Last night we went to a surprise wedding. My very tricky nephew sent out invitations to his partner's surprise 35th birthday party last December. That should have been the first clue. I mean, a special 35th birthday celebration? Very clever of him to send the invitations at the busiest time of the year when we all had too many other things in mind to work out the real purpose of the party.
So, last night, I'm getting dressed for this surprise birthday party. I've made my dh call to see what we're supposed to bring. When the family does a party, it's usually a barbecue and we all bring a salad or a dessert. It seemed strange that we weren't supposed to bring anything. I even rang one sister-in-law to see what was what. She didn't have a clue either.
Thinking it's a backyard barbie I dress very casual. Jeans. T-shirt. Boots. On the way we stop to buy drinks and nibblies (because you can't rock up to a party empty-handed.) In town we pass this lovely vintage car decorated in ribbons and my dh says, "Looks like someone's getting married." Ha. At his sister's place the garden is looking spectacular and we notice that she's hired tables/chairs with white cloths (the tables, not the chairs.) Fancy barbecue, I think. She comes over to greet us and she's wearing this lovely flowing dress in shades of blue and green. The kind one might wear, for example, to a garden wedding.
Anyway, the rest of the guests are dressed pretty casual. Lots of jeans, shorts, casual skirts. I didn't notice the handful of well-dressed folks (the ones in the know, obviously) or the table set with champagne flutes or the chairs arranged in a circle under the most beautiful gum tree. Do you notice how obvious all the clues are in retrospect?
The car we'd seen in town rocks up. Jaws drop when the maid-of-honor and bride step out looking gorgeous and bridal. And THEN we notice that our nephew has emerged from the house wearing a suit. And THEN all his aunts and female cousins (we are not a small family, BTW) wail things like "I didn't bring a camera!" and "I'm wearing jeans! To a wedding! And they're not even my best jeans!" and "I've been robbed! I want a new outfit!" Weddings tend to mean a new outfit, you see. The younger cousins are all on their mobile phones texting the cousins who didn't come with the news. And the menfolk are only just catching on to the fact that a wedding is about to happen.
As I mentioned, the ceremony was held on a circle of lawn with the late evening sun streaming through the branches of a spectacular tree. If I'd taken my camera I could show you that tree, but alas no camera. It was romantic, touching, beautiful. Afterward we had the barbie, albeit a quite upmarket one, and dancing and the cake and a few short speeches. I swear that my nephew's piece about finding the woman to complete him made every female present sigh and/or tear up.
It was the first surprise wedding I have every attended and possibly not the last, since more than one parent present was heard murmuring, "what a great idea."
posted by Bronwyn Jameson @ 7:42 AM
