78 » pink weddings magazine
NoeL AND STePHAN
the kids. Meanwhile another friend of mine from the cabaret
circuit, JP Christian, performed a fantastic set of familiar fun
songs ranging from The Rat Pack to Queen, and judging from
the videos that I saw uploaded to Facebook, everybody was
having their own private party at each table, dancing in their
seats and singing along between courses.
Then as dinner continued on to the main course, Mark
Lanahan, who had previously played our vicar, burst out
dressed in a hot pink waist coat, as a singing waiter. He
glided effortlessly between tables, flirting with the ladies,
and joking with the men, rousing everyone with his
renditions of
Delilah
and
That’s Amore
, culminating in a
room full of diners wa ing their napkins and wailing along to
the strains of
Nessun Dorma
. I have worked in this industry
for 13 years and never seen anyone bring life to a dining
room and work a crowd the way this man did! He then kept
hold of the microphone to begin hosting the a er-dinner
speeches as the master of ceremonies. What a toastmaster!
With the speeches done, I faked a live video link to
Minneapolis to bring those friends of Stephan who couldn’t
make the journey along to the party. Then my dear friend
stepped up to the plate as my ‘Matron of Dishonour’ and
delivered a speech with so many fantastic one-liners I wish
I’d brought a notepad along to steal them!
Then it was time to crack on with the party. So I
introduced our crowd to the talents of a wonderful drag DJ
and hostess, Stephanie Von Clitz, who worked the dance-
floor like a diamante-encrusted ringmaster, quipping with
the crowd between disco classics. As the evening rolled on it
was time to cut the cake – a tower of three large round
cheeses, stacked in wedding cake formation and served later
in the evening as a mid dance party snack.
At 10pm we felt the watershed had been passed, and we
wanted to step it up a little from the child-friendly family
party to a night at a gay bar. It’s important to invite your
family and friends to enter your world and see how much
fun us gays have! I’ve noticed it always brings people
together when I perform at a wedding in the evening and I
wanted the same for my own special day. So I hired the drag
talents of the one and only Dave Lynn, who is currently
celebrating 40 years in the business. I could not have made
a better choice. He involved my husband and me in a
comedy dance routine that was a real crowd pleaser with
our families, then he moved on to poking light-hearted fun
at the guests, before running out onto the beach and
making the passing dog walkers wish they could be a part of
an amazing party.
A er the cabaret it was finally time for the mood to
settle a little. Those who wanted to continue dancing could
do so, and I finally had an opportunity to work my way
around the room and spend time chatting to my guests.
Stephan did the same in the opposite direction, so that we
managed to cover everybody.
So how did our guests react to all of this? Well
everybody, from the children through to the adults, could
not stop throwing compliments our way. They were blown
away by the staff at the venue and felt the need to organise a
whip-round to offer them a tip.
We made people laugh,
we made people cry, but
most of all we made some
fantastic memories.
The high points for me were seeing friends entertained and
laughing. I’ve always felt that so many people feel pressure to
spend fortunes on excessive décor, elaborate menus and
personalised days that mean something to the happy couple
but o en leave the guests bewildered. Just throw a massive
party and make sure that it’s as much fun as you can possibly
squeeze into a day. There’s no point spending a fortune to
pass every weekend over a six-month period arguing with
your partner in Hobbycra or the back room of a cake bakery.
Keep it simple, make it fun. And if you need a drag queen
at your event, I hear Fonda Cox is pretty amazing! ;-)
Photos:
Drag queen:
Venue:
Ushers:
Master of ceremonies:
