Mother of the Bride

by Marita Conlon-McKenna

  Fran phoned her, all bright and breezy, to check that she was up and to wish everyone luck.

  ‘Enjoy it, Helen! Being the Mother of the Bride is great fun. You’ll have a wonderful day, and remember: if you need anything I’m here.’

  ‘I’ll see you in the church,’ laughed Helen.

  Ronan and Paddy surfaced first, lured by the smell of the bacon cooking, then one by one the girls joined them.

  ‘Today’s the day!’ sang Amy, kissing Helen as she whisked the eggs and put on some toast. ‘I have a present for you and Dad.’ She grinned, pulling a wrapped package from behind her. ‘Open it.’

  Paddy undid the paper and took the silver-framed photo out of the bubble wrap. Helen fought back the tears as soon as she saw the photo. It had been taken during a glorious summer holiday in Brittas Bay, and was of Paddy and herself lifting Amy up out of the waves when she was about five years old.

  ‘You’ve been such great parents! I just wanted to say thanks,’ said Amy softly. ‘I hope that I’ll be as good as you are when the time comes, and Dan and I have kids.’

  Paddy cleared his throat, and Helen passed him a sheet of kitchen paper to blow his nose on as they all got emotional.

  Better to have a bit of a cry now, she thought, rather than later on.

  ‘Can I have my shower first?’ asked Amy. ‘Otherwise Ciara will mess the place and use all the hot water!’ Ciara was about to object when she saw that Amy was laughing. Helen smiled, thinking of the constant battles there’d been in the house over showers and hairdryers and clothes whenever the girls were getting ready to go anywhere.

  After breakfast Helen went upstairs to get ready, as they had booked the hairdresser’s for ten thirty and didn’t want to be late. Just as they were about to leave, Carmel Quinn’s silver Mercedes pulled into the driveway and she arrived with the bridal bouquet and the two posies for the bridesmaids that she had made.

  The flowers were beautiful, and so simple and classic. Pink baby roses for Amy, and a mixture of pink roses and purple flowers with frothy alchemilla for the girls, all tied with ribbon. They looked so professional. Helen couldn’t believe how talented Carmel was, and thanked her for all her work.

  ‘Carmel, they’re so pretty. I love them,’ thanked Amy.

  ‘Put them somewhere cool,’ she advised. ‘I’m going to the church now, to check on the flower arrangements. I did them yesterday afternoon, and though I say it myself, they look wonderful. My sister Liz is meeting me there, and we’re going to decorate the benches. The car is full of ribbons, it’s all so exciting.’ She laughed, hugging Amy.

  ‘How’s Dan?’ Amy asked.

  ‘He’s counting down the hours, though when I left he was on the Playstation with Dylan.’

  The hairdresser’s was busy, but they got a huge welcome from Jonathan and all his staff. Jess had got there ahead of them, and was already having her hair washed. Jonathan assigned a stylist to each of them as he took Amy under his wing. Helen had got her highlights done a few days earlier, and just wanted Zoe to blow-dry her hair good and straight, so that it would last all day. The staff chatted about the wedding, everyone laughing and excited.

  Lynn was looking after Ciara, and had pinned up part of her hair in a bouffant style at the top of her head, while the rest of her dark hair tumbled around her shoulders.

  ‘Very sixties,’ approved Jonathan as he started to dry and style Amy’s light brown hair, pulling the central part back and up in a similar fashion and smoothing the ends before attaching the crystal bow with its simple veil to her head. As he pinned it into place, and checked that it was totally secure, Helen gasped, seeing Amy’s face in the mirror. Her daughter looked absolutely beautiful.

  Jess looked amazing, too, with her hair lifted in the centre and falling straight to her shoulders. It was a total change, with not a sign of her usual curls!

  As they were finishing up Fran and Krista both arrived to get their hair done, everyone chatting about the wedding and wishing Amy well.

  Helen made a dash for the car, and parked it up close to the door of the hairdresser’s so the girls could avoid the sudden shower of rain.

  Amy’s friend Susan, a beautician, was doing the make-up for everyone, and was already at the house.

  ‘I’ll get started on you, Amy,’ she said, ‘as I know Krista wants to take plenty of photos of you here at home.’

  Helen retreated to the kitchen, where she had soup and salad and French bread ready for everyone. Paddy was pacing up and down the hall, nervously going over his speech. He had refused to show it to her, and she hoped that he wasn’t getting too stressed and tense about it.

  ‘Feck it!’ screamed Ciara, as she ran upstairs for something. ‘Mum, Barney’s after puking in the hall. It’s all over the place.’

  A quick investigation showed the dog had also repeated the performance behind the couch in the living room, where he had been hiding.

  ‘Paddy! Paddy, will you deal with that dog?’ pleaded Helen. ‘Get the shovel and clean it up before Amy or one of us walks in it. The bottle of Dettol is in the utility room.’

  ‘Keep him away from upstairs and my dress!’ yelled Amy.

  Paddy O’Connor put down his newspaper to deal with the problem on hand. That was the end of his kid-glove treatment, he said to himself, as he scooped the offending mess into the bin and washed up and disinfected the areas. The house was gone mad, no wonder the poor dog had got sick. He’d probably been wolfing down leftover sausages and black pudding from breakfast this morning. He wasn’t used to so many visitors and so much food, poor devil!

  ‘Barney! Barney!’ he called. ‘Come on, the rain has stopped, let’s go for a walk, get you out of here.’

  The dog jumped up and down with excitement and Paddy put on his lead and took him down the driveway. Thank heaven they’d organized for Fran’s kids to look after Barney while they were at the wedding and overnight down in Wicklow.

  ‘You’d better behave, Barney!’ he warned, heading down to the entrance to their estate.

  * * *

  Susan used a light make-up look for Amy, which accentuated her eyes and gave her skin a golden glow, her lips done in a peachy pink colour. Her eyelashes looked long and upswept as she grinned at herself in the mirror.

  ‘It looks light and fresh,’ explained Susan. ‘But I guarantee that it has staying power.’

  An hour later the girls were all made-up, and it was time to get ready. Krista, in a short black dress and a short-sleeved cream shrug, followed everyone around with her camera, as she captured the day.

  Looking in the mirror Helen loved the soft grey-blue colours Susan had used on her eyes, the foundation – which evened out all her skin tones – and the brush of blush which seemed to give an extra glow to her face.

  Susan had persuaded Ciara to alter her normally heavy kohl-black eye make-up, and instead had given her a sixties style on her eyes with an upswept line of black that made her look sexy and sophisticated.

  Jess was thrilled with her look, as she had never got her make-up done professionally before. Susan showed her how to shape her eyes and apply shadow properly, and the right technique to make her narrow lips seem bigger and fuller.

  Helen went upstairs to help Amy get dressed. Overawed, she watched as her elder daughter stepped into the exquisite designer wedding dress. It was stunning and fitted perfectly.

  ‘Oh, Amy love!’ Helen couldn’t help herself as tears filled her eyes. ‘You look so beautiful.’

  ‘Mum, don’t cry or you’ll get me started, and then my make-up will be ruined!’ Amy said.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Helen lied, drying her eyes.

  Jess and Ciara came in to see the bride, looking like two super-models in their on-the-knee flirty purple dresses and high heels. Krista snapped away with her expensive digital camera as they all squealed and yelled with excitement when they saw each other.

  ‘Jess, you look like you’ve lost stones!’ congratulated Helen, noticing how pretty Jess wa
s. Her tummy and legs and shoulders appeared slim and toned in the figure-hugging dress.

  ‘Thanks, Helen.’ Jess smiled, delighted with her new slimmed-down self and the confidence it gave her. ‘It was hard, but it was worth it!’

  ‘Mum, for heaven’s sake, will you get dressed?’ warned Amy. ‘You’ll have us all late!’

  Paddy, back from walking the dog, was dressing in his tuxedo, adjusting his purple-coloured tie in the bedroom.

  ‘You know, a while ago I didn’t think that I would ever see this day,’ he admitted, sitting down heavily on the bed. ‘I didn’t think that I’d ever get out of hospital, let alone walk my daughter up the aisle at her wedding.’

  Helen froze. She knew just how important this day was for him, too.

  ‘So much has changed over the past few months,’ he admitted. ‘It’s been bloody awful, but somehow we’ve got through it.’

  Helen came and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him.

  ‘I knew we would,’ she smiled. ‘We’re a tough old pair.’

  ‘Mum!’ yelled Ciara. ‘Hurry up! Krista wants a photo of everyone.’

  Helen took her dress off the hanger and slipped it on over her expensive new underwear. The colour was amazing, and made her feel vibrant and young. She loved the feel of the silky material on her skin and the shape of it. It was even better on than she remembered. She carefully lifted the fancy little headpiece that she had found in the hat shop in South Anne Street, and put it on her hair, making sure that it was fixed in place properly. Then, after slipping on her expensive Italian shoes, she twirled around for Paddy to see. The look in his eyes spoke a thousand words as they laughed, and he held her face and kissed her.

  ‘You’re my beautiful girl!’

  ‘Will you two hurry on!’ yelled Ciara. ‘We’re all waiting for you.’

  Krista wanted to take more photos of the family in the house and on the stairs, and, now that the rain had finally stopped, in the garden.

  Helen looked out at the bright–blue clear sky and thanked the Infant of Prague for hearing their prayers as they all trooped out to the back garden. Krista took photos of Amy and her sister and best friend with their bouquets, and Helen with her daughters in front of the roses, and Paddy and Helen with their three children, as poor Barney barked at them from the kitchen.

  ‘Uncle Tim is outside in the car,’ called Ronan.

  ‘Helen, you’d better go down to the church,’ advised Paddy. ‘Everyone should be arriving by now.’

  ‘Come on, Mum,’ called Ronan. ‘We all have to go. We don’t want to be late.’

  Krista was staying at the house to photograph Amy and Paddy as they got ready to leave in the Bentley.

  ‘I’ll meet you in the church in a few minutes,’ she promised Ronan. ‘I want to get Amy and Paddy arriving at the church, too.’

  Taking a last glance at the house, and giving Amy a hug, Helen and the bridesmaids got in the car with Ronan for the short drive to St Mary’s.

  Chapter Sixty-five

  As they pulled into the church car park, Helen was greeted by the sight of friends and family gathering in the sunshine and filing into the church. There wasn’t a rain cloud in sight and the sky was clear and blue. She tried to quell her own nerves as she got out of the car. Ciara and Jess were all excited as they fixed their dresses, adjusted their bouquets, and stepped out to a cheer from Dan, his two brothers and Liam.

  Helen said hello to a few friends, delighted with the two big bay trees decorated with white ribbons that Carmel had placed at the church entrance. As she walked across, Jeremy, who was busy with his camera filming all the arrivals, said hello to her, getting her to stop for a minute so he could film her properly. The girls moved over to the side to wait for Amy’s arrival, chatting to Dylan and one of his cousins.

  ‘The Quinns and Gran and loads of others are inside,’ said Ronan, after walking into the church to see what was happening. ‘Dad sent me a text to say he and Amy are leaving home in a few minutes. I’ll get Rob and Liam to ask everyone to move into the church.’

  Helen could hear the music inside the church, and waited while the last few slipped into their seats. Then she took a deep breath to gather herself, linked arms with Ronan, and began the walk up the aisle to her seat. Carmel had tied lacy hydrangeas, pink roses, pretty purple daisies and lavender and white ribbon to every second bench. Fran and Tom and Maeve and Andy gave Helen a huge smile as she walked up the long aisle on her son’s arm. She felt like she was walking on air, she was so happy and so proud of her family.

  She went over to Dan to say hello. He looked so handsome in his tuxedo, standing tall and nervous beside Rob and Liam. She couldn’t ask for a better son-in-law, and she hugged him before saying hello to Carmel and Eddie.

  Carmel, slim and elegant in her silver shift dress and coat, had a sweeping cream and silver hat complementing her outfit.

  Sheila was in her element, sitting up in the front pew, wearing her peach suit, a stylish hat trimmed with peach and pink and cream chiffon roses perched jauntily on her head.

  ‘Mum, you look gorgeous,’ Helen said to her, giving her a hug and a kiss as she sat in beside her.

  The altar looked magnificent, with two huge arrangements of giant cream hydrangeas and blowsy end-of-summer pink and cream roses mixed with tall purple and cream delphiniums and green leaves. Carmel had done a wonderful job creating such a display.

  Helen could hear a ripple of excitement go through the congregation and guessed that Paddy and Amy must have arrived outside. The musicians started the music as Ciara and Jess walked slowly up the aisle in their sassy purple dresses, their pink and purple posies in their hands, both looking fantastic and smiling at friends and family. As they reached the top the bridesmaids slipped into the seats in front of Helen.

  Helen held her breath as Paddy and Amy now began to walk up. She turned to watch father and daughter, arm in arm, walk past all those who loved them. Amy was bright-eyed and smiling with happiness as Paddy proudly led her up to the altar towards Daniel, the man she loved.

  Paddy stopped at the top, where Daniel was waiting, and formally placed Amy’s hand in that of her beloved. Daniel’s eyes shone with love as he took Amy’s hand.

  Helen tried not to cry as the young couple stepped forward together and stood at the altar, Jess taking Amy’s roses.

  Helen smiled as Paddy, relieved, sat in beside her.

  The ceremony was beautiful: the hymns, readings and prayers, and especially Father Tom’s wonderful sermon, which made everyone laugh but also reflected on the importance of the marriage they were witnessing.

  Helen had to fight to control her emotions when Amy and Dan made their vows to each other in front of the whole congregation. They were relaxed and word-perfect and there was a huge cheer when Father Tom declared them formally husband and wife. Helen reached for Paddy’s hand as the young couple lit the marriage candle.

  Every piece of music was special – Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria’, the Gaelic ‘Ag Criost an Siol’, Fauré’s ‘Pie Jesu’, Leonard Bernstein’s ‘One Hand, One Heart’.

  Everyone in the small congregation had played their part, and before she knew it, the ceremony had ended and Father Tom had invited Amy and Dan and their families into the sacristy to sign the marriage register.

  As she looked at the wedding ring on Amy’s finger Helen said a silent prayer for a lifetime of happiness for her daughter and her husband. As she did so, Krista took more photographs.

  ‘Are we ready to go?’ smiled Dan, eyes shining as he clasped Amy’s hand.

  The music of Mendelssohn’s ‘Wedding March’ swelled and filled the church as Amy and Dan stepped back out from the altar again and began to walk down the aisle hand in hand, their friends cheering and clapping for the happy couple. The air was electric with excitement as Jess linked arms with Rob and Ciara with Liam and they walked behind the bride and groom. Eddie, laughing, took Helen’s arm, with Paddy and Carmel following behind. And finally, Ronan hel
d his gran’s arm and slowly walked the old lady in her finery down the church, to huge applause.

  Amy and Dan stood together in the warm sunshine near the church porch, greeting all their wedding guests as they came out of the church. Jeremy set up the camera to record everyone as Krista mingled among the crowd taking photos.

  ‘Mr and Mrs Quinn!’ screamed Sarah and Tara in unison, giving them both hugs and kisses. Sarah’s husband Tom wished them luck.

  Amy was all smiles as everyone complimented her and Dan, told her how beautiful she looked and wished them both all good things.

  ‘Amy, what a beautiful wedding!’ Fran hugged her, squeezing her tight. ‘You look absolutely gorgeous. Helen and Paddy are so proud of you!’

  ‘And I’m proud of them, too,’ Amy said, glancing over at her parents, who were busy chatting to Uncle Brendan and Claire and Auntie Mary and her husband Jimmy.

  ‘What a Mother of the Bride!’ said Fran, coming over to her. ‘You look amazing, Helen, and Paddy looks so fit and handsome.’

  ‘He was determined to be well for today,’ admitted Helen, who at times had wondered if the wedding was going to be too much for Paddy.

  ‘Well, it’s great to see you both looking so proud and happy,’ Fran added. ‘That’s what it’s all about.’

  ‘You look lovely, too.’ Helen admired Fran’s fancy turquoise dress and wrap.

  ‘I’m poured into it!’ confessed Fran. ‘I was half an hour trying to get myself into my new pair of Spanx, and I don’t know how I’m going to last the day in them. God knows what will happen when I need to go to the bathroom!’

  Helen laughed. Leaving Fran and Tom chatting to her sister-inlaw she went over to check that her mother was OK. Sheila Hennessy was in top form, entertaining everyone around her with memories of her own wedding during ‘The Emergency’.