Daughter 1 gets married.

Well. The wedding was WONDERFUL.

When we got married, more than 32 years ago, I didn't particularly enjoy the ceremony or the reception because I was shy, and didn't want attention focused on me. Also, I thought that I was fat and therefore that I looked silly. Actually, I wasn't fat: I was under 9 stone, so about 124 pounds, which for my 5'4" height wasn't thin, but wasn't fat either.

However, Daughter 1's wedding was a joy from beginning to end. She looked lovely and so happy. The groom also looked very smart and had a big curly smile the whole time. They were so sweet when they said their vows. The bridesmaids were very pretty and had a lot of fun. The weather: hailstones briefly until about ten minutes before we all left the house, and then sunshine. The ceremony was lovely: our minister said just the right sort of things, the guests sang the hymns well, our son sang a duet from "The Magic Flute" with a friend so beautifully during the signing of the register and it was all fantastic. The function room in the hotel looked very pretty, the meal was great, the speeches were good (Daughter 2 gave a lovely speech in tribute to her sister and welcoming her brother-in-law into the family), the ceilidh band (playing music for Scottish dancing) was excellent and people danced and had a great time.

I really never expected to enjoy it so much. My co-mother-in-law and my sister-in-law came from England a few days early and we arranged the flowers in the church and in the hotel, which was enjoyable. Daughter 2 decorated the cake (which was just bought from Marks and Spencer - iced cakes in 3 sizes) with ribbons and fresh flowers, made the bouquets and the buttonholes with her friend, and did a lot of organising. So there was a lot of attendant fun even before the ceremony. And we saw friends old and new on the day, and had a lot of general socialising beforehand and afterwards.

We were so proud of our children. They're really nice people, and Daughter 2 and Son did such a lot to make sure that their sister and her new husband had a wonderful day.

And it didn't cost a huge fortune, unlike the "average weddings" that one reads about, costing alarming amounts of money, in newspaper articles. We had only one hired car, we did the flowers ourselves, the cake was simple but delicious - all this saved a lot. But Daughter 1 got the dress of her dreams, the bridesmaids liked theirs too, the hotel and the meal were lovely and the band was very good indeed, so we felt that we spent money on the important things.

We were so lucky in so many ways. The photographer was really nice. The chauffeur was lovely. The waiting staff in the hotel couldn't have been more helpful.

Maybe all this waxing lyrical is a bit nauseating? Sorry - but it really was a great day. On the negative side, though - I didn't quite seem to get round to losing any weight. I stopped weighing myself after a bit and I'm nervous about stepping on the scales again. I will, though. Tomorrow or so. And the wedding pictures will no doubt feature a fat lady in a silly hat. But still - it was one of the happiest days of my life. Luckily for us, Daughter 1 and Son-in-Law will be staying with us for a while, so we aren't losing her yet - which would have made my emotions more mixed.

I would definitely do it again. Just not quite yet.