Sweet?

Two days with Mum and Dad, one day home, then off to London tomorrow, then Cardiff, that's what this week looks like. I seem to live on trains. One of these days the guard on the East Coast Line will say 'oh no, not you again'. Tony might be persuaded to do a blog post while I'm away, or he might get Much to do it.

Anyway, Mum and I had a conversation yesterday about bridesmaids, in particular, little bridesmaids and flower girls. We talk about weddings a lot these days. She remembered one occasion when the flower girl burst into tears and ran for Mummy. I remembered one when the flower girl and the little page boy were all the way down the aisle with the rose petals while the bride was still standing in the doorway sorting her veil out. However, nobody minded, and they thought it was such fun they were quite happy to do it again, this time with the bride in full sail behind them.

Did you see Prince William and Kate's wedding? Two teeny tiny flower girls walked down the aisle with Pippa Middleton, the chief bridesmaid, holding on to their hands. Heaven help Kate if she'd needed help with anything, her chief bridesmaid was surgically glued to the little moppets. As soon as the party got to the chancel those two littlies mysteriously disappeared, only to appear again on the way out. Presumably somebody whisked them away and read them a Beatrix Potter in the meantime.

I was once at a wedding which went on for an extremely long time and the very small attendant and other little guests were rolling on the floor demolishing their posies or running up the aisle shrieking with laughter, so a couple of us organised an impromptu creche in the church porch. I found a Mr Men book and was sitting on the stairs reading it to a lot of very frilly little girls when the bridal march struck up. Now, I thought, Sally (not the bride's real name) will want her bridesmaid back. I closed the book, took the child by the hand and said - 'now we have to meet Auntie Sally and you'll have your photograph taken with her', and led her to the door. As the very beautiful bride glided past us, little bridesmaid pushed the book back into my hand.

'Read it', she ordered.