Weddings
Are you too cool for marriage?
The term ‘spinster’ doesn’t seem to scare young women like it once might have. In fact, it is rarely heard…
Dear Mary: Help! My neighbour knows I lied about her daughter’s wedding photos
Q. I have been booked to give my first talk on my field of professional interest. I happen to have…
Admit it: most wedding speeches are awful
Perhaps the most traumatic part of attending an American wedding – much worse than the bridesmaids coming in the wrong…
The brutality of being a bridesmaid
There stands the bride. Perfect hair, perfect nails, perfect fake tan. She may not have slept the previous night or…
Dear Mary: Should weddings be ‘no ring no bring’?
Q. An old friend who is extremely generous and loyal has the most infuriating habit. Despite being efficient in other…
What’s the point in spending a fortune on a wedding?
I follow the YouTube postings of a maverick young economist called Gary Stevenson, author of The Trading Game. Whatever you…
Speak easy
The secretive art of speechwriting
Letters
Trust us Sir: I refute Charles Moore’s assertions (‘Broken Trust’, 5 June) that the National Trust frowns on local expertise,…
Diary
My diary has been filled with dental appointments, reflecting a truism that American dentists pray for British teeth. The tally…
Alarm bells
The pitfalls of choosing a wedding reading
Dear Mary
Q. We have been invited to a virtual wedding. Is it correct form to send a present?— P.F., Barrow Street,…
Bride’s Notebook
I had a lockdown wedding. A 30-person, socially-distanced, sanitised church service was organised in under two weeks. Restrictions meant no…
Dear Mary
Q. A year ago we sent out 150 save-the-date notices for our wedding this December. We are still going ahead,…
Letters
Scottish hearts and heads Sir: Alex Massie ignores the evidence when he espouses the assumption that economic concerns no longer…
There’s nothing ‘wild’ about elopement
I didn’t realise how attached I was to the traditional British wedding — the whole messy, pricey, drunken business —…
Dear Mary
Q. Our daughter is going ahead with her wedding despite the restriction on guest numbers. Although it is a relief…
Dear Mary
Q. During lockdown I have done my level best to assist with household chores. Last week, while my wife was…
Without ceremony
The competitive world of Covid brides
Dear Mary
Q. I am arranging the seating plan for my daughter’s wedding and have a problem with one of her guests…
Cressida Bonas: Everyone seems to have very strong opinions about my wedding
White House Farm began last week on ITV; a six-part factual drama about the notorious murders. I play Sheila Caffell,…
Dear Mary: How do I stop my husband eating everything in the fridge?
Q. A friend of a friend has an apartment in Venice. I would like to commiserate with her about the…
It would be a big mistake to underestimate Corbyn
Thud. It’s my advance copy of Dorothy Byrne’s new book, Trust Me, I’m Not a Politician, landing on the doormat.…
Dear Mary: Is it OK for a couple to ask us to contribute to their savings as a wedding gift?
Q. Every three months or so my PA blossoms into a great beauty for a couple of weeks, then has…
Mary solves your problems: A family friend stays over all the time – but never actually asks us out
Q. We have a family friend we don’t see nearly as much as we’d like. This is because he’s so…
