JASON AND GLeN
family friend who had appeared on the X Factor – singing John
Lennon’s Imagine. We didn’t feel nervous but were excited,
trying to notice everything going on around us.
A humanist conducted ceremonies in each location and we
used the same words at both. My daughter gave a reading at
the Sunderland one, about two people loving each other.
It was just us and two close friends in New York; small and
intimate. But in Sunderland we had 60 day guests and 300 in
the evening – we were quite overwhelmed by the turnout! All
48 » pink weddings magazine
our guests dressed up in the Gatsby theme and it was bold
and ‘like something from the Oscars’, as one guest said. We
started off with some music by Fergie from The Great Gatsby
film – A Little Party Never Killed Nobody.
Dinner at the French restaurant in New York was followed
by cocktails in the city. In the UK it was a champagne reception
with hors d’oeuvres, then a three-course meal during the day,
with soup, beef and chocolate brownie – and plenty of red and
white wine flowing. The Roker hotel commented that it was