A writeup of a wedding
Feb. 25th, 2009 12:21 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
becky-spence.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
writing_shadowsIt's a little one sided, I'm afraid, so if people wanted to write things to fill in the rest...
The morning of Saturday February 14th dawned, bright and clear. Suspiciously bright, for a day forecast to be rains and clouds. Aria eyed the sky thoughtfully, and wondered which of the guests she’d have to thank for the present of good weather for the day.
The wedding being in Brighton meant a number of people had stayed overnight, packing out the small hotel to capacity. What seemed a small army of staff were on standby, ready to keep bride and groom at opposite sides of the building, and make sure they didn’t catch sight of each other before 2pm. Aria had struggled to keep a straight face when the maid had earnestly explained that it was bad luck otherwise. If only they knew the half of it.
She mentally checked over the list. She’d arranged for transport for the Babushka, as agreed, when Sam as chaperone had warned her that the Babushka wanted more out of the deal for attending than he was willing to sign up for. She’d sent out the last minute invitations, had a fair number of responses, and everything else, the hotel was taking care of. Flowers were to be red and white with plenty of bright green foliage. The dress, she’d found, bought, and then Sam had stepped in with a wonderful contact of his, to have it altered to fit perfectly. All in the space of 48 hours.
Nothing like spur of the moment. She imagined that Carin was well on the way to making himself public enemy number one with his fretting.
She’d asked her bridesmaids to meet her after breakfast for things like hair and makeup and checking everyone had everything they needed, on the grounds that there would still be time to sort things out if something had been forgotten. Of course, forgetting to tell her bridesmaids that this was all part of the plan had been a bit of an error on her part, and Rosie looked initially rather baffled at the required preparations. Still, she put up with the curling tongs, and the hair pins, and the fussing from the hairdresser and the makeup artist. Deyanira looked a little down, Aline looked nervous, Toad and Bryony were playing a game of serious catch-up in the corner, and only Rosalba looked properly happy.
But, as Aria gritted her teeth and put up with her hair being pulled every which way, they were here, and they had wonderful dresses, and they were chatting cheerfully, and generally helping to keep her calm. She’d been extremely angry with Rea’s stories, making Crystal not want to come along, because she had to stay in Hatfield and prevent the world ending. Rea was _wrong_, she just knew it, but for obvious reasons Crystal didn’t want to take that chance.
The gown, when it finally came to actually getting dressed, was heavy. Much heavier than she’d expected. It’d been something of an effort, trying to negotiate with the help of six bridesmaids, not all of whom were sure what to do, actually getting into the dress. But, once on, there was a brief moment to pause, and pretend like this day wasn’t the biggest rush job in the world, and that everything would be fine.
Cormac knocked on the door before she was due to head down for the ceremony, murmuring the usual polite comments about how her dress looked nice, and how he was very happy for her, before giving her a small box. As he left, she opened it carefully, saw the glint of a St. Christopher necklace, and realised he had been trying to explain he was going to let her go. The Patron Saint of travellers and for those about to go on long journeys – how appropriate. She slipped the box into her bag, resolving to put the necklace on at the reception afterwards.
The ceremony itself was simple, straightforward, and suffered no interruptions. Aria walked in to the traditional wedding march, having scotched any suggestions of other music, and though she noticed that Sokol had come armed (oh god, how to explain that to her friends from work!), and seemed to be pointedly ignoring the Babushka for some reason, that Sam was sat next to the Babushka as promised, and that stood next to Carin was Doug, looking a little nervous and clearly clutching something in his hand, seemingly for fear it might get lost from pocket to exchange. She watched Toby, looking a confusing mix of annoyed and worried, sat in the front row. The mysterious GB, smiling and looking slightly past her at Deyanira. Zenica and Sam curled up next to each other, and Aidan watching over Doug cautiously. Even Rea was there, looking somewhat blankly at the proceedings, which Aria filed away for future reference, as the thought flittered through her mind that maybe Rea had actually been trying to get Crystal out of the picture.
She moved up to stand next to Carin, and her bridesmaids filtered into their seats behind her, Aline with Sokol, Rosie with Drago, Deyanira with GB, Rosalba with Sallow, and Bryony sitting with Toad.
Aria could practically hear the tension in the air when the registrar reached the line about lawful impediments, and she wondered who would be the first to strike if anyone had said anything. The collective sigh of relief when silence remained was almost amusing, and she smiled slightly as she looked over at Carin. He frowned, when she slightly altered her vows to “’til Death or Fae us do part”, and she frowned back when he blithely stuck to the original version. That was going to be troublesome.
But, ceremony completed without further incident, they walked back down the aisle as man and wife, and headed for the reception rooms for the start of what would be a very long photo session. Guests mingled as they were supplied with orange juice or champagne, occasionally called for photos by a very officious photographer, and she made sure that at least one of the photos arranged, given the lack of family, included the Babushka.
The line-up of greeting guests seemed mostly without incident, though she could tell Sokol was angered by something, that Aline had been upset by something while Aria hadn’t been paying attention, and that Toby was clearly distracted. She was somewhat saddened that Nemoria hadn’t attended, though she could understand why, particularly with the unexpectedly fine weather. She smiled and hugged and kissed everyone as you were supposed to, and tried to make sure she said something to everyone attending.
The meal was pleasant enough, and it was a relief to get to sit down, though the ridiculous size of the gown when sitting meant Carin was somewhat further away than she’d really have liked. Speeches passed, and there were only a few incidents where she wanted to hide under the table in shame, which she supposed was not bad going for the event. She did her own little speech, thanking everyone for making it, thanking her bridesmaids, and giving out the small presents they had bought for each of them, a teardrop necklace in silver with a different coloured gem hanging in it, depending on the person. She gave the Babushka a similarly sized box, this one with a necklace of small rainbow of gems inside the silver wire frame.
She smiled with amusement after the first dance, when, after a few seconds of blistering embarrassment with everyone watching her and Carin (even though she’d been practicing, he was still slightly better on his feet, though she’d never admit it), her bridesmaids started to drift onto the floor as well, dancing away lightly. It made her smile even more when she saw Sallow whisper quietly to Rosalba at the end of the dance, and the two of them make their polite apologies and slip away.
She noticed Drago making the effort to talk to everyone, including her friends from work, and Carin’s friends from work, and even the staff at the hotel, although she worried as the night went on and it seemed like he and Rosie were in a competition as to who could drink the most. Still, Aidan was watching over them with a careful eye, so she knew they would make it home safely.
She noticed two masked figures circulating around the room, asking for dances, who seemed to be rather pointedly avoiding her, Rosie and Carin. The lady in the blues, and the man in the reds and golds danced their way through the wedding guests, with Deyanira dancing with them both. Emboldened by champagne, and more than a little curious, she headed over to the man in the autumnal colours, and asked for a dance. It became rapidly apparent through his small talk, that even with the neat and careful way he guided her around the dance floor, it wasn’t Him, or any sort of Fae. The slight tremor in his voice gave away his absolute terror, and she wondered quite what had pressed him to attend, since something obviously had – he wouldn’t be here, being so afraid, if someone or something hadn’t pushed him into it.
The drama came while Aria was chatting quietly to Kieran, who had seemed a little out of sorts and upset, and pointedly avoiding speaking with Zenica. She heard a slight scream of surprise, and turned round to see the woman in blue on the floor, cradling the side of her face, tears falling, while Sokol grabbed at Aline’s arm and dragged her from the room, furiously ranting in Russian. She looked over at Carin in dismay, and began trying to shepherd people to help calm things down, getting Carin to speak to the hotel staff and stop them calling the police, asking Zenica, Sam and Rosie to calm down the guests, especially her and Carin’s non-Lost friends, and trying gently to comfort the woman curled up on the dance floor, crying and clutching at her face. If she found out who sent in this poor pair, she was going to be so very angry…
The rest of the evening was somewhat more subdued after Sokol and Aline’s rather dramatic exit. She made sure the Babushka left safely, and accepted her gift gracefully, hiding her slight confusion at the contents of some twine, coppery coloured coins, autumn leaves and a lump of amber. She thanked people for attending, and looked on cheerfully at how happy Deyanira and GB looked. She made a point of thanking Cormac for his present, making sure she was wearing it after the wedding breakfast. She talked quietly to Dominic, checking he was recovering well after the messy combat in London, and checked with Zenica and Sam that all was fine with them. Finally, the time came where politeness meant her and Carin could leave, and they slipped away up to the bridal suite, and away from the closing moments of the reception.
The morning of Saturday February 14th dawned, bright and clear. Suspiciously bright, for a day forecast to be rains and clouds. Aria eyed the sky thoughtfully, and wondered which of the guests she’d have to thank for the present of good weather for the day.
The wedding being in Brighton meant a number of people had stayed overnight, packing out the small hotel to capacity. What seemed a small army of staff were on standby, ready to keep bride and groom at opposite sides of the building, and make sure they didn’t catch sight of each other before 2pm. Aria had struggled to keep a straight face when the maid had earnestly explained that it was bad luck otherwise. If only they knew the half of it.
She mentally checked over the list. She’d arranged for transport for the Babushka, as agreed, when Sam as chaperone had warned her that the Babushka wanted more out of the deal for attending than he was willing to sign up for. She’d sent out the last minute invitations, had a fair number of responses, and everything else, the hotel was taking care of. Flowers were to be red and white with plenty of bright green foliage. The dress, she’d found, bought, and then Sam had stepped in with a wonderful contact of his, to have it altered to fit perfectly. All in the space of 48 hours.
Nothing like spur of the moment. She imagined that Carin was well on the way to making himself public enemy number one with his fretting.
She’d asked her bridesmaids to meet her after breakfast for things like hair and makeup and checking everyone had everything they needed, on the grounds that there would still be time to sort things out if something had been forgotten. Of course, forgetting to tell her bridesmaids that this was all part of the plan had been a bit of an error on her part, and Rosie looked initially rather baffled at the required preparations. Still, she put up with the curling tongs, and the hair pins, and the fussing from the hairdresser and the makeup artist. Deyanira looked a little down, Aline looked nervous, Toad and Bryony were playing a game of serious catch-up in the corner, and only Rosalba looked properly happy.
But, as Aria gritted her teeth and put up with her hair being pulled every which way, they were here, and they had wonderful dresses, and they were chatting cheerfully, and generally helping to keep her calm. She’d been extremely angry with Rea’s stories, making Crystal not want to come along, because she had to stay in Hatfield and prevent the world ending. Rea was _wrong_, she just knew it, but for obvious reasons Crystal didn’t want to take that chance.
The gown, when it finally came to actually getting dressed, was heavy. Much heavier than she’d expected. It’d been something of an effort, trying to negotiate with the help of six bridesmaids, not all of whom were sure what to do, actually getting into the dress. But, once on, there was a brief moment to pause, and pretend like this day wasn’t the biggest rush job in the world, and that everything would be fine.
Cormac knocked on the door before she was due to head down for the ceremony, murmuring the usual polite comments about how her dress looked nice, and how he was very happy for her, before giving her a small box. As he left, she opened it carefully, saw the glint of a St. Christopher necklace, and realised he had been trying to explain he was going to let her go. The Patron Saint of travellers and for those about to go on long journeys – how appropriate. She slipped the box into her bag, resolving to put the necklace on at the reception afterwards.
The ceremony itself was simple, straightforward, and suffered no interruptions. Aria walked in to the traditional wedding march, having scotched any suggestions of other music, and though she noticed that Sokol had come armed (oh god, how to explain that to her friends from work!), and seemed to be pointedly ignoring the Babushka for some reason, that Sam was sat next to the Babushka as promised, and that stood next to Carin was Doug, looking a little nervous and clearly clutching something in his hand, seemingly for fear it might get lost from pocket to exchange. She watched Toby, looking a confusing mix of annoyed and worried, sat in the front row. The mysterious GB, smiling and looking slightly past her at Deyanira. Zenica and Sam curled up next to each other, and Aidan watching over Doug cautiously. Even Rea was there, looking somewhat blankly at the proceedings, which Aria filed away for future reference, as the thought flittered through her mind that maybe Rea had actually been trying to get Crystal out of the picture.
She moved up to stand next to Carin, and her bridesmaids filtered into their seats behind her, Aline with Sokol, Rosie with Drago, Deyanira with GB, Rosalba with Sallow, and Bryony sitting with Toad.
Aria could practically hear the tension in the air when the registrar reached the line about lawful impediments, and she wondered who would be the first to strike if anyone had said anything. The collective sigh of relief when silence remained was almost amusing, and she smiled slightly as she looked over at Carin. He frowned, when she slightly altered her vows to “’til Death or Fae us do part”, and she frowned back when he blithely stuck to the original version. That was going to be troublesome.
But, ceremony completed without further incident, they walked back down the aisle as man and wife, and headed for the reception rooms for the start of what would be a very long photo session. Guests mingled as they were supplied with orange juice or champagne, occasionally called for photos by a very officious photographer, and she made sure that at least one of the photos arranged, given the lack of family, included the Babushka.
The line-up of greeting guests seemed mostly without incident, though she could tell Sokol was angered by something, that Aline had been upset by something while Aria hadn’t been paying attention, and that Toby was clearly distracted. She was somewhat saddened that Nemoria hadn’t attended, though she could understand why, particularly with the unexpectedly fine weather. She smiled and hugged and kissed everyone as you were supposed to, and tried to make sure she said something to everyone attending.
The meal was pleasant enough, and it was a relief to get to sit down, though the ridiculous size of the gown when sitting meant Carin was somewhat further away than she’d really have liked. Speeches passed, and there were only a few incidents where she wanted to hide under the table in shame, which she supposed was not bad going for the event. She did her own little speech, thanking everyone for making it, thanking her bridesmaids, and giving out the small presents they had bought for each of them, a teardrop necklace in silver with a different coloured gem hanging in it, depending on the person. She gave the Babushka a similarly sized box, this one with a necklace of small rainbow of gems inside the silver wire frame.
She smiled with amusement after the first dance, when, after a few seconds of blistering embarrassment with everyone watching her and Carin (even though she’d been practicing, he was still slightly better on his feet, though she’d never admit it), her bridesmaids started to drift onto the floor as well, dancing away lightly. It made her smile even more when she saw Sallow whisper quietly to Rosalba at the end of the dance, and the two of them make their polite apologies and slip away.
She noticed Drago making the effort to talk to everyone, including her friends from work, and Carin’s friends from work, and even the staff at the hotel, although she worried as the night went on and it seemed like he and Rosie were in a competition as to who could drink the most. Still, Aidan was watching over them with a careful eye, so she knew they would make it home safely.
She noticed two masked figures circulating around the room, asking for dances, who seemed to be rather pointedly avoiding her, Rosie and Carin. The lady in the blues, and the man in the reds and golds danced their way through the wedding guests, with Deyanira dancing with them both. Emboldened by champagne, and more than a little curious, she headed over to the man in the autumnal colours, and asked for a dance. It became rapidly apparent through his small talk, that even with the neat and careful way he guided her around the dance floor, it wasn’t Him, or any sort of Fae. The slight tremor in his voice gave away his absolute terror, and she wondered quite what had pressed him to attend, since something obviously had – he wouldn’t be here, being so afraid, if someone or something hadn’t pushed him into it.
The drama came while Aria was chatting quietly to Kieran, who had seemed a little out of sorts and upset, and pointedly avoiding speaking with Zenica. She heard a slight scream of surprise, and turned round to see the woman in blue on the floor, cradling the side of her face, tears falling, while Sokol grabbed at Aline’s arm and dragged her from the room, furiously ranting in Russian. She looked over at Carin in dismay, and began trying to shepherd people to help calm things down, getting Carin to speak to the hotel staff and stop them calling the police, asking Zenica, Sam and Rosie to calm down the guests, especially her and Carin’s non-Lost friends, and trying gently to comfort the woman curled up on the dance floor, crying and clutching at her face. If she found out who sent in this poor pair, she was going to be so very angry…
The rest of the evening was somewhat more subdued after Sokol and Aline’s rather dramatic exit. She made sure the Babushka left safely, and accepted her gift gracefully, hiding her slight confusion at the contents of some twine, coppery coloured coins, autumn leaves and a lump of amber. She thanked people for attending, and looked on cheerfully at how happy Deyanira and GB looked. She made a point of thanking Cormac for his present, making sure she was wearing it after the wedding breakfast. She talked quietly to Dominic, checking he was recovering well after the messy combat in London, and checked with Zenica and Sam that all was fine with them. Finally, the time came where politeness meant her and Carin could leave, and they slipped away up to the bridal suite, and away from the closing moments of the reception.
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Date: 2009-02-25 01:57 pm (UTC)Need more coffee obviously ....
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