The day of the wedding started out bright and warm, but as the day wore on it became less sunny and more overcast. The wedding itself had gone well. The bride looked amazing. We got together at my studio a few weeks back to discuss the wedding photos, with her arriving at my place in tee shirt and ripped jeans, just a hint of makeup, and looking very casual. And now here she was dressed like a princess: an amazing transformation. After we’d finished all the obligatory family and friend’s photos, the bridal party and I headed off to the park. Everyone climbed into their cars; the bride and groom had a lovingly restored 1963 Cadillac Eldorado, while the rest of the bridal party had to make do with more modern Holdens.
The park was only five minutes away, and the Holdens arrived first. But it was a good fifteen more minutes before the bride and groom turned up.
“Had to stop for some supplies” yelled the groom, holding up a Johnnie Walker bottle. The bride didn’t look too impressed.
And that’s how the rest of the photoshoot went, getting less and less wedding-like as more whiskey was consumed. Fortunately, we only had an hour allocated for these photos, so it went relatively quickly. I managed to get some pretty good shots, especially of the bride and the bridesmaids. The guys were a little worse for wear.
As we headed back to the cars, I had a quick word with the bride.
“Everything okay?” I asked
“Yeah, he always gets plastered at weddings. Why should ours be any different?”
She shrugged her shoulders.
At the reception the guests were waiting, some outside under the trees, while others were inside propping up the bar. When the bride and groom turned up, all eyes turned towards the door. There was a collective gasp. The groom, in his semi-drunken state had decided it would be a good idea to carry the bride over the threshold of the reception. Unfortunately he wasn’t as steady on his feet as he had been an hour earlier, and he struggled to maintain an even keel. Eventually they made it inside, and everyone followed them into the reception hall and proceeded to find their seat.
As you can imagine, by this stage most of the guests had had time to get to know one another, and there was quite a hubbub in the room. I stood in the corner off to one side.
A few minutes elapsed. A man, presumably the master of ceremonies, stood up and started hitting his wine glass gently with the edge of his knife. The noise in the room slowly died down.
“Thank you” he said. ”First off, I would like to welcome everyone here today, especially those who’ve travelled a fair way to be here. It’s so good so many of you could make it.”
He coughed slightly.
“We are here today to celebrate the wedding of these two young folk.”
He looked around the room.
“I ask you all to charge your glasses”
Everyone grabbed their wine glass. Even those who’d filled it with orange juice. He held his aloft.
“To the bride and groom”
And the whole room responded “to the bride and groom”
I looked around the room at the sea of faces, wondering what they all would have been doing on any other Saturday, if they weren’t at this wedding. As I glanced around, I thought I’d spied a familiar face. It looked like Julie. Everywhere I went lately, I’ve been seeing her. At Tom’s studio, at the supermarket. But that was a mistake. It turned out to be a 15 year old school girl with the same features. Easily confused from a distance, I told myself. And now, here she was, at this wedding.
Or so I thought.
After all the speeches, and there seemed to be more than usual, I photographed the lovely bride and her new husband cutting the cake. The cake was round, with 3 tiers and a lovely turquoise ribbon around the base of it. I was informed that it was chocolate mud cake, as the mother of the bride did not like fruit cake.
My role as photographer was now over, so I thought I would say hello to Julie. All the guests were being served their meals, so I approached her table. As I got closer, it was definitely Julie, I was not confused.
”Hello” I said.
”Hello” I said.
She looked up, surprised to see me.
“Oh, hello. I didn’t know you were coming. Oh, yes, I suppose you’re the photographer. Of course” She seemed the confused one.
To the left of her sat a middle-aged woman, with the grey roots in her hair visible as I stood behind her. And to the right of Julie sat a young man, probably about the same age as her. I assumed this was Rex, her mechanic boyfriend. Julie stood up, took my elbow and pushed me gently towards the bar area.
“Don’t say anything. You never saw me here. And please don’t tell Rex” she said.
“But.. So who’s that?”
I pointed to the young man at the table.
“He’s my new boss. Eric. I’m here as a favour. He needed a date. Nothing else.”
She seemed quite upset.
“Your secret’s safe with me” I said.
“Thank you”
There was a sense of relief in her voice. She led me back to the table, where she sat down, and introduced me to Eric. I shook his hand, and I smiled. There was a little bit of small talk, how the bride looked lovely, the cars were really cool, that sort of thing. Then I thanked Julie and wished her a good evening and left.
As I went out the door, I looked back and saw that she was in conversation with middle-aged woman. Eric was concentrating on eating.
