Mother of the Bride

by Marita Conlon-McKenna

  ‘Have you got the map?’ asked Dan as they headed towards the M50.

  ‘Everything,’ she said, patting her lap. She had her pink leather Filofax that Jess had given her as an engagement present. It was her wedding office, and contained every bit of information relating to their plans: phone numbers, address book, calendar, contact details, clippings, photographs, samples. She wouldn’t be without it.

  ‘Good,’ he smiled, in better form as he slipped his hand on her knee. They headed out of the city and down towards Kildare.

  The first hotel today was the Cuilinn. It was modern and edgy with great decor and overlooked the Curragh, but after a few minutes talking with the banqueting manager they realized that it held only about one hundred guests, which was too small for them.

  ‘Sorry,’ said Amy ruefully, as they returned to the car. ‘Their website said they catered for large groups.’

  ‘Another bloody wild-goose chase!’ fumed Dan, joining the heavy traffic careering along the busy main road.

  ‘Turn here!’ Amy shouted forty minutes later and Dan slammed his foot on the brake. ‘Yes,’ she insisted, glancing quickly at the map. ‘I think Mount Mellick’s up here.’

  Dan made a kind of grimace as he swung the black Golf up the road and bumped it along over mud and gravel. She had to admit that the roadway leading up to the luxury hotel was less than impressive. After the past few weeks’ rain it looked more like a muddy dirt track than the road leading to a hotel that might host their wedding.

  ‘Yes, look! There’s the sign.’

  The brochure on her lap certainly made the place look far more grandiose than this. They came to a halt in front of a big square building with castellated parapets on the top of it, an Irish flag and an American one blowing limply in the breeze. An enormous bay window looked out over the massive lawn, which resembled a muddy hockey pitch at the moment, rather than the stylish garden area she had imagined for hosting a drinks reception. Granite steps led through the glass doors and up to the dreary, large reception area which had a coat of arms embroidered in the carpet and a long mahogany desk. It looked old-world but slightly run-down, and was cluttered with antique chairs and couches.

  ‘Gina, our banqueting manager, will talk to you in a few minutes,’ smiled the receptionist.

  Amy got out her Filofax and began to jot down things as Daniel rambled around, peering into the bar and the residents’ lounge.

  A few minutes later a girl a bit older than Amy appeared in a fitted black suit and took them on a tour of the place.

  The function room was at the back of the hotel and was large and square with long windows and a French door that led out to a tiny walled courtyard for smokers.

  ‘Can’t you get out into the garden from here?’ asked Amy.

  ‘No,’ explained Gina. ‘Our residents’ lounge and dining room at the front overlook the lawn. We usually set up a few tables and chairs outside and some parasols there for the welcome drinks reception before moving people inside for the wedding meal.’

  ‘What happens if it rains or is too cold?’ asked Dan.

  ‘Then we use our residents’ lounge. I’ll show you that in a minute.’

  Amy walked all around the big function room trying to imagine it set up with tables and chairs and crisp linen and flowers and candles. It was pretty soulless, and she hated the colour of the navy and beige patterned damask curtains.

  ‘How many guests were you planning to invite?’

  ‘There will probably be somewhere between a hundred and sixty and two hundred,’ Dan said.

  ‘Ideal, then, as we can sit up to two hundred and fifty guests here.’

  Amy tried to picture this room filled with family and friends. They were almost two hours out of the city, and yet they could be anywhere, in any big hotel in the country.

  ‘Here, let me show you our bar and the lounge,’ offered Gina, walking ahead of them.

  The bar was dull and dreary, with racing on the widescreen TV at the back being watched by a few middle-aged men, while in the large sitting room with its massive bay windows overlooking the grounds, with a collection of shabby navy and yellow couches, two or three friends demolished plates of sausages and chips as their two toddlers raced around. The whole place looked like it needed refurbishment!

  Gina opened a folder and took their details.

  ‘Let me check your dates first.’

  Amy couldn’t believe it; there wasn’t a single Friday or Saturday in the summer left.

  ‘How can that be?’ gasped Amy, incredulous.

  ‘People book the day they get engaged, or even sometimes a bride might make a provisional booking for a date long before she gets engaged so that they have options.’

  ‘They must be raving mad!’ said Dan. ‘Amy and I are literally only just engaged, and you’re telling us most of the dates are gone. It’s absolutely bonkers!’

  ‘That’s just the way things work with weddings,’ Gina explained. ‘Like most hotels, we are booked long in advance: a year or two years. Today, for example, we have a wedding on in the main suite and an anniversary party in the smaller Mellick suite. Looking at my calendar here, I only have two dates free this month, and in December we have all Christmas functions booked in. Otherwise we are talking about the summer after next, and I have two Saturdays in May or a Friday or Saturday in June left.’

  Amy couldn’t believe it! She didn’t want to have to wait nearly two years!

  ‘We’ll think about it,’ said Dan diplomatically.

  Back out in the car Amy angrily fastened her safety belt. ‘How could a place like that be booked out so far ahead?’

  ‘Well, it’s better than lots of the places we’ve seen,’ Dan said as he started the engine. ‘The entrance looks pretty cool, and the function room was massive.’

  ‘It was awful, Dan. How can so many people want to have their wedding there!’

  She pulled out her pink wedding folder as Dan drove, checking to see where was next on their list.

  ‘Castle Gregory’s next,’ she said, getting out the information on it.

  Chapter Nine

  The only good thing about the search for a wedding venue was seeing the rich green fields and the ever-changing colours of the countryside, thought Amy. They drove through the pretty towns on the River Leighlinbridge, Bagenalstown and Graiguenamanagh, with their bridges and old mills and waterways. She gasped when she first caught sight of the magnificent old castle perched overlooking the River Barrow, near St Mullins, which had been originally built in 1605 and restored over the last century.

  ‘Wow!’ she said, taking in Castle Gregory’s magnificent backdrop of fields and river and lush countryside.

  As the two of them walked under its medieval stone portico and into the great hall, Amy knew immediately that this was it! This was the place where she wanted to celebrate their wedding.

  A disdainful young woman in skinny jeans and plaited hair opened the door and disappeared off to get someone, and a few minutes later a tall thin man in shabby cords and a bottle-green jacket appeared and introduced himself as the owner.

  ‘My daughter Tamsin is in the middle of studying for exams, so please let me show you around the place,’ offered Hugo Roberts, leading them along a fantastic oak-lined corridor towards the main hall.

  ‘This is where we usually host weddings, conferences or big family parties,’ he said, proudly showing them the magnificent long oak tables set with heavy white linen and sparkling crystal. ‘Tonight we have a dinner here for sixty guests. They’ve gone fishing today and tomorrow they’ll play golf.’

  The walls of the big hall were hung with rich tapestries, and on one side of it there was a massive fireplace. Tall windows with stained glass looked down over the parapet towards the river and valley below. There was a minstrels’ gallery, and a sumptuous drawing room, and loads of nooks and crannies where guests could sit and relax. A group of Italians were chatting and consulting their guide books.

  ‘We can s
erve champagne and drinks or cocktails out here on the terrace when you arrive,’ he suggested. ‘And of course your guests are free to wander around the rest of the castle and its environs. I always actively encourage our guests to explore. We also have the library and music room, which will take smaller numbers for a sit down meal, and we use them for pre-dinner drinks if the weather is inclement and lets us down.’

  Dan liked the place. She could tell. He was asking Hugo all kinds of questions about the castle’s history. This place was so romantic, and so quirky and different. OK, so it wasn’t one of the big famous castles that people raved about and hordes of tourists visited, but it was pretty special. Just imagine getting married in a castle!

  ‘There is a small church near the castle grounds,’ Hugo told them. ‘Guests often get married in it. Also some of our guests have fireworks at midnight to celebrate their nuptials,’ he added. ‘We don’t disturb anyone, as the castle grounds are quite extensive. Our lands cover about eighty acres of countryside.’

  ‘Fireworks!’ Amy definitely wanted fireworks!

  ‘Would you two like some coffee?’ asked Hugo. ‘I was about to have one myself. I’ll get Noeleen to bring us up something.’

  Ten minutes later they were sitting in the large front drawing room, helping themselves to sliced home-made gingerbread as they drank fresh-roasted coffee and perused a brochure on the castle and the range of facilities it offered. Another showed the menu options provided by the recommended caterers that the castle normally used. Hugo explained the price breakdown to them.

  Amy tried not to blink when he told them it cost ten thousand euros to rent the castle for a wedding, but this included the use of its twenty bedrooms for two nights, providing accommodation for forty people. It was so expensive! Catering and the bar costs were extra; and even tables, chairs, glasses, crockery and linens had to be hired. However, even at a quick glance the prices that the castle’s caterers charged seemed far more competitive than those of any of the hotels they had been considering. As Amy looked at the menus she tried to do a quick mental calculation to see if any savings could be made there.

  ‘When were you hoping to have your wedding?’ Hugo asked, stirring his coffee.

  ‘We were hoping for some time in the summer,’ said Amy, holding her breath.

  ‘I suspect our calendar is very full,’ he apologized. ‘My wife usually organizes these things, but if you want I’ll go to the office and check. I’m not sure if we have any dates left for next summer. Let me have a look in my own diary.’

  Amy held her breath as he pulled a small leather diary from inside his jacket pocket and looked through the date planner.

  ‘The only date we seem to have left is a Friday, the twenty-third of October. Then we close after Halloween and don’t reopen until Easter.’

  Amy loved the place but really didn’t want to get married in late October.

  ‘Hold on, I’ve something crossed out here for the sixth of June. We were holding it for a local opera company’s open-air performance but I have a feeling there is a problem with it. I need to check in the office with Tamsin, but I have a feeling that Saturday the sixth of June might actually be available.’

  Amy couldn’t believe it. A Saturday in June available! She was almost bouncing up and down in the chair with excitement. Renting the castle was exorbitant, but it was so perfect.

  ‘Listen, I’ll go and check with my daughter,’ excused Hugo. ‘You two have a wander around the place and come back to the office afterwards.’

  ‘Dan, I love it!’ Amy declared, excited, as they strolled around the garden. ‘Please say you love it too. It’s perfect. You know it is!’

  ‘It’s a great place but it’s so expensive to hire,’ he said reluctantly. ‘And you don’t get as much as a chair or a serviette for that!’

  ‘When we went to Sarah’s wedding in the marquee in her parents’ garden they had to hire everything, too, even three Portaloos!’

  ‘I doubt the marquee cost as much as this place! Listen, Amy, we need to get a calculator and crunch some numbers. Do a few comparisons on price.’

  ‘But, Dan, this is where I want us to have our wedding,’ she pleaded. ‘It’s so perfect.’

  ‘I know it’s perfect.’ He grinned. ‘But what about your parents? I know your dad wants to pay for the wedding, but it’s going to cost a fortune, and then there are all the other extra costs you have to take into account. I think we should pay some of those, Amy, it’s only fair . . .’

  Amy totally agreed with him. Her mum and dad were so good and generous, but they had probably no idea how much a big wedding could cost! She and Dan both had good jobs and savings accounts, and sharing some of the wedding expenses would make it easier on everyone.

  ‘This is exactly what we are looking for,’ she insisted. ‘We’ve looked everywhere and this is by far the best that we have seen. It’s absolutely gorgeous. My mum and dad and your mum and dad will love it. I know they will. Just wait till they see it.’

  ‘Are you sure, Amy?’

  ‘Of course,’ she said, trying to dispel any qualms she had about the price of the castle rental.

  ‘It seems crazy spending so much on a wedding,’ he reasoned. ‘I think we should talk to Paddy and Helen about it, see what they think before we decide. I know it’s by far the best we’ve seen, but I just don’t know if we can afford it.’

  ‘Let’s go talk to Hugo,’ urged Amy, giving him a big hug.

  Hugo’s office was in the west wing of the castle, with a huge window overlooking the grounds. A computer and screen were on the massive mahogany desk, and the shelves around the small room were packed with books and maps and photographs.

  ‘I talked to Tamsin and she checked our calendar of bookings,’ he said, tapping quickly on the keyboard. ‘The summer, as I said, is already totally booked, but you’re in luck as that opera date on Saturday the sixth of June is definitely now available. There was meant to be a wonderful open-air production of Carmen coming in, but due to the current economic climate the company has decided not to go ahead with staging it this year. It’s most unfortunate, and very disappointing for local opera-lovers, but that Saturday in June is available if you are interested. Otherwise we go into October, like I mentioned.’

  ‘You have a Saturday in June, just the day we are looking for,’ said Amy, unable to contain her excitement. ‘Please can you book us in for the sixth?’

  ‘The procedure is that I will put you in our books and up on the computer so this date will become yours,’ smiled the castle owner. ‘I will need a small deposit of three hundred euros to hold the booking, and the rest of the deposit will be due in eight weeks, with the full payment due six weeks before your wedding.’

  ‘I want my parents to see it, if that’s all right,’ explained Amy. Her mum and dad had been looking at a few venues, too. ‘Maybe they could come to see it next weekend if they are free?’

  ‘They will be most welcome,’ Hugo agreed as he took Dan’s credit card details and printed them out a receipt.

  Walking back towards the car half an hour later, Amy was elated. It was the most perfect place ever. She and Dan had actually found somewhere they both agreed on. They had their wedding date set and they had Castle Gregory. Amy couldn’t believe it!

  About half a mile down the road they found the small grey-stone church which Hugo had mentioned. It was locked, but from the outside it looked perfect. It was surrounded by oak and beech trees and there was a little graveyard and a path that led back up towards the castle.

  ‘It’s so beautiful,’ she whispered.

  Dan took her hands in his.

  ‘I love you, Amy,’ he said, touching her face. ‘If there was a priest here I’d marry you right now and forget all the palaver and fuss. It would be just the two of us here in this little church under the trees.’

  ‘I love you, too,’ she said. ‘And it will always be the two of us for ever and ever. But having our wedding here with all the people we love aro
und us will be wonderful, Dan. I know it will.’

  ‘OK.’ He sighed, kissing her. ‘On the sixth of June, in this little church, we will become husband and wife, if that’s what you want.’

  ‘I do,’ she said, kissing him back. ‘I do.’

  Chapter Ten

  Helen and Paddy were just getting ready to sit down to eat when Dan and Amy arrived. Amy had phoned them, all excited, the night before, saying they had found the perfect wedding venue and that they would call around to talk to them about it.

  ‘Come for Sunday dinner, then,’ Helen had insisted. ‘You can tell us all about it then.’

  She’d a leg of lamb roasting in the oven, alongside a vegetable roast she had copied from a recipe book for Ciara.

  Amy’s eyes were shining, and she was almost jumping around the living room with excitement as she told them about Castle Gregory.

  ‘Mum, wait till you see the place,’ she enthused. ‘It’s just stunning. Imagine getting married in a castle! It’s so gorgeous and romantic, and we can have fireworks if we want!’

  ‘All the footballers and pop stars get married in castles,’ nodded Sheila, who came to Helen and Paddy’s almost every Sunday. ‘I see the photos in Hello and VIP magazine when I’m in the hair-dresser’s.’

  ‘Exactly,’ murmured Paddy under his breath, ‘because it’s so bloody expensive.’

  ‘Gran, it’s not that type of wedding or that type of castle,’ Amy tried to explain patiently. ‘It’s a much smaller castle, but it has such spectacular views, and it’s the most perfect place for a wedding ever!’

  ‘What do you think, Dan?’ asked Paddy, leaning forward to look at the brochure and price list.

  ‘The castle isn’t as big as Dromoland or Ashford, but it’s still amazing, Paddy, and something a bit different from a run-of-the-mill hotel, I guess,’ said Dan enthusiastically. ‘We can hire the place for the night, and have it all to ourselves, which would be great. There’s a church only a few minutes away, which if we get permission to use would make everything so easy.’