Weddingery, at long last

Just back from Norwich, where I was visiting my parents, and where I had a busy 24 hours of rushing about doing essential wedding things, so I didn't spend as much time with them as I would have liked. Will be visiting again soon, once this next mad week is out of the way, and I can take a breather.

My soon-coming wedding to the love of my life has unfortunately been placed way down on the list of priorities compared to all the other stuff - book editing deadline, 7/7 inquiry campaigning, and another another tiresome, distasteful but unavoidable matter - and I wonder how I ended up with not one, but four massive, stressful things going on in my life all at the same time.

Still, it's finally happening, I really am going to walk down the aisle and say 'I will' to my beloved. I have my dress fitting tomorow; today I chased about like a mad thing, and saw the florist to organise bouquets and buttonholes, had a make-up practice (which was fab: the first time in a week I was able to relax and think properly whilst a nice girl dabbed at my face with tiny brushes in a calming manner. Dreaming with my eyes open, of sweet times to come.

I immediately booked her for mum and my sister too. We will all need a moment of zen before the wedding service and reception.)

And this morning I had a two-hour walk-through in the awe-inspiring venue where the wedding will be held, with my parents and with the vergers who were all very helpful, showing us where to stand, where to sit, where the choir girls will sing...

My mother and I made designs for the three-tier (M&S) fruitcake, we are going to cover it with Stargazer lillies, and rose petals. And two Grand Prix deep wine-red velvety roses on top, one for me, one for J, to match my beautiful bouquet. The pale gold champagne sits in boxes in my parents' larder, waiting. I feel like a cork, about to pop sometimes, myself.

Tomorrow I have to work flat out all day, go through the final edit of the book which is just getting a light syntax/spelling check - but of course I keep thinking of better phrases and wanting to tinker with it - I must be careful not to drive my editor mad, and am being very strict with myself and not faffing, just correcting. I have only read the whole thing through once, I couldn't bear to look at it after I had finished - but now I am coming back to it with fresher eyes, a bit disbelieving, a bit apprehensive. It will be out at the end of July, on the 24th.

(You can pre-order it on Amazon and read about it here. Eek!Friday Books are publishing it and Pan MacMillan distributing it.)

So many of our friends have sent cards to my mother accepting the wedding invitation... I got a bit weepy when I read them all, all those people wishing us joy and luck and happiness. Things have changed so much for me in the last two years - from the long dark days when I really did despair, when I did not think I would be able to keep from going under, to now, the spring days of hope and the promise of joy that is just around the corner. All the lovelier for being hoped for, for so long, but not quite believed in, however much I wished, and crossed my fingers.

Not quite real. Until now.

I promised I wouldn't be too bridezilla- ish on this blog and drive everyone mad. But it's the weekend, so I hope you will forgive a small skip of happiness and here's a kiss blown to you all, from an excited soon-to-be wife in North London.