The Bridesmaid Pact (25 page)

Dorrie

When I grow up, I am going to marry the man of my dreams and arrive at my wedding in a horse-drawn carriage with my three best friends. We will all wear Disney princess dresses and walk down the aisle to ‘One Day My Prince Will Come’. I will dance back up the aisle with Darren to ‘Congratulations’. Darren will wear white and Woody will be dressed in a miniature costume the same as his dad’s. The sun will shine all day long and the birds will chirrup in the trees, and any minute now a Disney chorus line will burst into song.

Doris, aged thirty-six

Well even I couldn’t manage to find a Disney choir on eBay, but my wedding day in September dawned fair and bright. The girls had all stayed the night at mine, Darren, Matt, Charlie and Joe were consigned to Sarah’s house on baby-sitting duties. I felt guilty thinking Darren might want a last drink with his mates, as he hadn’t managed a proper stag do, but he said he had no regrets about losing his bachelor status – and besides, going to nightclubs was the best way
he could think of to pick up all manner of unseemly germs. Bless him. Only Yakult Man could worry about a thing like that on his stag night.

We woke early in the morning, just as I’d always planned I would on my wedding day. I was up first, watching the sun rise over the back garden, as I brewed a cup of tea in the kitchen. As I stood looking out on the dew-dropped lawn, a startled deer, that must have escaped from the nearby common, jumped over my fence. It paused and we stared at each other for one long minute, before it leapt away and fled off in the rosy pink dawn. It was a tiny moment of Disney magic to mark my special day.

Caz had provided buck’s fizz and croissants for breakfast and the four of us sipped it lying in bed, well Beth didn’t of course, but she raised a glass of orange with us, as we toasted the Fab Four.

‘All four one, and one four all,’ we cried.

I went to the box I’d treasured since childhood.

‘Look what I found when I was clearing up,’ I said. I opened it up, and took out a piece of faded paper.

‘Oh my god, you haven’t still got it have you?’ said Sarah.

‘Of course,’ I said, and read it aloud

‘We solemnly declare, that we four will be friends forever. And we promise that when we get married we will only have our three friends as bridesmaids. And we promise that we will be bridesmaids for our friends. From this day forth, forever and ever, shall this vow be binding.’

‘Here’s to the Bridesmaid Pact,’ I added. ‘It’s only taken us twenty-eight years to get it right.’

‘You don’t still have our mouldy old hair, do you?’ said Caz. ‘That’s gross.’

‘No it’s not,’ said Beth, picking up the pieces of entwined
hair I’d kept safe all these years in a locket my dad had given me. ‘I think it’s rather lovely. Don’t you remember that day? And how we all wanted to be Diana?’

‘I didn’t,’ snorted Caz.

‘Well the rest of us did,’ retorted Beth. ‘But I think Dorrie looks much more beautiful than Di ever did.’

‘I’ll second that,’ said Caz.

‘It’s a shame Prince William hasn’t had the decency to propose to Kate Middleton yet,’ said Sarah thoughtfully. ‘Wouldn’t it have been neat if you’d married the year they did?’

‘I don’t care,’ I said. ‘I don’t believe in fairytale endings any more.’

‘Dorrie, you can’t say that!’ said Caz scandalized. ‘I’m the one who doesn’t believe in fairytales.’

‘I said I don’t believe in fairytale
endings
,’ I said. ‘Because the wedding day isn’t the end of the fairytale. It’s just the beginning.’

Caz threw a cushion at me. ‘You are such a soppy sap, Doris Bradley.’

‘Always was, always will be,’ said Sarah.

‘Oh do stop making me laugh,’ said Beth. ‘My bladder isn’t what it was.’

We got ready listening to Billy Idol’s ‘White Wedding’, singing the chorus loudly while Caz vainly attempted to do our make-up.

‘Will you all
please
keep still!’ she kept saying. ‘Honestly, you’re worse than most of the prima donna models I deal with.’ Which of course made us laugh even more.

I ached with laughter. The world seemed such a joyous place. The darkness that had afflicted me all those long
months leading up to the wedding was miraculously gone. With Darren at my side, I knew I could get through anything.

By one thirty we were all ready. The girls just as I’d imagined them, Sarah looking pretty in a pale cream Snow White dress – her fair hair curling in a soft flowing style. She looked much better now she wasn’t trying to look like a film star to please Steve. Caz had reluctantly donned the yellow Belle dress, and despite clearly feeling awkward, she looked stunning. ‘I am so going to get you for this,’ she said. ‘If Charlie ever dares to ask me to marry him again, I shall wear black and you’ll all have to come as goths.’ Beth, meanwhile, looked soft and feminine in her pink Sleeping Beauty dress, the only indication of her pregnancy a slight bump under the full skirt, and a beautiful glow that really suited her.

And as for me, I’d amended my Cinderella dress so it looked like the one Amy Adams wore in
Enchanted
. It had the fullest of skirts, and a long train – perhaps not quite as long as Diana’s but as near to what I’d envisaged for myself aged eight as I could get. My hair was piled up in curls above my head and I wore a beautiful headpiece woven with small pink and white roses created by Ivy, with a very simple veil.

‘Oh my god, you are gorgeous,’ said Caz as I walked into the room.

Mum came smiling to meet me. In the absence of Dad I’d asked her to give me away.

‘Your carriage awaits,’ she said laughing. ‘I can’t believe you’re really going through with this.’

We came out of the front door, to be met by various neighbours, scratching their heads at the sight of a Cinderella pumpkin carriage drawn by six white horses. It was the one luxury I’d allowed myself. All that scrimping and saving on eBay was just so I could have this.

The photographer took dozens of photos, and then we were off.

‘I hope the horses don’t turn back into mice before we get there,’ Caz joked.

‘You are not going to ruin my day, whatever you say, Caz Riley,’ I said.

‘Wouldn’t dream of it, Doris Bradley, wouldn’t dream of it,’ she laughed and stuck out her tongue.

I walked down the aisle to ‘One Day my Prince will Come’ in a haze of happiness, with Mum beside me and the girls following behind. And when I saw Darren standing there looking so handsome, holding Woody in his arms, my heart nearly burst with pride. He truly was my handsome prince. How could I have been so foolish as to think I couldn’t marry him?

‘You look fabulous,’ he said, as I came up to his side.

‘You too,’ I said, as he passed Woody to my mum and we walked up together to the front of the church, where Father Miserecordie called us to make our handwritten vows in front of the whole congregation.

‘I promise to love and honour and cherish you all the days of our wedded life,’ said Darren. ‘And vow to always be at your side through the good times and the bad. And wherever the path of our lives takes us, I will walk it with you.’

‘I promise to love and cherish you all the days of our wedded life,’ I responded. ‘And vow to never shut you out from my thoughts, and take you with me on the journey life takes us on, however dark and difficult the path.’

Then Darren leant over and kissed me on the lips, and the congregation erupted.

We literally danced down the aisle to ‘Congratulations’
while everyone roared and clapped. Afterwards we stood outside laughing and chatting while we had our pictures taken, and before we knew it, we were whisked away in our pumpkin carriage.

I still had no idea what was going on with the venue. Sarah and Mum had been extremely cagey about the whole thing. So it was a total surprise when the horses and carriage led us down Mum’s road and up her driveway.

‘Why are we here?’ I said. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Just you wait and see,’ said Darren, before leading me down from the carriage and carrying me over the threshold of Mum’s front door. We walked through the house into the back garden, which had been transformed.

‘Oh my goodness, that’s beautiful,’ I said, taking on board the magical fairy garden that Sarah had somehow created. Strings of fairy lights crisscrossed the garden and a beautiful marquee stood in the middle, from where I could hear the faint strains of a string quartet. In front of the marquee was a Disney-style bouncy castle.

‘Couldn’t quite get you the real thing,’ said Sarah, arriving moments behind us. ‘It was the best we could do.’

I laughed and laughed all day long. I was surrounded by people whom I loved and who loved me, and I’d married the man of my dreams. And as to what happened next, I was going to take the advice of the counsellor I had started to see, and take each day as it came.

The afternoon raced by in a bubble of happiness. I had never been so proud as when Darren stood up beside me, during his speech, his voice slightly cracking as he held my hand, and promised to be by my side whatever happened. ‘For,’ he said in conclusion, ‘as Gaff says in my favourite
film, we none of us know what our future holds. All I know is, my future is tied to Dorrie’s now and forever.’ He bent over to kiss me, and I saw tears in his eyes. ‘Now and forever, babe,’ he whispered. ‘And don’t you forget it.’

Then it was time to cut our four-tiered cake with its Cinderella and Prince Charming mannequins, before Darren led me onto the dance floor. The girls roared with laughter when the band struck up ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’. A few months ago I couldn’t have imagined dancing at my wedding, but thanks to finally having gone to see Mr Mason who’d sorted out my medication, and assured me I was going into remission, I felt better than I had for months, and for the first time in a long while, hopeful about the future.

At the end of the evening, we left to go on our way. The fairy lights lit our path as the long chain of guests all lined up to wish us well.

Everyone crowded round us as we got into the car that was taking us away to the secret location Darren had booked for the night. I threw my gorgeous bouquet of pink roses entwined with gypsophila and lilies up high in the air, watched it tumble and fall – straight into Caz’s hands. I saw her look at Charlie and blush, and he grinned at me and gave me the thumbs up. Joe and Sarah meanwhile were smooching next to the bushes like a pair of teenagers, and Matt was protectively patting Beth’s bump. My friends were all happy. And all was right in my world.

‘Happy, Mrs Maitland?’ said Darren as we drove away.

‘Blissfully,’ I said.

‘We’ve got the rest of our lives together,’ said Daz.

‘We should make the most of it then,’ I said.

‘I’ll drink to that,’ said Darren, as we chinked glasses and drove off into the warm September evening.

1. Don’t behave like a Bridezilla – treating your friends poorly or asking too much of them can ruin friendships and weddings.

2. Avoid celebrating the night before. You being hung over won’t be fun for anyone involved.

3. Don’t think about ex’s – yours or his. Such thoughts can only end badly.

4. Buy your wedding dress in the size you are – not the size you hope to be.

5. Cash bars are tacky. Very tacky.

6. If you are having an outdoor wedding make sure to have a back-up plan for poor weather.

7. Choose flattering dresses for your bridal party. They will never let you forget if you don’t.

8. Avoid drinking too much before or during your wedding. You want to fully remember the day, not just have fuzzy recollections.

9. Don’t seat divorced parents together, regardless of how amiable their relationships are.

10. While walking up the aisle don’t even consider the possibility that you might trip.

11. If you’ve never used spray on tan before, don’t experiment just before the wedding. You could be orange, red, flaky or streaky. Embrace your natural paleness.

12. Don’t forget to eat throughout the day. Lack of food will increase your stress levels and make the many toasts go right to your head.

13. Avoid getting a haircut for three to five weeks before your wedding. Hair disasters happen and you don’t want to grimace every time you look at your wedding photos.

14. Be sure to listen to your friends. They aren’t being spiteful witches when they tactfully explain that your make-up is smearing – they are being helpful and loving friends.

15. Don’t even think about divorce – it simply doesn’t exist in your wedding world.

16. Avoid stressing out over small details. It is your wedding day, a day you put a lot of time, money and effort into, so relax and have some fun!

As usual, I am going to be all diva-actress like and thank lots of people for the help they gave me with this book. And really this time there are a ridiculous number to thank, starting first with my wonderful agent, Dot Lumley and the incomparably supportive team at Avon who patiently put up with the many delays in the author’s delivery schedule, and who were extremely understanding during a rather tricky time. A special thank you to my outgoing editor, Maxine Hitchcock, whose idea this was, and my new editor Kate Bradley, who’s made the transition so smooth, and to the usual crew of Keshini Naidoo, Sammia Rafique and Caroline Ridding who are always so enthusiastic on my behalf.

And in their fiftieth anniversary year, I’d like to say a big hurrah for the Romantic Novelists’ Association, without whom I wouldn’t be doing what I am today.

I’d also like to thank: Sarah Iles, for help on pregnancy matters, and Emma Lothian and Michael Ware for generously sharing their experience of IVF, and my brother Fr John Moffatt SJ for insights into modern day Catholicism. Any mistakes on these and other matters, are purely my own.

I wrote this book during a particularly rocky patch in my life, so huge thanks go to my family for their support. I couldn’t have done it without you guys.

Most of all, this is a book about friendship. During my life I’ve been really lucky with my friends and I’d like to extend huge thanks to the many friends who have been there for me whether in times past, or present. To that end I’d like to give a big shout out to: Deirdre Ridley, Geraldine Ormonde, and my twin Virginia Moffatt – the original Fab Four, and to Sarah McWilliams, the Fab Fifth, for all those fun times at Pizza Hut; Liz Flach, whom I’ve known for far more years than I care to remember; and Pete Graham for being there over many many years. Also waving across the continent to Caroline Deighton, Jane Evans and Patrick O’Hare who shared some special years in Liverpool, and Ann Farrar who made me laugh all the way through my English studies.