WEDDING GOSSIP California Bride 5 11901 views

Leigh is two planning weeks away from her big Scottish day, all organised from across the pond in California. This week she discovers bridesmaid-zilla.

This week I took my four-year-old flower girl to have her dress fitted. As she is a self-titled princess who frequently floats around dressed as Ariel, Belle or Cinderella, I had no doubts that she would be thrilled to parade around in the suitably Disney princess-esque dress I had found for her. Clearly I had forgotten what it's like to be four! The fitting turned out to be a nightmare; first she didn’t want to try on the dress, then when the dressmaker mentioning pinning it she screamed and suddenly the dress was hurting her. I began to have visions of us frantically trying to cajole her into the dress five minutes before the ceremony and irrationally began to wonder if the whole day would be ruined.

The tradition of flower girls actually started with the Greeks and Romans who had children throwing herbs symbolic of fertility in front of the bride as she walked. Modern flower girls are perhaps more of an aesthetic choice these days, depending on the willingness of the participant, she can be dressed in angel or fairies wings and, even wield a wand or bubbles.

I myself was once a flower girl at my aunt’s wedding and, as I conveniently forgot in the dressmakers, I created some drama of my own. After catching a pageboy relieving himself in the hotel pond, in a fit of rage I threw my pomander at him and stormed into the dining room to loudly inform the first person I saw - who happened to be my grandfather right in the middle of his father of the bride speech. While I now cringe in horror at my actions, it’s important for me to remember one thing - despite my best efforts, I did not ruin the day!

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