The online diary of Caroline
Westbrook and her forthcoming marriage on September 6 1998 to Leslie
Bunder.
Wednesday July 1 1998
Good news! One of the bridesmaid's dresses has surfaced - and it's Catherine's, which is even better news as it means she can get down to London for her fitting in the next couple of weeks! The other one, apparently, won't be arriving for another month or so, which is a little
worrying, but Philip at Berketex assured me they are under obligation to have it ready for the day.
It was Lorraine's 75th today, so Leslie took the day off and he, his cousins and my mum all went out shopping, culminating in a huge Kosher Chinese nosh-up at Kaifengs in Hendon. It was, of course, hugely disappointing
that I had to miss this, but I went over there this evening and took full advantage of the delicious leftovers they had brough back. To say nothing
of that birthday cake.
Thursday July 2 1998
Obviously I am too full to move after the Chinese excesses of yesterday, but I somehow managed. Speaking of food, next week we will decide on the
finer points of the menu, whether to go for stuffed chicken, grilled chicken or breaded and floured chicken, and exactly what type of vegetables to serve with it (julienne or asparagus?) People I have been giving the
rundown of the reception to are fully convinced they will be too full to eat any dinner by the time it comes around. But I'm sure they'll find some room somewhere.
Friday July 3 1998
Dress fitting day! Got there at 1.30, the dress looks great - the one I tried on in the shop was a little grubby, but this one is, obviously,
pristine and new. It needs a little taking in at the sides (thanks to the weight loss) and also a little shortening, as I managed to fall over it in the fitting room the second I put my shoes on (so you can imagine how I would cope with walking down a flight of stairs to the chupa!)
The even better news is that I managed to get a veil at Virgin Bride for a very reasonable price as well as my headpiece. However, as Leslie is reading this and is unable to see anything until the big day, no description or pictures can be revealed. Let's just say it's a dress
like arrangement in a funny white colour. I will be picking it up on August 13 - Leslie's birthday, coincidentally enough.
Saturday July 4 1998
Wimbledon finals day, hence too exciting to do anything other than watch every single second. My mother has the Polaroids we took of my dress and is proudly showing them off to any family member who will pay attention. I
on the other hand had a nice relaxing day in front of the tennis.
Plus we took in a little sushi in the evening.
Sunday July 5 1998
The weather was actually warm, for a change. It's been nothing but damp and raining and downright horrible this summer - for the first time in my life I have a balcony at my disposal and the weather's too miserable for me to go and sit on it! Anyway, not too much happened today - lots of freelance commitments and housework to catch up on. Fell into bed very late exhausted from all the typing.
Monday July 6 1998
It looks as though we're finally going to book our flights this week.
We've been holding out for a while to see if any special offers come up, but as yet nothing has materalised, so we'll just go with the best value, which happens to once again be United.
Leslie and I both got travel vouchers woth $150 in total after my TV set failed to work on the flight back from NY last time. We complained. They sent us vochers.
Got another wedding present today - a huge box delivered from John Lewis department store. It's from my mum's cousins, Sally and Michael Keisner. Haven't opened it yet, but as we're both huge fans of John Lewis (they are, after all, the people who delivered our delightful blue dining chairs at 7 on a Saturday morning not so long ago) it's sure to be something lovely.
Tuesday July 7 1998
Looks like our flight is confirmed. In fact it's the same one we went
out on last time, the United Airlines flight which leaves London at 1.55 pm and gets to New York around 3.30 pm. As I mentioned before, this is an ideal time to fly.
Wednesday July 8 1998
Well our flights may be done and dusted, but my parents are now having trouble finding a flight which will take all of them (the two of them, my brothers- and-sisters-in-law and my niece, their in-laws etc.) It's turning into quite a big party and at this moment British Airways may be the only people who can accommodate all of them.
Got a cheque in the mail from my mum's cousin Anne today. Very much
appreciated, to say nothing of the Miss Piggy card it was enclosed in.
Thursday July 9 1998
The parents' flight saga continues! Now it looks as though they may be
able to get a United flight after all - only it's one that leaves at 10 in the
morning! My parents didn't really want this as they're going to a
wedding the day before (yes, another one! Big week!) and they would rather have slept in a little and gone later, but needs must. At least they'll be there to greet us on our arrival.
Friday July 10 1998
Our flights are booked and, provisionally, so are theirs. On United and
British Airways. So which one to go for now?
Saturday July 11 1998
Finally! The flights are all confirmed, they have gone for the early
morning one on United. So that's something else sorted out. The list is growing smaller by the day, but we still have to:
Buy wedding rings (we have opted for white gold over platinum)
Book limos (easy phone call)
Contact the new rabbi who will be doing the service (Rabbi Joseph)
Confirm the chicken with the caterer
Find a hairdresser who can cope with a huge party
Organise hen and stag nights or shower and batchelor party as they say in the USA!
At least the last one is taken care of. They're going to be on August 15
(coincidentally, my birthday. Yes, it is two days after Leslie's) and
I'll be sending out some invites very soon. Looks like mine will be a Mexican blow- out, while Leslie's will be at a comedy club. But we have a few weeks to make the arrangements.
Sunday July 12 1998
A nice quiet weekend! We're up to date on wedding things and I haven't any outstanding freelance commitments. So I couldn't resist watching the World Cup Final - France vs. Brazil. France won it! Which almost nobody was expecting, but it was all very exciting stuff.
I feel as though I've become something of a world authority on football during the tournament - except I'll probably pay no attention whatsoever until the World Cup 2002 rolls along.
Monday July 13 1998
For some reason all the people who are organising our wedding take
Monday off.
So not an awful lot we can do today. Tomorrow, however, we're making
final menu confirmations with the caterer.
Tuesday July 14 1998
The caterer is on vacation! My mother called today. Not to worry,
another week won't make a great deal of difference. The next things to do are decide what sort of music we want played at the ceremony and, also, to find someone to do hair and make-up!
That is one of the things that is bothering me the most right now as I have no idea where to start! I found a few Web sites for
NY hair salons but none of them seem to be quite what we're looking for.
Wednesday July 15 1998
Took a day's break from the increasing wedding whirlwind and went to a preview of Armageddon, which Leslie and I enjoyed very much. Ben Affleck is my new favourite actor, he has a real movie star quality which most of his peers seem to lack. And besides, he is the first cool famous person to share my birthday, which is exactly one month today. He is exactly one year younger than me. And has already won an Oscar . . .
Thursday July 16 1998
Whereabouts of second bridesmaid's dress finally uncovered when we
decided to give Berketex a bit of a nudge. The good news is, instead of it appearing early August it will be in the shop by next Tuesday. So both Catherine and Deborah can go for fittings very soon.
Friday July 17 1998
Have been to the gym four times this week. I really am being extremely
good. Still, I would rather not have my dress taken in again, so I'm only
planning on losing a little more weight between now and the day.
In the mean time, minor disaster! The restaurant I wanted to go to for
the hen night has closed down! I am now contemplating the Texas Embassy Cantina in Trafalgar Square - I've never actually eaten there but they're good at catering for parties and they're one of the few remaining Mexican restaurants in London to actually do complimentary corn chips and salsa. Which is all important.
Saturday July 18 1998
Leslie and I went to a party thrown by Leslie's old friend Louise.
Turned out it was a barn dance! Well, I haven't been to one of those for
years, but it was nice and relaxing, the weather was decent and the
atmosphere so agreeable that by the time the actual barn dancing started, Leslie and I actually found ourselves joining in!
Sunday July 19 1998
Leslie has American cousins, Lori and Leanne, staying in
London for a week and we decided today would be a good day to take them out. So we went for pizza at lunchtime, then on the spur of the moment decided to drive to Oxford for the afternoon (it's only about 50 miles from London and easily accessible from where we were).
Leanne turns 16 on Thursday (she's having her birthday here!) and was interested in looking at some of the universities, so that's just what we did! Oxford's a really pretty town, I never actually realised I hadn't been there before, but the universities that were open to the public had wonderful, crumbling old architecture, and even the other parts
of town (the shopping area, for example), had that nice old antique-y
feel to them, even though the stores were the same as anywhere else.
Spent the evening at Leslie and Lorraine's, having a lovely chat, and
eventually dropped them back at the hotel at about 11. I am exhausted!
Even more so, as Leslie has just given me a Rubick's cube he was given at a recent Internet do. I sat up for ages trying to solve the damn thing - suffice to say it is still completely muddled up!
Monday July 20 1998
To everybody's amazement the second bridesmaid's dress arrived a day
early. Now for the hard part - getting Catherine and Deborah to the store at the same time . . .
Tuesday July 21 1998
Mr Kay gets back from his hols tomorrow, so we can speak to his them.
We need to also sort out things like yarmulkes, benching books, menu cards etc.
I have E-mailed Janet, our friend in New York, to see if she can assist
on the hairdressing front. (not personally, you understand).
Wednesday July 22 1998
We have now confirmed the finer points of the menu (veg etc.) and also
have the details for the extras. Yarmulkes are about a dollar 10 each if we want our names (and, of course, Web site address) printed on them. Benching books come to a dollar each if we have our names on them, which I think would be a nice idea, and he doesn't do menu cards, they're not generally used at US ceremonies, so we'll have to get those done here.
On the whole, though, we're doing pretty well. As regards the cake, we're going for a sugar flower topping. I saw sugar flowers on some of the display cakes at Virgin Bride and they looked so much prettier than just having a straightforward bride and groom.
Thursday July 23 1998
Near disaster! The people who are staying in the apartments the week
before us have decided to stay on an extra week! Luckily our homelessness was short-lived.
The company who are sorting out accommodation have instead
offered us eight one bedroom apartments in another one of their locations - this one being on 58th street between 5th and 6th Avenues.
This is, in fact, very good news. Not to say that our previous location
wasn't great, but this location is even better - it's near the shops, Central
Park. You couldn't get more centrally located if you built the apartments
yourself.
And everybody who was staying in the apartments can still be fitted in.
Friday July 24 1998
Everybody seems pretty happy with the new location, thankfully. And I
may have found a hairdresser! His name's David Groshen at Salon East, and one of his assistants is doing me a quote based on five people (myself, mother, Lorraine, Catherine and Deborah) having hair, make-up and nails done.
Janet used to go to him and reckons he's pretty reasonable, so we'll wait and see what kind of quote they come back with. They also said they'd throw in some bagels so we didn't have to starve under the driers. It all sounds pretty good if the price is right.
Saturday July 25 1998
I now have a wedding ring! Or at least I will when it's been enlarged.
I can pick it up any time after 5 pm on Monday. It's an absolutely plain,
medium thickness band - in platinum no less! - and it fits beautifully underneath my daytime engagement ring.
It was a bit of a struggle to get it underneath my other, heirloom ring,
but it turns out that needs enlarging anyway, After we're married I can always wear that one on the other hand and wear the day ring instead. It's more important the wedding band fits with that one as that's the one I wear more often anyway. I am thrilled to bits with it - it's perfect.
Sunday July 26 1998
Summoned home for a meeting, to take stock of what's to be done and
what's already been taken care of. The good news is that we now have roughly 90 guests coming, which is a major achievement, given we thought we had about 75 tops.
There's at least another six or seven who may also be coming,
plus about 25 people who have yet to respond. We are being charged for a minimum of 100 people so we're keen to hit that target as you can imagine. Everything else seems fine and under control.
Monday July 27 1998
Ordered Leslie's tux! We found it in John Lewis, and it's pretty
unusual, it's a three buttoned longer jacket and it doesn't have the satin lapels that dinner suits usually have. It's extremely smart. Leslie is now looking for a nice bright waistcoat to go with it.
Tuesday July 28 1998
Another three acceptances to the wedding, including my friend Gwennan, who spent a great deal of time explaining her new evening gown to me. I've spent so much time wrapped up in my own dresses, my bridesmaids and mothers, I've developed a kind of strange fascination with what other people will be wearing on the day.
It sounds like there'll be a lot of blue, though, which is
good as the whole thing will be colour co-ordinated and look marvellous in the photos.
Wednesday July 29 1998
Not a great deal to report today. It seems as though we've practically
done everything, but I'm sure we'll think of plenty to do over the coming
weeks.
Thursday July 30 1998
Thought of something! We have ordered benching books and yarmulkes from the caterer, and as such need to tell him what lettering we want on both of those and whether we want it in silver or gold (decisions, decisions).
We also need to find somebody who can do us a menu card as they don't do those in the States. We thought it would be a nice idea though.
Friday July 31 1998
Went for Deborah's dress fitting. The dress really is gorgeous - I'm so
glad I chose it. Found a really nice hairpiece to go with it, and was dismayed to discover they only had one in stock, and ordering another would take six to eight weeks!
Well, Leslie and I will be back and celebrating Rosh
Hashanah by that point. So we'll have to think again. Opted against the large flower rings, which made Deborah look as though she had just run through a meadow. Small is better.
