‘What is REAL?’ asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room.

‘Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?’ ‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse.

‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When someone loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’

‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’ ‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’‘

 

It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.

Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby.

But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’‘I suppose you are real?’ said the Rabbit.

And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse only smiled.‘Someone made me Real,’ he said.

‘That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.’

Margery Williams (1881 – 1944)

Truly great writing and so appropriate for a wedding. Great speeches also came from Louise’s Dad, James and of course James’ three best men.

There were many more memorable moments including the extraordinary soloist that serenaded us all whilst Louise and James were signing the register.

Though one of my abiding memories will be of all the guests, bride and groom (and baby Xanthe too) making the short walk along the country lane from the church to the marquee

It was a fantastic day, even if I did manage to get stranded in a rowing boat in the middle of the pond to get ‘that shot’!!

Thanks to Louise and James for a gorgeous day and I hope you like the photos as much as I do.