Making Love (Destiny Book 1) (24 page)

I was doing my own hair and make-up, not wanting this to turn into a circus but now that I knew some pictures were being released, I was a little more inclined to primp.

“Maybe half twelve. What do you think?” I asked. Hannah was my maid of honour, and Laurie and Marie were my bridesmaids.

“Whenever you want. Better to be ready too early than too late.”

“Okay, can you come to my room for twelve?”

“Sure,” Hannah smiled. “And I hate to ask, but what do you want to do about Mum?”

“She can stay, but keep her away from me. I mean it, if she tries to ruin my day, I will ask security to escort her off the premises.”

“Understood,” Hannah smiled. “Try not to worry about her.”

“I am,” I beamed. “Nothing will spoil my day.”

“Our day,” Will turned away from Ben to interject.

“Our day,” I agreed.

***

The ceremony was in the Auld Keep, which could seat up to 100 guests, although we didn’t have quite that many. As I headed over there with my sister, bridesmaids and the flower girls, I was as nervous as hell. Will hadn’t seen the dress yet, one of the few traditions I wanted to observe, and I was equal parts eager to see his reaction, and fearful that he wouldn’t like it.

In the antechamber, my sister sorted her daughters out with their baskets of rose petals, then once they left to spread the petals, Hannah came to my side. We had been through the motions yesterday, a rehearsal of sorts, albeit a very short one. I didn’t want to ruin the experience by essentially having two weddings, so once we had run through where everything and everyone would be, I was content to leave it at that.

Now I was regretting my choice, and wishing we’d done a hundred full dress rehearsals. What if I tripped going down the aisle? What if I was horribly clichéd and fainted? Oh, the shame!

“Calm down,” Hannah said softly. “All you’re doing is cementing your love, right? The real danger will be later, on the dance floor.”

I chuckled. “You’re right.”

“Good.”

Marie had already gone and Laurie was heading through the door with a groomsman as we spoke.

“Looks like that’s my cue,” Hannah said, checking my veil. “You look amazing.”

She headed through into the main room on the arm of the best man, Mark, flashing me a smile as she went.

I took a few steps forward, ready to follow when the attendants told me that Hannah had reached the front.

Classical music was playing, something Will had chosen and I had agreed it was nice, but for the life of me, I couldn’t recall its name at the moment.

Hannah had reached the front and I was gestured forward. I stepped out into the aisle, shaking like a leaf then, with the sound of a needle being ripped from an LP, the music changed to the chorus of White Wedding, by Billy Idol.

The song was so incongruous with the setting that I burst out laughing, which I could tell had been Will’s plan. I forgot about worrying, I only wanted to get to the man who arranged this surprise, just to make me smile.

Will met me and walked the final few steps to the altar with me.

“You look wonderful,” he told me, having to speak up to be heard over the rock music.

The music tapered off and the registrar was trying her hardest to keep a straight face as she began the proceedings.

“Good afternoon, everyone. We have gathered here today, on what is indeed
a nice day for a wedding
, to witness the joining in matrimony of William and Eleanor. On their behalf, I would like to welcome you all to Dundas Castle, I’m sure it means a great deal to them that you can be here to share in their happiness on this very special occasion. I’m sure it would have come out in the press by now, but I’m still legally required to ask, so if any person present knows of any lawful impediment to this marriage, I ask that he or she declare it now.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“Good. That part always worries me a little. Will and Elle,” she smiled at us. “Before you are joined in matrimony I have to remind you of the solemn and binding character of the vows you are about to make. Marriage, according to the law of this country, is the union of two people, voluntarily entered into for life, to the exclusion of all others. The purpose of marriage is that you may always love, care for, and support each other through all the joys and sorrows of life. It is a partnership in which two people can pledge their love and commitment to one another; a solemn union providing love, friendship, help and comfort to you both through your life together.”

We smiled at each other, knowing we already had that. Next we had to declare that we knew ‘not of any lawful impediments’ why we couldn’t be married and finally, the moment to exchange the vows was upon us.

“Will, please repeat after me.”

He looked into my eyes as he repeated her words. “I call upon these persons here present to witness that I, William Thomas Braxton, do take thee Eleanor Charlotte Greystone, to be my lawful wedded wife. I promise to love and care for you, and to be faithful to you always.”

“Do we have the rings?”

Mark, the best man, handed Will my ring and he took my left hand. “Eleanor, I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage, as a lasting reminder of the vows we are making today, and as a symbol of all that we share, now and always. I love you.”

It took me a moment to blink back tears before I could do the same.

“Will, I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage, as a lasting reminder of the vows we are making today, and as a symbol of all that we share, now and always. I love you too. You’re utterly mental but I love you.”

He grinned and some of the guests laughed.

“You have both made the declarations prescribed by law and have made your promises to one another in the presence of your witnesses here today, so it gives me great pleasure to declare that you Will, and you, Elle, are now husband and wife.”

The crowd cheered and White Wedding played again.

Will gave Ben, one of his groomsmen, a long suffering look, but he just shrugged innocently, as if the music was nothing to do with him.

Outside we took lots of pictures, then ventured to the top of the keep, to share a glass of champagne and look out over the grounds. Once the photographer had his pictures of us up there, we stayed, just enjoying a moment of quiet.

It was a beautiful day, calm and peaceful, and as Will wrapped his arms around me, I felt at peace. I knew I’d found the right man for me.

“No regrets?” Will asked.

“Not one.” I turned to look at him. “You?”

“No.” he leaned down and kissed me. “Now, what do you think our chances are of slipping back into the hotel for a quickie?”

I laughed. “Terrible, there’s people milling about everywhere down there.”

“I’ll just have to take you up here then.”

And he did, with my skirts hitched up and my back to the flag pole, looking out over the Firth of Forth as I came. It perhaps wasn’t the done thing but I didn’t care. And apparently, neither did he.

After a quick tidy up, we went down and posed for more photos in other picturesque parts of the hotel and grounds, then we moved back into the hotel for a quick drink before the reception started.

After dinner, Will kicked off the speeches once the master of ceremonies had everyone’s attention.

“I hope you’ve all got your drinks in, because I’m told this could go on a while,” he teased. “I’d like to thank you all for coming and sharing this day with us, especially those who went above and beyond to make this a memorable day. You have my eternal gratitude, and a lovely bottle of scotch for your trouble.

“Next, I’d like to thank the bridesmaids for the wonderful job they have done, and while I’d apologise for inflicting my groomsmen on them, I will also take this opportunity to absolve myself of all responsibility for them.

“You might have noticed that many elements of our day thumbed our noses at tradition, we shared a bed last night and we saw each other this morning, but then given that we hardly met in a traditional fashion, it seems rather fitting. Some say that I’ve been brainwashed and to them I say, it’s a wonderful feeling and should anything ever happen to Elle, I will be joining the nearest cult in the hopes of being brainwashed again. Other, slightly kinder, people say that our love is made or manufactured and if that is so, then we must all raise our glasses to Katie, for the experiment that brought us together was her brainchild. May all your experiments turn out as well for your subjects as this one did for us. You have our eternal gratitude, my dear.” He raised his glass in her direction. “To Katie.”

The rest of the room echoed his toast.

“Finally it only remains to toast my beautiful wife. It often seems to me that all I do is complicate her life but for reasons I have yet to fathom, she not only puts up with the disruption, she does her best to enjoy the whirlwind that comes with me, and wring every ounce of pleasure from it that she can.” He raised his glass in my direction. “To my darling Elle. Would that everyone could experience, if only for a moment, the joy you bring me. In the words of the immortal Bard, ‘
What made me love thee? Let that persuade thee there's something extraordinary in thee. I cannot, but I love thee, none but thee, and thou deservest it
’.” He smiled. I knew he’d slip Shakespeare in there somewhere. “To Elle.”

I had tears in my eyes as I stood up, and I kissed him before he sat down.

“Oh God, how do I top that?” I asked. “I thought for ages about what to say tonight but I knew I’d never come up with anything that could match his words. I even considered asking some of Will’s scriptwriting friends for help, but that would be cheating.”

“Is it? Mark, the best man suddenly asked. “Oh bollocks!” Everyone chuckled.

“Well it would be for me,” I assured him. “I’ll start by thanking everyone who helped make this day so special. Katie for her thesis idea, I promise I will get around to giving you that bribe for pairing me with Will one day.” For once, I didn’t even care if anyone didn’t get the joke and repeated that as a serious quote to the papers. “To John, for giving everyone time off so they could attend, especially my husband. To Maria and Laurie for talking me down from the brink a few times and especially Hannah, my beautiful sister, who has only ever wanted what’s best for me, even when she’s telling me off.”

That got a laugh at least. I turned to Will.

“And to my Will, the only man I know who can blend fearsome intelligence and childlike wonder, with a substantial dose of crazy and not only function, but somehow make it work for him. I also chose to steal someone else’s lines from the Italian opera, Falstaff. ‘
When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew
’. Maybe it wasn’t instant, but I knew that even after only an hour with you, I was in love. And I’m eternally grateful that you felt the same, because it would have been a real bitch to get over you.”

The guests laughed and Will took my hand pressing a kiss to my knuckles, his eyes saying more than his words ever could.

I sat down and the best man, Mark, stood up.

His speech was funny, with a few stories about Will’s childhood and their antics, but I could remember very little of it or the messages he read out from those who couldn’t be here, but the speeches were being filmed and the messages I would respond to once we came back from our honeymoon.

***

Our first dance was to All of You, by John Legend. Yes, maybe it is sappy and cheesy, but that’s the song we wanted. Neither of us was perfect, but we loved everything about each other, even the sharp edges.

Although we could both dance (I’d had lessons as a child) we didn’t have a choreographed routine, but the song had an easy 4/4 rhythm and Will was an instinctive dancer, so he led me around the dancefloor, spinning, twirling and sometimes even dipping me.

As the song came close to an end, Robert hijacked the DJ’s microphone and the music came to a screeching halt.

“Now, sorry for the interruption folks but you see, poor little Elle here had no father of the bride to walk her down the aisle and even worse, to dance with, so I would like to offer my services in that respect.”

He walked onto the dance floor, which was rapidly clearing, including Will, leaving me facing Robert all on my own.

“So, what do you say, pretty lady, can I have this dance?” He held his hand out towards me.

I’m British so no matter how embarrassing, I couldn’t refuse because that would be rude. I took his hand, hoping this wasn’t going to be too bad.

“Hit it!” Robert said, then tossed the mic to Mark.

Bringing Sexy Back began to play, which made me laugh, and Robert launched into a routine we sometimes did on set, during the downtimes and at various gatherings. Ever since he’d yelled at me that day, I was not at all intimidated by him. I wasn’t very good at our dance, especially in the wedding dress, but I had fun. We’d barely got through the chorus though, when I found myself being spun into Evan’s arms.

“That’s not how you dance at a wedding!” he chastised Robert.

The music changed to Come Away with Me and he began dancing a waltz. He’d asked me to teach him the waltz when he found out that I could dance.

Now that I thought about it, I realised that a few people had been teaching me something, or asking me to teach them a dance, and now I knew why. Sneaky little buggers.

I looked over to Will, who held his hands up and shook his head. While this might not have been his idea, I didn’t believe for a second that he was innocent.

“You call that dancing?” Mark butted in, and the music died. “This is a party, you need a Latin beat!”

The next thing I knew, I was doing the cha cha to Sexbomb by Tom Jones. I’d never danced with Mark before, I’d only met him in a handful of occasions but luckily, he knew what he was doing and kept the steps basic.

Again, we were soon interrupted but this time by Helen and Audrey.

“She doesn’t need any father of the bride, out dated, archaic BS,” Audrey said. “Let’s show them how it’s done, ladies.”

I knew what was coming, we’d worked out a little routine to Independent Women by Destiny's Child and sure enough, it began playing. I must have looked demented, dancing to hip hop in a wedding dress, but it was exhilarating just having fun with my friends.

The next thing I knew, Jack and Emma stopped us, and Chris Watson pulled me off the floor. Apparently the next bit was for me to enjoy.

What happened next was both surreal and highly entertaining, as select duos of our guests began a dance off. Some, like Helen and Audrey were excellent, some, like Chris and Greg, were not so great but they gave it their all. John and Mark got points for effort and even Ben and Helen took a turn. I had no clue when they’d managed to get together and coordinate their moves, but they were pretty good.

The highlight though, was when Will and Zac took to the floor, easily trouncing the others, and Jackson Moore, renowned for playing hard-nosed, foul mouthed tough guys, took that moment to hijack the mic.

“What the hell do you motherfuckers think you’re doing? This is a goddamn wedding, now sit your asses down and behave like normal people, for once.”

Looking chastened, everyone returned to their seats to a huge round of applause. Will sat next to me, panting and grinning.

“That was wonderful, thank you,” I grinned at him.

I suppose I shouldn’t have really been so surprised, my boyfriend, well, husband, was theatrically minded, but I hadn’t had a clue that any of this was being planned.

Will danced with his mum, then his sister and again with me but by 9.30, our duty was done and we were able to duck out. Well, I had to throw the bouquet, so it wasn’t exactly without fanfare.

We practically ran to our room, locked the door, then found out exactly how quickly one can get out of a wedding dress.