Downshire Diary – (25) The Girl in the White Silk Dress

When Steve Berry proposed to Holly Davis in the Pig and Whistle in Abbeyvale on Easter Sunday, in front of a packed pub to great acclaim it set off an unstoppable chain of events which consumed not just Steve and Holly but everyone around them as well.

Rather unconventionally, instead of picking a date, or a number of dates, and then checking if the church was free, Holly went to see the Reverend Marshall to see what dates he had available with the intention of making her plans accordingly.

She was fully expecting St Mary’s to be fully booked right through the summer and she was correct in that assumption, but as luck would have it there had been a cancellation only that afternoon and September 20th was free.

It was cutting it a bit fine but she thought it was doable so even without checking with Steve first she booked it right there and then.

 

While Holly was at St Mary’s her fiancé Steve, ever the bean counter was supervising the installation of solar panels on the rear aspect roof which would make a significant reduction to their electricity bills.

Although in truth the term “supervising” was actually stretching it a bit, as all it actually involved him sitting on the patio looking up at them working while he drank a pint.

The Pig and Whistle was a big pub and as he sat looking up to the roof of the Victorian building it was patently obvious that it had once been a hotel.

When he and Holly finally got around to fully exploring the accommodation they were amazed at how many rooms there were.

There were some rooms upstairs that were used as little more than storage spaces.

In fact there were sufficient rooms for Holly and Steve to have a self-contained apartment and still make four decent size bed sitters.

“They could be a useful additional source of income” Steve suggested

“We could always offered them to the staff at a reduced rate” Holly suggested “We wouldn’t get as much revenue but we would get some”

“Hmmm” Steve responded

“Hospitality is not the best paid job in the world” Holly continued “and they’re paying ridiculous rents for rooms half the size on the other side of town”

“Well I can’t think of an argument why not” he said “So that’s agreed then”

So it was settled, they would offer the bedsits to the senior staff.

 

Petra and Ausra jumped at the chance as they were living in a very dodgy street in the seediest part of town with some very unsavoury neighbours, Stephanos was less keen until he realised the room was twice the size of the one he was renting for half the rent.

Debbie declined the offer however as she was already well fixed up living with her parents rent free and you couldn’t get cheaper than that.

So they were left with one unoccupied room that they could rent out for extra revenue.

But then Steph suggested

“Save it for when we get a chef”

He and Steve had been doing the food between them since January but they wanted to get a chef.

“What do you mean?” Holly said

“Well I’m a good pub grub man” Steph said “But I’m not a chef”

“What do you think Steve?” Holly asked

“Well we can both cook ok, but our repertoire is limited, what we do, we do well” he replied “But what we need is a “chef” who can take us to the next level, expand the menu and broaden our horizons”

“Well I’ll put that on the list then” Holly said and grinned

 

Steve was taking a short break before the lunchtime rush while Holly was upstairs in their bedroom trying on her wedding dress.

The date was set for September 20th at St Mary’s church just down the road, followed by the reception at the Pig and Whistle which would help to keep the cost down.

While he sat down drinking his coffee he was thinking about the guest list, which wasn’t substantial, there weren’t many family guests on Holly’s side, her hippie parents, if they could be found, and two cousins, and none at all on Steve’s side.

The only relative he had was his father and apart from the fact he didn’t know if he was still alive or not he didn’t want him there anyway.

One person who would definitely not be there was Uncle Phil who had passed away two months before the wedding.

 

Up in Holly and Steve’s bedroom she was opening a large flat cardboard box, the kind where the lid fitted over the base like a very large jigsaw puzzle box and she was accompanied by her bridesmaids.

Petra and Ausra were cousins and had come to the Britain from Lithuania, they were the same age as Holly and they had known each other for almost ten years and the three of them were the best of friends.

When she had the lid off, she cast it aside and unfolded the tissue paper covering the contents.

Holly slipped her hands inside and removed the beautiful white silk wedding dress trimmed with Belgian lace.

“Wow that’s beautiful” Petra said “was it your mamas?

“No” Holly replied and laughed “my parents got married in a registry office and the bride wore denim”

“It’s lovely” Ausra added

“It was my grandmothers” Holly said proudly, and when she tried it on Holly looked stunning.

 

Meanwhile Steve’s thoughts had turned to his best man, six months earlier he wouldn’t have hesitated for a second.

His best friend Graham Chatfield would have been the obvious choice for best man.

But they had fallen out, as it was Graham who had been the most vociferous about him burning his bridges and ruining his life over some “silly tart” when he first fell in love with Holly.

At the point Graham referred to Holly as a “silly tart” Steve hit him and they hadn’t spoken since.

Which meant the obvious candidate was now Stephanos who he hadn’t actually got around to asking at that point so he went back into the kitchen

“Steph!” he called “I need a best man”

“Of course you do” he replied

“And you’re it” Steve said

“Cool” Steph responded so that was settled.

 

Having returned the wedding dress to its box and safely hidden it from Steve’s prying eyes her thought returned to the day itself.

The wedding breakfast was problematic as the cooks were also the Groom and Best man and the waitresses were the bridesmaids.

Of course it was easy enough to get outside caterers for the day, Holly had enough contacts in the business to get someone that would do a good job and at a reasonable price.

It wasn’t in their budget but it looked like they didn’t really have a choice.

The other thing they couldn’t really afford to do was to have a honeymoon, in terms of time away from the pub as well as financially.

But their staff ganged up on them and insisted they go, if only for a day or two.

They could quite easily manage to run the place while they were away, so they agreed on a short break in Sharpington and staying in a B&B would keep it affordable.

 

A few weeks ahead of the big day Holly and Steve were in the apartment eating breakfast and going through the mail.

“I’m a bit worried Steve” she said

“What about?” he asked

“The wedding” she replied

“Why? Have we forgotten something?” Steve said

“No everything’s arranged, everything’s booked” Holly confirmed “Apart from my parents obviously”

“So what’s the matter?” Steve asked puzzled

“The cost” she said “its twice as much as we budgeted for”

“That’s because we budgeted next to nothing” he corrected her 

“I’m still worried” she said stubbornly

“Well maybe this will set your mind at rest” Steve said and handed her a solicitor’s letter.

It was from Uncle Phil’s solicitors, Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield and Bushe, in Abbottsford detailing a bequest and a cheque for the stated amount.

“That should cover it” Steve said and stood up and walked around the table and kissed the top of her head

“Now you can get back to worrying about whether I’m going to turn up or not” He said and left the room whistling

“What do you mean?” Holly said rushing after him

 

The week of the wedding was a little tense as Holly still hadn’t heard from her hippie parents.

She had left messages at their various stopping off points and with friends she knew they were regularly in touch with, but she had heard nothing back.

Also during that week were the Hen night and the Stag do, though neither of them were reckless exhibitionists so strippers and silly stunts were never on the cards.

On Wednesday night the boys went out for a meal and a few drinks while the girls held the fort and the following night they swapped. 

On Friday night Steve took Holly out for a romantic dinner and after delivering her home he went across the road to the Abbeyvale Court Hotel for the night.

 

Saturday arrived and Holly got ready at the pub while Steve dressed at the Hotel which would serve as his abode for his last night as a single man and his first as a married one, albeit in a different room for the nuptials.

The morning was very relaxed, he took a leisurely bath and performed his ablutions, but by lunch time when Steph arrived with his suit and shoes etc. the nerves had set in and the joke he made to Holly about not turning up was suddenly ringing hollow, as he though

“What if she doesn’t turn up?”

 

Holly despite having been a wreck all week was calmness personified, and she had resolved to enjoy and savour every single moment of their special day.

It was everyone else who were all at sixes and sevens.

But she managed to impress her calmness on everyone around her and they got through the morning unscathed.

 

Steve was sat at the front of the church with Stephanos and his stomach was doing somersaults.

“Have you got the ring?” he said

“Yes” Stephonos said “but if you ask me again I’m going to throw it out of the window”

“Sorry” he said “Nerves” 

 

When they had arrived the Reverend Marshall had said

“Just sit down and relax, when its time I will walk past and touch your shoulder and that’s your cue. Ok?”

Steve just nodded

After about five minutes he heard the Vicars footsteps and then felt his hand on his shoulder which was his cue to get to his feet

“It’s alright I’m only kidding” he said “she’s not here yet”

Steve could have killed him at the time, but it actually stopped his stomach it its tracks.

 

The Vicar was on the dais when he caught Steve’s eye and nodded and the bridal march began and Steve and Steph got to their feet.

“This is it man” Steph said “now where’s that ring”

Steve just gave him a sideways glance.

He could hear Holly processing up the aisle and he was desperate to turn around and look at her, but he daren’t, he thought his legs would give way under him if he saw her.

Then he could see her in his peripheral vision, but just a splash of white.

Steve stepped to his left to join her and took a deep breath before he turned to look at her, and there she was standing before him, a vision of loveliness, in a dress of antique white silk.

“You look beautiful” he whispered and Holly smiled and giggled, then as they faced each other there was a crash at the back of the church and without taking their eyes off each other they said in unison

“The hippies”

Then after a second or two they both turned to look at a middle aged couple at the back of the church, Steve had no idea who they were but when Holly squeezed his hand he knew it was her parents.

 

On Sunday morning Mr and Mrs Berry left for their honeymoon in Sharpington, they were not however bound for a B&B, but were instead, courtesy of Uncle Phil’s bequest, headed to the Granite Hill Country House Hotel and when they returned to Abbeyvale a week later they brought with them a new chef.