TCK

‘Where are you guys from?’

It’s a normal question but it’s one that I dread being asked. In some ways I’m sure it’s one that my wife dreads too. I can only ever remember us both being asked this question together, at the same time, once. That was when our wedding planner sat us down to fill in the basic forms for booking the venue. She had a box on her form that would be the title of our account at the hotel – designed to read [Bride’s name] & [Groom’s name] from [hometown]. Probably because we had a destination wedding of sorts which attracted clients from all over, and this added a certain sense of place, maybe acted as a memory-jogger for the hotel staff, and added to the grandeur of the occasion.

Other couples might have found it easy to be very specific – ‘Patrick and Suzie from Wolverhampton’. Or maybe quite general but also distinctive – like ‘Jean-Luc and Marie from Belgium’. Or even distinct from one another but definite – ‘Nick and Claire from Cornwall and Belfast’.

We didn’t do that. I ran through the summary:

‘My parents are English but I was born in France and then lived in Kent and I’ve more or less been in Scotland since 2005. Linds’s parents are from Glasgow but she was born in Saudi Arabia but is pretty much from Yorkshire. She’s been in Scotland since 2004 apart from a year in the USA.’

The wedding planner glances at our form as we shrug apologetically. Her eye settles on our contact address.

‘Shall I just put that you’re from Edinburgh?’

‘Good idea.’

‘And will your parents be popping in to see the venue?’

‘I expect so. Mine are in Qatar and Linds’s are in the US but I’m sure we’ll sort something out.’