1960s PRIVATE LIFE
0116 Wedding
Much to the disgust
of my parents, who thought I would be distracted from my studies, I got engaged
to Pat within the first year of our knowing each other. Having said that she
had to pay for the engagement ring! I was still a student at I
mperial.
For our engagement dinner we went to Reece's ballroom in Liverpool, one of the
few places in the area that did dinner dances. I remember Pat was in one of my
favourite dresses; a black velvet dress with a bell shaped skirt. We were very
much in love.
Celebrating our engagement at Reece’s Ballroom
The wedding in itself took place in the Christmas vacation in 1961. Many people thought we were mad getting married while I was still at university; certainly my parents did. The reality was we knew that, as soon as I had finished at Imperial, I would be desperately looking for a job and we wouldn't know where we were going. I also suspect not a few of our relatives were counting the days afterwards to see if Pat was pregnant!
The wedding itself was at Danehill church, the nearest church to Pat's parents' place in Chelwood Gate. It was a nice old country church, and it was a traditional wedding. Pat wore a short white dress and veil. I wore my one lounge suit, with my newly acquired RCS half-colour tie -- a beautiful silver colour! My only really new item was a pair of winkle-pickers which were very fashionable in those days, where I was very unfashionable; and I even had my hair cut at Harrods.
John Power was my
best man and my ushers included Norman Killey. They stayed in the local pub,
where I was to have had my stag night. That said, it was a disaster - perhaps a
fo
retaste
of things to come! My parents, who were travelling down from the Wirral, ran
into fog and didn't arrive until 2 o'clock in the morning; by which time it was
far too late for my stag night. Perhaps that was a good thing, since – unusually
for a bridegroom - I felt fine the following morning.
Jon, my best man, me and an usher (from the Rifle Club)
We persuaded the
organist at the church that the music for the bride coming up the aisle should
be Bach's Toccata and Fugue; I suspect we were being a little highbrow at the
time. That for us leaving was the traditional Mendelssohn. We wanted Pat's
cousin's Michael's daughter to be our bridesmaid, but she was Roman Cath
olic
and was not allowed to take part in the Church of England ceremony! So Marion
and Pistol's daughter, Gaby, was our bridesmaid. Michael, though, took a very
elaborate set of photographs -- he was a professional photographer -- and my
parents took an 8mm cine film.
Jon, the happy couple & Gaby
We considered having the reception at the local hotel, but their handling of our inquiries had been so poor that we chose the local pub instead; and had reception in the building at the back. In fact it went very well. The food was good, the atmosphere was very relaxed, and everyone enjoyed themselves. Even we enjoyed ourselves, as we rushed back to Pat's parent's house nearby to change - pausing only for the obligatory sex en route. As we rushed back to the reception, however, en route I managed to reverse my new father-in-law's car into the bushes. Fortunately there was no damage and I don't think anyone really noticed!
Family & Friends
Front Row: Marion & children, Pa, Roy (library), Judith, Ma, Me & Pat, Gaby, Pat’s mother, Michael’s daughter, Pat’s father, Pat’s cousin, Auth Kay, Aunt May, Frank & dog!
Second Row (as visible): ?, Norman Killey, Aunt Rose, Pistol, Jon Power, library secretary, ushers from Imperial & others
Back Row (as visible) Uncle Ron, John & Leonore (hidden) and Currie
From there we were driven in Pat's Uncle's Jaguar to the nearby railway station and we went to London for the start of our honeymoon.
On our way
Coincidentally we got into the same carriage on the train as my roommate -- rather inconveniently for everyone involved.
We were taking a late flight, so we had our evening meal - wedding breakfast -- in our favourite Indian restaurant; the Pulao was excellent - if hardly traditional.
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