21 JUNE Today is the day Well, the dress will still fit, I hope. Nails redone at noon, then hair and face. Should be done by 2.30 Into dress and ready for a few pics. It is cool but sunny; hope the weather will get better. There is a bit of a wind and a choppy sea, but nothing more than a wobble on board. A DIGRESSION: THE STORY OF THE DRESS As you know, I had an idea for a Marilyn Monroe-style of dress I'm no dress maker, so I took the dress you sent me to a place that did alterations to see if they could put an inset bra and some lace overlays in lemon. They could only take it up or in, nothing else; I would have to find a dress maker for that. That was not an easy task and even when I did find one, she was expensive and suggested having a dress made to measure - even more expensive. My friend Sue suggested we try the new wedding dress shop that had opened in St. Ives. Hmmm . . . not sure, but we will take a look. It was very cold, wet and windy that day and we walked into the shop wrapped up and somewhat disheveled-looking. Picture two little old ladies . . . . A young girl approached us: "Can I help?" Sue responded. "My friend is getting married in June on a cruise ship;  have you anything in petite?" The girl looked at us, she looked over our heads, she looked past me to the door. "Well," she said, "if you ask her to come in, we will have a chat about what she would like." "I'm the bride!" I snapped at the same time as Sue pointing at me said, "SHE's the bride." "Oh," she responded, "well, what have you in mind?" "No buttons or laces up the back, no cathedral train, no huge ball gown and definitely no fishtail or mermaid style." "What's your budget?" "Doesn't matter if I like the dress," I responded. We were left standing in the doorway where we had come to a halt. She brought beautiful gowns for my opinion: Six-foot cathedral trains, 50 buttons up the back, laces up the back, five-foot-wide ball gowns and the fishtail/mermaid dresses styled for six-foot-tall models. I said, "These are all the things I didn't want, so we would just leave it." I tried another shop. They brought out dress and coat or jacket outfits or bridesmaid dresses. Hmmm . . . I do not want to look like the bride's mother or her niece. I want the wedding pics to say, "THIS is the bride," not "Which one is the bride?" (do I sound like the CATHY comic yet?). Sue said to try another shop. Off we went to SHADES OF WHITE down near the old town bridge. We walked in; Sue gave her by-now-well-rehearsed speech. "Oh, how lovely!" the girl exclaimed. She disappeared and came back with two dresses and told us to have a look for some others. I picked a lovely pale grey heavily-beaded 1920's-style dress and Sue picked a couple of dresses. I tried the first dress the woman had picked for me, I liked it a lot. I tried on six other dresses; they were ok, but I was saving the grey one 'til last. I tried it on . . . eek! I looked like the Dowager Duchess from DOWNTON ABBEY! I asked to try the first one on again. I did like it and I felt good in it. "What shoes will you wear?" "I have some nude-coloured T-bar shoes at home." The woman rushed off and on her return gave me a beautiful pair of shoes to try with the dress. I was in love with the shoes already. "What will you wear on your head?" "Hmmm . . . nothing; never thought about it." She was like a fairy godmother: POOF! And a veil and tiara appeared on my head. "I like the look, but the big satin belt is too wide." POOF! A narrow diamante belt to match my tiara appeared round my waist. Sue was crying, The woman was almost in tears. "This is the dress," they were saying, and I knew it was THE ONE. All I had to do was keep it hidden from Richard for six months AND get it on the ship without it being seen. Once again my fairy godmother came to my rescue. "Bring a suitcase in when you come for your final fitting; we will keep the dress here and pack it up on 7 June, ready to be collected." The wedding planner on the cruise had the dress taken away and kept in the laundry room till 2.00 p.m. on the day of the wedding. R had to promise to be out of the room at 1.50 p.m. I had told him it was a hat, dress and jacket, . . . Richard waiting for me to arrive . . . . . . so I asked the photographer to take his pic the moment he saw me. He had the biggest smile . . . . . . that tells me it was a lovely surprise.

THE WEDDING