Feeling overwhelmed Danny looked down at the floor. He had never cared much about money, but he would love to pay for this wedding himself rather than relying on Luis. He never felt this way about the apartment or their international travel. Luis contributed more financially because he earned more. He was instinctually fair minded and handled their finances with so much grace that the disparity was never an issue. With the apartment, Danny could make up the difference by doing more of the decorations and homeimprovements. With the travel, Luis was more motivated to journey to far-flung locations. But the impulse to be married had come entirely from Danny. He was leading this charge and he should pay for it.
Sensing that his mood had slumped, Jasper joined him on the sofa.
‘I’m to understand that you wanted a gay wedding planner?’
Danny said, ‘I wouldn’t presume.’
Jasper waved this comment away.
‘Tell me why.’
Danny looked out of the window.
‘I don’t want to feel like I’m being smuggled into a foreign country by friendly forces. Do you remember at school, when they would pick teams? For football, I was always chosen last. I didn’t care about that – I wasn’t proud – but when the game started and I was on the pitch, running around, I felt like such a fraud, you know? Going through the motions? And I don’t want this wedding to feel like that.’
Making a deliberate calculation, Jasper allowed his impeccable façade to slip.
‘Part of my job will be to navigate you around the venues who would rather not host us, the people who don’t want to bake our cakes or print our invites. I’m going to match you with people who love weddings as much as I do. And I’ve always loved weddings ever since I was a child. My motherbelieved they were the most joyous ceremonies on earth which explains why she married three times. In her eyes the men never matched up to the wedding. She never said they didn’t deserve her – she would say they didn’t deserve that day. In your case, the opposite is true. We are building a wedding worthy of your love story.’
Danny asked, ‘Have you ever been married, Jasper? Sorry. That was a rude question.’
Jasper seemed sad for the first time in their meeting.
‘Unfortunately, no. I admit, it is strange arranging weddings when I haven’t experienced one for myself.’
Trying to be helpful, Danny said, ‘For so long we weren’t even allowed to dream about it.’
Jasper shook his head.
‘Except I did dream about it. I’ve dreamed about being married even when I was young. The law never stopped me from dreaming. And I’ve tried to find someone. I’m still trying. It’s hard at my age, without muscles or a jawline. Working in this business doesn’t help. On first dates I tell people what I do for a living and they think I’m coming on too strong as if I’m already planning our wedding, which of course I am. That’s the line I tell my mother anyway.’
Danny was fascinated by the idea of his mother, who must be in her seventies or eighties, wanting nothing more than her gay son to be happily married.
‘And she’d attend your wedding?’
Jasper widened his eyes.
‘Attend? She would be organizing it with me. When I came out, she told me, rather than don’t ask don’t tell, she would ask, and I would tell. I was very lucky in that regard.’
Jasper smiled, adding, ‘Notice I haven’t spoken about cakes or clothes or flowers or venues. These details we can figure out later. Here’s the only thing that matters – how do we make this day feel like your day and not some overpriced rehash of other people’s expectations.’
Danny couldn’t have wished for a better guide. Only after signing the agreement and stepping out into the corridor did the thought occur to him that the role Jasper was playing should have been Luis’s to play, the two of them hand in hand on this adventure, guiding and advising each other and perhaps Luis had sent him to a wedding planner not merely to help arrange the event but to outsource the excitement he couldn’t provide.
Chapter EighteenChoosing a Venue
On Saturday, 6 October, Danny and Luis set out on a tour of prospective wedding venues with Jasper lining up four contrasting options. Despite Jasper’s repeated requests Danny and Luis were unable to set out clear guidelines for the search beyond the venue not being too expensive or formal. As a result, Jasper cast the venue net wide to gauge their reactions. In his experience someone not saying what they wanted rarely meant accepting anything.
On a crisp morning with frost on fallen leaves the three of them gathered outside the crypt at St Etheldreda’s, Holborn. Meeting Luis for the first time, Jasper shook his hand, taking measure of the groom-to-be and assessing the pair as a couple. Though he didn’t say a word, Danny blushed, conscious that their love story was being evaluated. Hecouldn’t help but feel that they came up short. He couldn’t say why. After pleasantries were exchanged, Jasper declared, ‘I’ve never planned a marriage where the couple have been together for so long. When the two of you met no gay person anywhere in the world was allowed to marry. No civil partnerships, no marriage, nothing. You’re a bridge from one era to another.’
Luis wryly observed, ‘How about we marry on a bridge?’
Jasper took the suggestion seriously.
‘The only one worth marrying on would be Tower Bridge. It might be possible. Up on the walkways between the two towers with the sun setting over the Thames. How does that sound?’
Danny put a hand on Jasper’s shoulder.
‘He was joking.’
