Was she nervous?
Hell yeah.
It was going to be a long long day for the two of them as they'd organised the ceremony for the late afternoon and stretching into the early evening. Firstly because they both thought it was romantic enough. Secondly because of the odd hours that Ambrose was pulling. When they needed him, he'd drop everything and go.
The garden looked spectacular, even by Ginnys standards.
The red rose arbours at perfect angles from each other and the wedding arch. She'd originally wanted white roses, but she was told that there'd been a poor showing from the white rose bushes this year. There'd been a nasty infestation of greenfly that had turned the petals a horrid shade of brown. If she wanted white roses, she'd have to import them and that was costly.
So red roses it was. Even the wedding cake looked gorgeous.
Once she'd gotten herself ready, she went to check on the buffet table, just to make sure it was set up properly. She never heard Ambrose approaching until he touched her bare shoulder.
"You okay?" he whispered, even though the guest hadn't arrived yet.
She nodded.
"I am, yes," she whispered back.
"Just to let you know," he cleared his throat," you look stunning, absolutely stunning."
"Thank you."
She felt a few tears stinging at her eyes and was thankful for the waterproof mascara. They stood quietly together, gazing around at the set up. By now, a sprinking of guests started arriving, laden down with gifts that they'd open later on.
A soft cough beside them heralded the minister (who for reasons unknown, asked to be omitted from the wedding pictures - sorry about that).
"Ready to go?"
They took their places at the archway, and Ambrose gaped openly and appreciatively as he gazed upon his bride's face.
The minister recited the vows and they repeated them whilst they slipped rings onto each others fingers. Ambrose was momentarily speechless, looking like a big silly fish with his mouth wide open, but he didn't care. This was the moment the two of them had been waiting for.
"You may kiss the bride," the minister intoned.
And did they ever? Locking lips for so long it made everyone wonder if they were ever coming up for air.
All through the ceremony the guests all 'ohhed' and 'aaaahed'. Afterwards they applauded and threw rice.
After Ambrose's wild bash the other night, the party itself was a rather sedate one, starting with the cutting of the cake. Although Ginny wasn't too happy with the fact that someone had been sneaking nibbles from one side, and she complained .... very loudly...
Ambrose blamed one of the guests for taking liberties, but neither of them could prove it was him, so they let the topic drop. After all, they were having a blast, and didn't want anything to spoil it at all.
As they waited for their guests, Ambrose and Ginny shuffled their feet nervously for the proverbial cake cutting ceremony.
Ambrose proved to be a dab hand with the knife as he cut perfect slices for everyone.
Apart from that, things went smoothly. Guests milled around eating cake, socializing with one another. And for the first time in Ambrose and Ginny's newly wedded life, they both sat down to eat their cake, al fresco, as husband and wife.
Mr and Mrs Ambrose and Virginia Graystone
