping and running through the legs of finery. All eyes and all smiles. That concentrated innocence swirling amidst the pristine finery.
Old, old friends from so long ago their memories are the slightest of ripples and old family who needs to say no more than a squeeze of a shoulder or the dip of the head. A thousand conversations under the sparkling lights of yesterdays news with the glint of the newest rings created to fit into the oldest of diamonds.
It has been very busy. Frantic really.
Cooking, tidying, sewing, ironing, copying out speeches, pinning on buttonholes and threading cufflinks.
My handbag filling up, can you hold this, can I leave this with you, do you have room for my phone, hold my notes for me, will this camera fit.
Then I dropped a dress over my head, slipped into unfamiliar high heels, and with my handsome entourage we finally reached the wedding evening where against all odds each step slipped perfectly into the last one and a marriage was made.
But here we are finally on the other side, the day after, bread rising, lamb marinating, more champagne chilling, relaxed at last, walking the dog on the beach and breathing sighs.
I hope you have all had a lovely day.
Your friend in New Zealand.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
50 responses to “Snippets of Joy”
Excellent precis of a wedding….:)
You present us with words and images that give an intimate look at the wedding. Details. Fabulous.
Let’s hope the newly married couple is off to a great start!
Congratulations C! 🙂
What a beautiful description of such a special, lovely occasion. How wonderful for everyone! ox
Celi, I love reading between the lines of your poetry…going deep. You say plenty! I love that wet dog profile! I want hair like you!
I love your photos…they speak loudly for all of us!!!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/?s=The+Adventures+of+Fuzzy+and+Boomer&submit=Search
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Wonderful post, very honest and I love the little boy sitting on the bride’s train! But am I losing my mind? I looked at this last night before I went to bed and there were two other photos of the bride and her gorgeous dress. Or were there? Also, thekitchensgarden is gone from Facebook! What’s happening?
You capture magic, miss c. No, you ARE magic.
Celi, I love your poetic expression of this special event. These candid wedding day photographs are refreshing and unlike most traditional photographs. I knew your perception of the event would be unique and your prose would take us on the “behind the scenes” observation… the raw and beautiful, tying in the old and new, expectations, tradition and the unusual. What a treasure you are!
Lovely!
Just beautiful. Loved the first paragraph especially, as it rang bells for a family wedding I went to recently. Lovely photographs – just right.
How about some pictures of yourself in all your finery??
You described the perfect wedding.
Your hands and hair look beautiful. It all looks beautiful.