The Bridesmaid Pact (26 page)

The friends I have today have made the time spent at home rearing children, profitable and productive ones, so with that in mind, I’d like to say big thanks to: Kate Chinn, Tracey Clark, Jane Hunnable, Sarah Iles, Lisa Lacourarie, Jackie O’ Neill for letting me mouth off about the trials of domesticity on a regular basis, and to my lovely friend Dawn Pearce for always being there, and never saying no when I ask.

Finally, this is also a book about weddings as suggested by my lovely outgoing editor Maxine Hitchcock, who during the course of this book, got married herself, so was fantastically helpful in reminding me what fun it all was. I’d like to say thanks also to Karen Howard and Helen Gard who shared my wedding year, and gave me the inspiration for Doris, and for Liz Lamb for suggesting I put her in a book and Sue and Dave Howard for their support.

I’ve recently celebrated 20 years of marriage myself. And my husband was and remains my best friend, so thanks to you too, Dave. For all of it, even the times that
haven’t
been fun…

Julia Williams grew up in North London, one of eight children. She has herself been married to the same (very patient) man for twenty years and they have four children. Their wedding was a memorable affair, categorised mainly by all their friends drinking lots of fine wine.

A wedding wouldn’t be a wedding without its stressful moments and there were plenty of those
en route
. Julia vividly remembers the arguments between her own bridesmaids about which colour to wear (they went for gold in the end). Two months before the wedding, the owner of the hotel where the reception was to be held ran away with the cook. Fortunately, the solution to have a marquee in the back garden proved to be a much better result. Thanks to the bride and groom leaving it rather late to order their wedding rings, they nearly had to get married without. Luckily, a local jeweller stepped in, and lent them a pair, mem orably saying to Julia, ‘you can’t go up the aisle naked my dear.’

But none of that mattered in the end. The day itself was perfect and quite possibly the best party Julia has ever been to, although a discreet veil should probably be drawn over the Scottish country dancing.

As to married life, Julia would recommend it highly, but suggests that to keep sane both parties need tolerance, kindness and a huge dollop of humour.

To find out more about Julia go to her website at www.juliawilliamsauthor.com or visit her blog at www.maniacmum.blogspot.com.

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