A Weddıng Wıth Titanic Overtones!
After possibly the longest engagement in history Meltem finally got Ali Abi in front of the Registrar. But what should have been the wedding of the century rapidly turned into an epic of Titanic proportion.
Perhaps it’s in the genes, maybe it’s just the climate, but whenever possible Turks like to ‘do it’ outdoors. Some ‘do its’ such as fishing can only be done outside, but give a Turk a knife and fork and nine times out of ten they will set it on a table outside and even in near freezing conditions insist on serving a four course meal.
And weddings are no exception. There were three weddings taking place in the same park that Meltem and Ali chose for their big day. All of them would have benefited from Poppy’s planning.
Poppy is, of course, the family organizer from Stephen Poliakoff’s wonderful drama ‘Perferct Strangers‘, which chronicles a family gathering in London and The Home Counties. In the final scene the family will dine in a tent set in the garden of their former ancestral home. Unfortunately the heavens have opened, but Poppy with foresight has provided Wellington boots and hired miles of duck-board.
No such luck for Ali and Meltem, for indeed the heavens did open not only with rain, but also hailstones.
The little village of tents, each set around a round table began to collapse under the weight of the downpour. Waiters and guests struggled to relieve the canopies of water. Expensive ‘hair-dos’ were flattened and the temperature dropped to autumnal levels.
The older generation, who no doubt could remember well the privations of the war, insisted on ‘tucking-in’ as if nothing was amiss. They displayed the best example of ‘stiff-upper-lip’ that I have seen for a long time, and every one of them a Turk, rather than a Brit!
Eventually Meltem and Ali arrived, and it must be said, unlike the rest of us, looking resplendent. Unfortunately Ali trod on Meltem’s train, which was not an auspicious thing to do. But at least Meltem didn’t faint at her wedding, as happened a month ago at another family wedding because the bride had starved herself for two days so as to fit into a ridiculously narrow dress.
The ceremony lasted about three minutes. Ali seemed to have difficulty remembering the year in which he was born. In fact he is three years younger than me and just looks several years older.
After some more showers and hailstones Amazon decided it was time to go home, so Irem and I left with her even before the cutting of the wedding cake.
Throughout it all the band played on.
