Our Trip to Yorkshire (Part 3)

Okay, the last pre-wedding photos are here. First, the pattern for the girls' bridesmaids dresses. Both Starman and I really wanted to have his two nieces (well, he has three, but we meant the ones under 18!) and Coffee Jones's daughter (Beanette) as bridesmaids. That's a lovely English tradition -- think of Diana's bridesmaids, all under 14. Starman's nieces are just right for this important role: The "Senior Bridesmaid" is Lucy, who will be nearly 12 on the day. Beanette (the "American Bridesmaid") will be 8. Amelia (the "Lively Bridesmaid") will be 4 going on 30. (Seriously -- while we were there, she got a pair of high heels from her godmother, and she went to town wearing them! I can't manage shoes like that, that's for sure.)

I found some gorgeous fabric for their dresses -- white lawn embroidered with periwinkle sprigs. The sashes will be in the same deep blue peau de soie as Coffee Jones' "crone of honour" dress. We picked Style "D" (the dress in the lower left corner) -- very simple, but with a poufy skirt. We've picked very pretty white sweaters for the girls: White cotton cardigans, cropped short (like a bolero but not too extreme) so that they'll fit the Empire waist. The details are lovely: Scalloped crocheted edges all around, and lovely seed pearl details, all very age appropriate.

Now, this isn't the floral selection that Elspeth, our crack florist, is putting together, but these are what the girls will be wearing in their hair, at least stylistically. Lucy (Senior Bridesmaid) and Beanette will have the hair bands. Amelia will have the chaplet of flowers, which Elspeth -- a traditionalist at heart -- would like her to wear as a crown on her forehead, rather than as a halo back on her hair. Amelia, it should be pointed out, used to have lovely blonde curls but she took some scissors to her hair, and now she's sporting a rather shorter `do. Still cute as a button, of course.

In fact, all three girls are delightfully pretty without in any way suggesting a Ralph Lauren ad. I've told our photographer, Damian, that this is NOT a bride-centric event. I picked him, in fact, because his website had the best photos of the children in the party. You can check his work out for yourself; he has a lovely slideshow set to some tinkly new age piano music. (I like that sort of stuff, but if you don't, just turn it off.)

You know, I've thought a lot about all this. This isn't my first wedding (technically, it's not even my second...) and yet it's the one with the fancy dress, music, flowers, etc. Isn't this a bit odd for me at my age? (52 on Friday, in case you didn't know.) It's not cheap (cough cough) and I don't feel rich at the moment. I don't really think of myself as a conspicuous consumption kind of gal.

But Starman's brother and sister-in-law's wedding pictures are all over the place -- in a very tasteful way, of course -- and it's such a nice anchor to family and a particular point in your life. Plus, I gather that the third niece -- now 21 -- was the tiny bridesmaid in that wedding, and had a blast. So much so that Lucy has really wanted to be a bridesmaid for the longest time. She'll do a great job, as will Beanette and Amelia. And everyone will have the photographs for decades to come. Which makes this whole wedding worth it.