This time next week my eldest daughter, Becky, will be married. For now we are in the final countdown. This has been in the pipeline for a long time now and we are all looking forward to it immensely. There are, however, just a few little loose ends around.
One of these points is which colour shirt I should wear, although it goes back much further. I said from the outset that I’d wear my best suit, no need to buy another. It is also the suit I got married in, back in 1996 and I do feel good in it. It is a classy cut, quite avant-garde in its day and a muted, dusty greyish blue colour. Suits me. Quite expensive too, especially back then. I have had the trouser’s waist let out, taken back in and the (then) fashionable turn-ups taken off. All good, everyone agreed.
And then we come to the question of which shirt to wear. I made the mistake of getting into a conversation with my mother about this. My mother, who it has to be said, is quite traditional and does have a Hyacinth Bucket about her at times, is most insistent I wear a white shirt.
”You are the father of the bride, you have to look smart. Nothing less than a new, crisp white shirt will do” says my mother.
Rachel chips in.
“You can’t wear a white shirt, white is not your colour, you know that. Go and buy an ivory coloured shirt”.
I happen to know a soft pink also works well with my complexion, so I raise this as a possibility.
”No you can’t wear pink. You will clash with the Bridesmaids”
Then I suggest blue. Surely I’ll be okay with blue? Often my office shirts have been blue in one form or another and they always worked well.
”Blue? No. It will be like you’re at work” suggests Rachel.
So off I go to Marks and Spencer. M&S have always been the “go to” place in times of uncertainty of what to buy and have always done me proud. Like millions of other men of a certain age, I have been well served by M&S Y-fronts since a tender age. I bought an ivory coloured shirt which turned out to be rather cream and the wrong size.
The cream shirt was returned yesterday and I bought the three shirts you see in the photo. One white, one blue and one in pink. I decided to go for plain colours, no stripes or patterns as this would complicate an already tricky situation even more. I had thoughts of the plain shirts covering all eventualities and we had a look at the colours last night alongside my suit and a collection of ties. The process itself went well and we whittled it down to the blue shirt – this was brilliant progress!
It was then left for Becky and I to decide on which tie to wear. We quickly came up with 3 or 4 possible ties and I must admit each one would work well. We decided on a tie which my late father had; a classic red patterned tie.
Then the shirt was tried on and it was too small, way too small. Somehow I had got a 14.5” collar in a slim fit. So today, guess what, back to M&S and I swapped them over. Rushed back home, tried on the new shirt, with jacket and tie. Perfect. Becky approves and says she’ll be happy to walk down the church isle with her Dad in blue shirt.
My mother doesn’t know about the blue shirt and I do hope she doesn’t ask again. I can almost hear Hyacinth Bucket tutting away as we come into the church.
At least she will approve of me wearing one of Dad’s old ties. And I’ll feel rightly proud of walking my girl down the isle.