Henrietta’s friend Clair’s account of the big day
The day went so well I can hardly believe it! the weather held despite a shaky start. I waved RT off from the hotel at 1.30 looking gorgeous in his new suit along with pale lilac shirt, cream cravat and lilac waistcoat. The tiny church was like something from a postcard of the Cotswolds and the florist had done a wonderful job with the flowers. The door of the church was adorned with the most gorgeous arrangement of pink and white ‐ which gave us the first clue that Miss Garnett had gone for pink as her colour. The windowsills of the church were decorated with pure white church candles and more gorgeous pink and white flowers, including stocks which gave the church a lovely aroma to walk in to!
As a string quartet played at the back, the grooms quartet laughed and joked at the front. Nick, Scott and Dan were obviously doing a superb job of keeping RT calm as he seemed rock solid as the time ticked on…and on…
Yes of course she was late!!! But boy was she worth the wait. The bride wore a pure white strapless gown with a fitted bodice and a turnover at the top. The skirt was full but not huge ‐ no meringue for this girl ‐ with a train about 4‐5 feet behind her. The bodice was discreetly decorated with diamonds and pearls so it just sparkled occasionally in the right light. Hen had a long white veil which covered her face as she walked down the aisle, and continued to the whole length of her train. The veil too had a touch of sparkle.
As she walked up the aisle looking totally stunning she cried and cried. (Henrietta is the only person I know that still looks lovely when she is crying). RT admitted to me later that when she walked in he almost fainted. As she reached the top of the aisle, RT reached back to her and they walked to the alter hand in hand. As you can imagine, at this point it was not just the bride crying.
The bridesmaids wore pink; Charlotte, Henrietta’s sister in a lovely straight pink skirt and strapless bodice and her daughter Anna in an adorable pink dress with a full skirt. The bride and bridesmaids carried pink and white sweet‐peas in hand tied bunches. These were an extra special touch as RT’s nickname for Hen is sweet‐pea.
The service was lovely, very personal and full of little touches to show the personality of the bride and groom. The highlight was undoubtedly the groom playing the guitar while Dan sang ‘Our father’. Roy, the vicar was wonderful and made everyone’s day when he said “at this point in the movies someone says ‘you may now kiss the bride….so you may now kiss the bride” Mr and Mrs Thornton shared far too many kisses to be decent and Roy stepped in with “hang on, just the one!!”
The formalities aside, the party started. The convoy of guests following the happy couple made our way back to the Bay Tree in Burford for Champagne and Canapés on the lawn. The speeches that followed were a joy, and had us all crying with laughter. By the time we sat down for dinner at around 8pm there were lots of people from both sides of the pond saying that this was without doubt the best wedding they had ever attended.
The dancing continued until the bride and groom left around midnight. We waved them off in the rain ‐ but by this time it didn’t matter a bit! As I write this Mr and Mrs Thornton are relaxing in the Seychelles enjoying the start of their honeymoon ‐ and as much as I wish them a relaxing break, I can’t wait for them to get back to have a good gossip about the day! Without a doubt the happiest, most special and the best wedding I have ever been to!
Clair
