The online diary of Caroline
Westbrook and her forthcoming marriage on September 6 1998 to Leslie
Bunder.
Saturday August 1 1998
Went to Karen and Edward's house-warming party tonight in Finchley,
North London. Saw Judy, who had just booked her plane tickets to New York.
She is coming out with a friend, Allison, who is also coming to the wedding, which should be a lot of fun. It was a good party, very nice to see people we hadn't seen for ages. And the house is gorgeous!
Sunday August 2 1998
Exhaustion has set in once again, but freelancing calls. My first
moment of relaxation this weekend came at approximately 12.05 am on Monday morning. That is how busy we have been.
Monday August 3 1998
Catherine's dress fitting this time, which went pretty well - she looks
similarly good in the dress, the colour suits her really well. Went for
some dinner in the evening and then she stayed over.
Both dresses will be ready for collection on the 14th, although
Catherine may have to pick hers up later - her work schedule makes it very difficult for her to get to London.
Tuesday August 4 1998
I now have 16 people coming to my hen night! There are about another
seven or eight or so who haven't replied yet or who aren't sure whether they can make it, so we should get a very good crowd.
We are going to the Texas Embassy Cantina, behind Trafalgar Square - I haven't actually eaten there, but by all accounts it's good, plus they are the only Mexican restaurant I could find in London that still does free corn chips. Which is a good sign as far as I am concerned.
Wednesday August 5 1998
Received a letter from Shelly Lang Orchestras which I have to fax back to them
at some point, regarding the sort of music we want for the wedding. We have
played through the CD of Jewish music for the walkdown and the tape of the
party music they do, but are still undecided!
Thursday August 6 1998
Work is truly manic at the moment, and what with sorting out the
wedding as well every moment of the day seems full.
Tomorrow is the deadline for people sending back their reply cards, but as you can imagine, there are a lot of
people out there who haven't. I hope they don't all just show up on the day!
The wedding is one month today.
Friday August 7 1998
Finally! It's the weekend. Went to my parents on Friday night and - surprise!- discussed wedding things.
Next week we start chasing people, finding out who needs payment, that kind of thing. It seems that everything is falling into place quite nicely though.
Saturday August 8 1998
Had a lovely day in the park with Nick and Louise and their pals, it was Louise's birthday yesterday so they invited us to go to the local jazz festival.
It was the hottest day of the year so far (finally! we get some summer!), so spent most of the afternoon lying on a blanket, listening to salsa music, eating crisps (naughty!) and wilting in the heat.
The urge to go and consume a big bowl of Haagen-Dazs was never far off. But we ended up going down to the East End in the evening for an indifferent curry instead.
Sunday August 9 1998
Up early to a screening of Small Soldiers (which I quite enjoyed), then back home. Too tired, and hot, to do anything, except sleep, clean the flat, and wonder why on earth the hairdresser hasn't called yet.
Monday August 10 1998
Figures for the hen night are looking a little shaky - it seems that everybody has decided to take advantage of the warm weather and go away for the weekend.
Still, it'll be fun whatever number we end up with.
This is a big week, as well as the hen night (and our respective birthdays) I
am getting my dress and the bridesmaids are getting theirs. But the
hairdresser still has not returned my call and I am getting a tad panicky.
Tuesday August 11 1998
Had a chat with David the florist today, who received the Polaroids of my dress and is designing the bouquet accordingly.
He is also going to put candles on each table for only $100 extra, which will make the place look just lovely. Still working too hard.
Wednesday August 12 1998
Still no word from the hairdresser. We also need to find someone who can quickly print a batch of menu cards, as the caterer does not supply these and we'd like to have them.
Must also get around to doing the table plan at some point, not quite so much of a chore as some weddings as we have less guests. But still a priority.
Thursday August 13 1998
Leslie's birthday! He was very pleased with his lottery tickets and copy of Tough Jews, the book about Jewish gangsters that I bought for him.
We went to the Harvey Nichols branch of Yo! Sushi in the evening (this is the place where the raw delicacies roll by on a conveyor belt and you choose what you want,
paying according to the coloured plates you pick.
They have a deal at the Harvey Nicks branch where it's all you can eat for £15 per person (except for pink plates which cost extra).
Having decided we needed to justify this deal(it's actually quite tough to eat £15 worth or sushi) we managed to get through £60 worth.
Heaven knows how, but it was delicious.
Anyway, finally got through to the hairdresser who had been given some random jumble of figures instead of my phone number and had been frantically trying to get hold of me.
It's now all sorted, seven of us having hair done, five hair and nails and four hair, nails and make-up (me, the bridesmaids and Lorraine). And anybody else who wants to be done can be booked in later.
They're even opening an hour earlier for us (at 10 am) and laying on brunch for us. Which is even better.
Finally, my mother picked my dress up for me today. I will see it tomorrow night.
Friday August 14 1998
Saw my bridesmaids for the first time today in their dresses, with headpieces and bouquets.
They looked fantastic, and, hopefully, thanks to the hair and make-up talents of Salon East, will look even better on the day.
Stayed at my parents tonight in order not to wake up alone on my birthday the next day.
Tried the wedding dress on and was delighted to see it fit perfectly. It is now back in the protective bag which it will not leave until September 6.
The office were very nice on the birthday front and bought me a lovely black fun fur evening bag, glittery nail polish, a key ring and a really lovely silver choker.
The bag is wonderful - it was like sharing my desk with a furry domestic pet.
I wanted to stay awake past midnight but I was pretty much fast asleep by then. Getting old!
Friday August 15 1998
I'm 27! Which is still pretty young by my calculations.
Got a couple of recipe books from my parents (which is nice, as I haven't had much of a chance to cook things in the flat which don't come out of jars or packets)
and more lottery tickets, and a heated styling brush.
My brother bought me a copy of This Is Eurovision, a double CD of Eurovision songs, which I have been playing all day without exception.
Leslie came round and took me shopping in the morning and I came away with a lovely short-sleeved Marks and Spencer cardigan (fine for the late summer we're having),
went back to his for lunch (had fish and chips!) and ended up back at my parents for cake.
When I finally got home there was a flower bouquet sitting in a bucket outside my front door, which my neighbours had left there.
I love birthdays!
Hen and stag nights tonight!
Leslie and some friends went off for Lebanese cuisine followed by a trip to the casino, and I went to the Texas Embassy Cantina, and had a turnout of about 12 people, which was great!
The main thing was that all the people who showed were my close friends, including Catherine who had sworn blind she would be working on the Isle of Wight
but kind of gave the game away when she rang me on Thursday and said 'so, where you going on Saturday night then?'
The margaritas were superb and the fajitas even better, but so huge I could only manage about half of their, literally, Texas sized portions.
The whole thing ended about midnight when we caught the last train and Louise gave me a lift home from the station where she had left her car.
Leslie, meanwhile, had arrived home about half past midnight, having won at the casino and feeling very satisfied.
Fell into bed about 1.30am
Sunday August 16 1998
My usual post-birthday slump (that point when I realise August 16 is the longest possible time of the year until my next birthday) is non-existent owing to the fact that the excitement starts all over again in just over two weeks when we fly out to NY!
Given that this is probably the last bit of free time I will have between now and then (working during the week, sorting things out over the next two weekends) I spent the entire day pottering round the flat,
reading with the balcony doors open and generally chilling. Lovely!
This week I have the delightful task of sorting out the wardrobes so that
Leslie can begin to move his stuff in before we go.
Monday August 17 1998
Taking stock of our pre-wedding situation, I think we're doing pretty
well, there doesn't seem a great deal left to do. Even better news is that
Leslie's tuxedo has now arrived in John Lewis, so we can pick that up at the
weekend.
All he has to do now is find a dress shirt, waistcoat and shoes.
Shouldn't be a problem.
Tuesday August 18 1998
My parents have been sent a full and detailed copy of the menu from Mr.
Kay, and my suspicions have been confirmed - the reception is BIG! Not too
big to manage the equally capacious dinner though . . .
We have now decided to have candles on each table as well as our own.
At the weekend comes the really fun part - working out the table plan. We have
been told we can have 12 to a table so hopefully we should be able to sit
everybody with the people they want to be with.
Wednesday August 19 1998
Things are fairly quiet at work at the moment, so hopefully I won't
have too much to finish before I go to NY.
Made a start on the wardrobe tonight, throwing out anything I haven't worn in the past year, and neatly
stacking everything I do. Next up I'll move about 50 per cent of my things into
the spare wardrobe, so Leslie gets half the rail, and half the top and
bottom shelves. I had forgotten how many clothes I own!
Thursday August 20 1998
Any plans to complete the wardrobe were scuppered when I ended up going
with Leslie neither of us had thought was until next Tuesday (oh well, that
gives me next Tuesday night free then!). It turned out to be a really good
do, at a Moroccan restaurant called Momo. Free mint juleps all night!
We stayed till about half past midnight and coincidentally met a lot of people who are
similarly planning weddings/wedding Web sites. Clearly the craze is
catching on. One girl I spoke to had even been to Virgin Bride and tried on my
dress! (she's going for a different one though).
So any good intentions I had of getting a few early nights in before
New York have gone straight out the window. I have another two parties to go to
next Thursday! Still, it's good fun.
Friday August 21 1998
Another quiet day at work. We're going out early tomorrow to pick up
Leslie's tux.
Saturday August 22 1998
Got the tux in the afternoon, but not before Leslie had bought his
shoes for the wedding. They're actually lace-up Chelsea boots, with a kind of
small black alligator print effect. They are very stylish, and they look
wonderful with the tux, which in its own way looks pretty wonderful.
It's actually a little different from your average black tie get-up, the jacket's a lot
longer and it's got wine red satin lining instead of black. It's a superb
investment and it's perfect for the day.
Leslie's wedding ring, on the other hand, is proving a touch more
problematic. It seems there are only about four platinum groom rings available in
London, and none of them is in Leslie's size. It'll take two weeks for one to
arrive if we order it. Things weren't looking too good, until Leslie hit upon
the idea of ordering it through the Internet.
In the end we came across a place in Houston Texas that makes rings to order, and a quick phone call
confirmed the owner could have a ring made and shipped to us within five days. It's a
3.5 mm flat platinum band, and it's just what Leslie is looking for. So we may
well go with that. The jeweller has been in business for 15 years and has
his own shop, so it could well be a good bet.
Sunday August 23 1998
Final pre-NY meeting at my parents, in which we went through the last
minute details, say Mr. Kay's extended breakdown of the menu (yum!) and
started work on the table plan, which wasn't as difficult as it looked.
All you have to do is match the people who know each other to the other people who know
each other, and put all the floating people with those we think they'll get
on with. Shouldn't be a problem though.
Monday August 24 1998
Start of my last pre-wedding week at work, so plenty to do. We have
almost done everything wedding wise, which is really good news. This week we
have to book limos, sort out the table plans and chase up any last minute
guests.
Tuesday August 25 1998
Took Leslie's tuxedo trousers in to John Lewis to be shortened. The
suit is perfect but the trousers are just that little bit too long. It will
take two days to fix and after that they will be perfect.
In the mean time, I can't help wondering why nobody has called me this
week and then I remebered - it's because everybody's already gone out to NY!
Most of our friends who are going are either out there already or in the
process of going. Things are suddenly very quiet around here.
Wednesday August 26 1998
Still trying to get in touch with the Rabbi, who seems to have gone on a
permanent vacation. That's my real priority this week. My outfit is now
complete for the day. Something old will be my white satin shoes.
Something new is the wedding dress, obviously. Something blue will be my free
Virgin Bride garter. All I have to do now is borrow something from someone...
Thursday August 27 1998
Found the time to see Leslie (and pick up his newly shortened tux), go
shopping and go to two parties tonight. I was most proud of myself.
Obviously I did get asked the top five wedding questions at both ("Are you
excited? Nervous? Etc.) Of course I'm not excited! (just kidding). Got to bed
about 1 am - again!
Friday August 28 1998
I have been less tired before, I can assure you. Finally got hold of
Jeff Levinson at the Synagogue, who will have the Rabbi call me on Sunday
afternoon.
Meanwhile, the office were very nice and took me to lunch, then
presented me with flowers, champagne (that didn't last very long) and a £50
Selfridges gift voucher. Leslie, meanwhile, walked away with a giant card and £70 worth
of vouchers from Habitat (Habitat!).
All we have to do now is buy a bigger apartment to put all our presents and purchases in!
Stayed at my parents' tonight as Leslie's Aufruf is tomorrow and we're
all off to Shul.
Saturday August 29 1998
The Aufruf went off exceedingly well - Leslie was called up in Shul
(and said his piece very nicely), and then got pelted with sweets for his trouble
(as you do).
The Rabbi made a congratulatory sermon, which was very well
received. The Kiddush afterwards was an absolute spread too (terrific smoked
salmon), then we all went back to my folks' place for lunch. A very nice day was
had by all.
Went shopping for my last few bits and pieces, ended up with a load of
sale-price clothes from Marks And Spencer (they will be coming with me).
Sunday August 30 1998
Went to Bushey cemetery in the morning to visit Leslie's father's grave
and also my grandparents.
Then it was back home for the preparations to begin. Had loads of
freelancing to do, however, so the packing will have to wait until tomorrow.
Finally spoke to the Rabbi, who is seeing us at 2 pm on Wednesday. Too tired to do
anything else by midnight.
Monday August 31 1998
Woke up far too early for a Bank Holiday. Did first batch of writing.
Packed.
Did second batch of writing. Cleaned flat. Took occasional food breaks.
Paid bills. Scribbled a note to the neighbours about picking up the mail
while I'm gone. Finally fell asleep utterly exhausted about midnight. (why? I can
sleep on the plane!)
I have not seen fresh air all day. I can hardly believe the departure
date has finally arrived - it seems to have come around so quickly!
