"Aunty's Wedding" Hersham Travelogue by Janani

When I was a small girl I used to ask my aunt all the time when I could be her bridesmaid. I once even filled in a form for her to join a dating agency! In fact, she was never short of boyfriends; she simply hadn’t found anyone she wanted as a husband. Finally in autumn 2004 her announcement that she would be getting married the following July took us all by surprise; It had been such a whirlwind romance, we hadn’t even met her fiancé!

My aunt is a great planner. She loves organising parties for any occasion and everything has to be perfect, so we all knew her wedding would be something special and I was delighted to be able to help with some of her preparations.

All week long they had been promising rain (as it was the finals weekend at Wimbledon, no one was surprised!) but as the day finally arrived, the wind changed and blew most of the rain clouds away, leaving us with the perfect temperature and a fine day, then everything went to plan.

the garter in progress

The day before I travelled down for the wedding, I discovered my aunt didn't have a garter yet, as she couldn't find one that didn't protrude through her straight skirt! I searched the length of Oxford Street but they all seemed too bulky so I bought some ribbon and elastic from John Lewis and spent the morning of the big day stitching one!

Sue, David and Ian

My brother took the responsibility for giving our aunt away, although he thought it a pretty poor deal to give away such a good quality aunt in exchange for a new shirt and tie!

Here he is with the groom's brother (he was the best man) and sister-in-law who is also called Sue

Elaine, Christine, Julie, Me, Barry, Sue and Sue

The bride seemed quite relaxed and confident all morning but I was really nervous because I had to do the bride's and bridesmaids' hair and make up! It turned out well though and, once all the preparations were over and we had turned up in the right place at the right time, we could all enjoy the day!

St Peter's Church is very lovely. It is, I think, a Victorian church with a very traditional exterior. Inside, it has a beautiful altar area with images painted on the walls.

This little girl came to me to have her hair plaited in the morning. She was such a good client, keeping perfectly still and passing me the pins and bands.

My aunt had organised for a violinist to play some of her favourite music to the guests while they waited for her and when the register was being signed, which was a lovely idea and made everyone feel more relaxed.

cross stitch sampler

I'm sure she'll never forget such a special day but I wanted to make her a present that would remind her of it each time she saw it and thought a cross stitch sampler would be ideal. I had great fun designing and making it but couldn't find anyone willing to frame it, so I ended up making a raw silk covered frame myself