Chapter Forty-Seven The Wedding
The ceremony was to take place on the terrace, with the teak decking carefully mopped dry after the afternoon shower.
Fold-out wooden seats were arranged with views over the sand dunes towards the sea.
Rather than lavish flower arrangements Danny had suggested using an array of potted plants loaned from a local garden centre owned by a friend of his mother.
In exchange for an invitation to the wedding she had allowed them to pack the hotel’s van with violas and Sweet Williams. There had been no discussion about a theme but one seemed to emerge – a village wedding from the past. As a nod to the Olympic opening ceremony and finally able to put his theatrical stagecraft education to use, Danny made cumulus clouds out of textured Japanese washi paper which he curved around a wire frame and tiny battery-powered lights.
These glowing clouds stood on nearly invisible supports positioned around the terrace.
Rather than a classical performance with violins and cellos, they’d hired a local folk band renowned for their sell-out pub performances.
The band included a tenor banjo, harmonica and accordion.
Upon arrival each guest was handed a cornflower to hold or pin to their clothes.
They could sit wherever they liked. While Luis and Danny were excited about the prospect of being photographed, they opted not to have the ceremony filmed, preferring the day to remain as a series of memories and images.
At three o’clock, with every guest seated, the sun made a welcome appearance and the ceremony began.
Luis stood at the front. Danny would be the one to walk out from the guest house and down the aisle.
Danny and Luis came to this decision with very little deliberation.
It seemed obvious to them. Danny would not be given away or walk accompanied.
Luis would not wait with anyone beside him.
The officiant would remain seated until Danny joined Luis at the front.
The folk band were given their cue and began to play an improvised arrangement. Inside the guest house Jasper checked over Danny’s suit, picking at specks of fluff.
‘It’s time.’
Once Jasper had taken his seat Danny eyed the rain-damp terrace deck and took off his loafers, removing his ankle socks.
He knew Jasper would think he had lost his mind, but he wanted to walk barefoot.
Perhaps he was fearful of slipping but more likely he wanted to feel the wood underfoot. He opened the door and stepped out.
Chairs creaked, everyone turned to look and for once Danny didn’t blush.
He controlled the impulse to smile or grin, maintaining an expression somewhere between solemn and serene.
Even though he had been warned about the intensity of the emotions, the force of them still took him by surprise.
Briefly he was unsteady before finding his stride.
In Danny’s hands was an antique walnut box containing the wedding bands.
Crafted by the same Soho jewellery designer who had made their engagement rings, the bands were gold with the inside lined with polished pallasite rock, containing tiny amber crystals as if a starry night sky had been wrapped around their fingers.
Arriving at the front Danny met Luis’s eyes.
Overcome, impulsively, Danny kissed Luis on the lips, causing the guests to break into premature applause.
Luis wouldn’t let him go, holding on to the kiss, the pair of them once again breaking with the correct order of things – as if this public kiss, in front of their family and friends, was all that was required to marry them.
The officiant joined Danny and Luis at the front, making a joke about not needing to say, ‘and the grooms may now kiss’.
Known to Danny’s parents, he was a man in his early sixties who had officiated at many civil ceremonies in the area.
When Danny and Luis met him, he had mentioned that he was gay, which made him less of a stranger.
Once the guests had settled down, he said, ‘Both Danny and Luis have asked me to thank you for travelling to witness their marriage. And yes, you heard me correctly, I used the “m” word even though it could cost me my job. Let’s get this out of the way.
We’re not waiting until spring – we’re using the word marriage today. ’
In a febrile mood after the early kiss the guests applauded again.
A few of the Spanish attendees seemed confused by the statement, unaware that gay marriage was not yet legal in England.
The officiant paused, allowing for the Spanish translation carried out by one of Luis’s friends, a journalist from Madrid.
After the translation the officiant continued, ‘Normally I would give a speech about not entering this union lightly. With Danny and Luis we can safely say neither of them are rushing into this. What it also means is that I’m not standing here offering advice.
I’m standing here in admiration of everything they’ve already achieved.
We are here to celebrate love. Their love for each other.
Your love for them. The greatest happiness in life is knowing that you’re loved and loving in return.
If there’s anything better, I’ve yet to hear of it.
At Luis and Danny’s request we’re not going to follow the guidebook for ceremonies.
They didn’t want any readings or poems. They would simply like to say their vows.
With one small adjustment. Danny and Luis would like to say two sets of vows.
These are the vows that they wish to say today and the vows they would have said twenty years ago if they had been allowed to marry. ’
Danny went first.
‘If we had married twenty years ago, I would have said something like this. Growing up I wasn’t sure if I would ever fall in love let alone be married.
During my darkest years I wasn’t even sure if I would reach my thirtieth birthday.
You saved me, Luis. And so sharing that life with you seems only fair since half of it belongs to you. ’
Danny repeated the words in Spanish, receiving appreciative applause. He moved onto his second set of vows:
‘Today my vows go like this. Luis, I offer to share the rest of my life with you not because of any sadness, trauma or fear of being alone. I offer to share my life because life is better and brighter with you in it. We’re a team, not to endure the world, but to enjoy it.
These last twenty years have been an adventure and yet it feels like our greatest adventure is about to begin. ’
The officiant turned to Luis.
‘Luis, you may now say your vows, starting with the vows you would’ve said twenty years ago.’
Luis began, ‘For the vows I would have said twenty years ago I wrote only one sentence. Who is going to love me more than you? And the answer to that question is no one, of that I have no doubt. I had no doubt of it twenty years ago and I have no doubt of it today.’
Luis spoke these words in Spanish before switching back into English.
‘For my vows today, I add only one new sentence. Who is going to know me better? And the answer is no one. I couldn’t have said that twenty years ago because the truth is I didn’t want to be known.
I didn’t believe I could be both known and loved.
But I can say it today. Danny, no one will know me better and no one will love me more.
And I can’t wait to find out who we’re going to be when we’re married. ’
With the vows finished the officiant said, ‘Luis Lagana, do you promise to love, respect, comfort and protect Daniel Smith and to share with him all that you are, and all that you are yet to be?’
Luis replied in Spanish, ‘Yo, Luis Lagana, te quiero a ti, Daniel Smith, como esposo; me entrego at ti y prometo serte fiel en las alegrías y en las penas, en la salud y en la enfermedad, todos los días de mi vida.’
He translated, ‘I, Luis Lagana, love you, Daniel Smith, as my husband and I give myself to you and promise to be faithful to you in joy and in sorrow, in health and in sickness, for all the days of my life.’
The officiant turned to Danny.
‘Dear Daniel.’
For some wonderful reason it felt right and natural for this man he hardly knew to address him as ‘dear’.
‘Do you promise to love, respect, comfort and protect Luis Lagana and to share with him all that you are and all that you are yet to be?’
Danny let the moment run, not for the drama, since his reply was inevitable, but to hold on to these few seconds.
He considered using a different formulation of words, words that no one else had ever used, unconventional words, unexpected words, but what other words were there to say?
These were everybody’s words, and they were no less special for it. They were special because of it.
‘I do.’