Travel with Angela Lansbury: What to check at a wedding venue

Saturday, September 19, 2020

What to check at a wedding venue - home or overseas

What could go wrong?

I went to the wrong church in Pinner, London, luckily not for a wedding. St John's Church in Northwood, St John The Baptist in Pinner, St John's in Sheepcote Road, Harrow.

What about hotels? We also went to the wrong Holiday Inn in Phoenix, thiking the city would have only one. It had two. A more rrecent look showed eight of them.

Wrong Venue

Check there are not two churches or hotels with same or similar names. Your hire car or stnav could take you to the wrong place. Find out exactly where the venue is and parking options.

Cars have been towed away from wedding venues, church services, funerals. It makes the news. You don't want it to be you.

Missing Bride

In America, when I was living in Maryland, I read in the local paper that one bride stopped for drinks at a convenience store. A joyrider hopped in. He took the bride and bridesmaids for a spin. Dropped them at their venue, and went off with the car.

Missing Groom

I was supposed to be the witness at a wedding on a cruise ship, The Dolphin, leaving from the US coast. Weddings were permitted on board. Different rules applied when the ship was in dock, and when it left and sailed away.

I waited to be called. Nothing happened.

Eventually I got the call, to a changed venue, and another bride. The harassed entertainments officer told me, "Don't say anything. This is confidential. But the groom for your wedding has not turned up. But, don't worry. You can still be witness at another wedding. We have three wedding today, well, two now. One of the other brides is delighted to have you as a witness."

I said to the bride, who was wearing white. "Congratulations. Your first wedding?"

No", she said, "Second".

I turned to the groom. "Your first wedding?"

"No," he said, "fifth".

I was thinking about this on my way to my son's wedding this week.

What could go wrong? The video was turned on the couple and the parents of the groom. Not the parents of the bride. The mother of the bride was in a fabulous green outfit and her family overseas including her son, the bride's brother, were disappointed not to see her.

Instead, they saw me, the groom's mother, fainting. Why? We were standing 45 minutes. I was in high heeled shoes. The air con was not on, because it had been banned, because of Covid-19. I was under the spotlight, literally.