Weddings
How I'd write your perfect speech
The secretive art of speechwriting
Letters: In defence of the National Trust
Trust us Sir: I refute Charles Moore’s assertions (‘Broken Trust’, 5 June) that the National Trust frowns on local expertise,…
Why do my American friends keep asking me to marry them?
My diary has been filled with dental appointments, reflecting a truism that American dentists pray for British teeth. The tally…
What does your wedding reading say about you?
The pitfalls of choosing a wedding reading
Dear Mary: What is the etiquette around gifts for virtual weddings?
Q. We have been invited to a virtual wedding. Is it correct form to send a present?— P.F., Barrow Street,…
Cressida Bonas: My perfectly imperfect lockdown wedding
I had a lockdown wedding. A 30-person, socially-distanced, sanitised church service was organised in under two weeks. Restrictions meant no…
Dear Mary: We’ve had to downsize our wedding – can we still ask everyone for presents?
Q. A year ago we sent out 150 save-the-date notices for our wedding this December. We are still going ahead,…
Letters: why do we put up with bats?
Scottish hearts and heads Sir: Alex Massie ignores the evidence when he espouses the assumption that economic concerns no longer…
The dismal rise of the modern elopement
I didn’t realise how attached I was to the traditional British wedding — the whole messy, pricey, drunken business —…
Dear Mary: Where should we seat wedding guests who hold unfashionable views?
Q. Our daughter is going ahead with her wedding despite the restriction on guest numbers. Although it is a relief…
Dear Mary: How can I leave a boring WhatsApp group without upsetting anyone?
Q. During lockdown I have done my level best to assist with household chores. Last week, while my wife was…
The competitive world of Covid brides
The competitive world of Covid brides
Dear Mary: How can I foil a notorious place-swapper at my daughter’s wedding?
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…
Dear Mary
Q. Our best friends own a house in Morocco which sleeps about ten. They rent it out but go two…
It’s got to be perfect
When I order a cup of tea in Costa, the barista says: ‘Perfect!’ I ask for tap water in a…
Dear Mary: What can you do when your new neighbours stiff you on a restaurant bill?
Q. We moved recently and new neighbours invited us to join them for dinner at a nearby restaurant. I planned…
Your guide to the coming moth invasion
After this mild winter, you can expect a clothes-ruining epidemic. They’ve already got my best suit
Dear Mary: Must I have name badges for guests at my wedding?
Q. My husband-to-be and I both work full time. We are getting married from his family HQ and his kind…
Dear Mary: Another way to deal with a maddening blackhead
Q. Might I suggest an alternative solution to E.B. of London’s problem (3 October) about the person sporting a ‘maddening’…
