Katie Fforde - Wedding Season

Bron watched him descend the ladder, trying not to notice that his jeans were a bit tighter and newer than usual today. It was a good look for him.

Bron and Elsa were frantically washing their hands. Carrie had arrived, half an hour late, and they both wanted her.

Bron was laughing, slightly hysterically. 'James and I were carrying the ladder back to the barn where it lived. We were just passing my pigsty when we heard the car. He turned round suddenly and the ladder when through the window! My bed is covered in glass.'

‘That's awful!' said Elsa. 'What did you do?'

‘Nothing! I just came running up here.'

‘Will James sort it out?'

‘I don't know. But I haven't got time to worry about it now. The really awful thing is, we were getting on so well, I was going to say something but…' It had happened in rather a rush and she'd had to run up here to prepare for Carrie.

‘Oh Bron… well, never mind, at least you'll have an opportunity to see him later.' Elsa sighed.

‘Have you heard from Laurence?' Bron asked.

‘No, I haven't heard from him in a while,' Elsa said as she dried her hands. No good thinking about that now. 'Right, I think I'm clean. I'd better go and find Carrie. Rupert told me she's in an awful mood.’

Bron made a face. 'My nerves are already in shreds. There's something about the sound of breaking glass that goes right through you.'

‘I heard Fenella ringing Sarah. Carrie is not happy that she's not here. Although she did know about Lily's wedding, she still expected her to be here for her.’

Bron glanced at her watch. 'She must have left by now, don't you think?’

Elsa shrugged. 'They won't have started the speeches yet, surely? Lily was getting married at two – it takes at least an hour for the ceremony, the photos and getting back to the house.'

‘She won't make it, will she? Which means we have to cope with a grumpy superstar all on our own!’

The moment Sarah had thought would never arrive finally came. Lily, on her father's arm, processed up the aisle to Purcell's 'Trumpet Tune'. She looked truly beautiful in the dress Elsa had made for her and probably only those who knew she was pregnant would notice her tiny bump. As Sarah, wearing a silk chiffon dress with a jacket in a soft yellow that toned in beautifully with Lily's underskirt, was sitting on the bride's side she couldn't hear any hissings or mutterings that might have come from the groom's section of the church. This was a relief.

As unobtrusively as possible, Sarah got the corner of her hanky up to her eyes, thinking that maybe she wasn't the cynical wedding planner she once was, and wondered briefly if Hugo had anything to do with it. Whatever the reason, her eyes took some dabbing.

Dirk, who looked young and handsome, seemed relatively serene, although there had been a bout of tears earlier, Sarah had been told.

Lily had behaved unexpectedly calmly. All the weepiness of the night before seemed to be over. Her hair and skin shone with the bloom of pregnancy and her dress looked lovely, gently opening over down the front like a gown in a medieval painting. Elsa had done wonders.

Earlier there had been a moment that caused Sarah's heart to falter, just slightly, when Lily, inevitably, had asked, 'Does my bump look big in this? Mona's really insistent that I don't look pregnant and I promised her I wouldn't.’

Sarah decided to lie. After all, it didn't actually look big, it just looked visible. 'Not at all. You look really, really lovely. I just wish Mum could have seen you.' Sarah felt her throat tighten and she swallowed.

Lily's eyelashes fluttered briefly. 'It's all right, you've seen me. And Dirk will see me, and Dad. And Mum may be looking down on us from somewhere.’

As the sisters hugged Sarah felt a moment of role reversal: Lily was comforting her and she was the one close to tears.

Lily had accepted the place settings, agreeing with Sarah that at least with her in-put, there shouldn't be too many disasters. She was very relieved not to have the formal lineup her future mother-in-law wanted, but the two-part version as suggested by Sarah. Sarah, torn in two by her sister's wedding and her first celebrity one, felt pleased to have made Lily's day easier. She knew that she'd already done loads – in fact it was through her and her contacts that it had all been done so thriftily. But Sarah also knew that she might have to scoot off early when Lily might still need her support.

There had been a few hitches before they got to this point, of course. The marquee, which had been such a bargain to hire, developed a split. Hardly surprising, considering its age and the very low rental, but it had meant Sarah had to spend quite a lot of time up a ladder with a roll of gaffer tape.

Mrs Boscastle's fine herbaceous border was the backdrop for one side of the marquee, but there had been a very small budget for flowers. Her friends, aided by the Catering Ladies, each of whom Sarah would have awarded an MBE had it been in her gift, put their many skills to good use and had made table arrangements out of what blooms there were, all of which seemed to come from their own gardens. The WI and its ilk, so despised by Mrs Boscastle, had added the final touch to make the marquee fit for a wedding. Sarah crossed her fingers that Sukie had managed to save the floral day at Somerby. She was very good, and it was a major stroke of luck that she was available, but would she have been able to get hold of enough material for something suitably sensational?

Sarah glanced at her watch as her father and Lily were deposited at the front of the church. It was twenty minutes past two.

By the time Lily's second bridesmaid went up to do a reading Sarah knew they were running very late. In theory she should get into her car now and make haste to Somerby, possibly adding the cost of speeding tickets to Carrie's bill. But she couldn't do that, she realised as Lily's friend stumbled over The Prophet – it wasn't Carrie's fault her wedding day coincided with Sarah's sister's. It was just a horrible coincidence. Should she have said no to Carrie? No, she couldn't have. A wedding like that could make her name, or – if it all went wrong – break it.

Nor could she run away yet, not until after her father had made his speech. The best man, the groom and any other random orations could go on without her, but she had to hear her dad.

Outside the church, the photographer, booked only for a very few formal shots, was rather surprised to be hustled along quite so briskly, but he knew Sarah, wanted to be used by her again, and did what he was told.

‘You don't want all those pictures of the relations,' Sarah muttered to Mrs Boscastle, as they watched the bride and groom smiling up at each other. 'Frightfully common!’

Sarah, who'd booked this photographer when she'd developed cold feet about Uncle Joby's reliability, was very glad she had. He was far more interested in chatting up Charlene than taking photographs.

Nor was there time for the bride and groom to have a glass of champagne and a cuddle in the car on the way to the reception. This was something that Sarah always suggested if it were possible. It was a moment for the newly-weds to be alone to savour the moment before the hurly-burly of the reception.

This time, however, Dirk's friend, who'd been entrusted with getting them to the reception safely, was told the priorities had changed – they now had to be there in record time. Fortunately it was very near by and anyway, Lily wasn't drinking.

The double line-up worked brilliantly. Sarah, hanging round Lily so between them they would remember the names of the more obscure family members, did overhear people asking her when the happy event was due, but if they said similar things to the families, at least Lily didn't know about it.