Wedding Dresses and Pints of Pale
An evening with friends, pints and wedding chat is well worth 14 hours on a National Express bus.
The Robin in Stroud Green, near Crouch Hill, London, feels like a happy house party. I’m sitting in the window, which is all the way open to the London traffic, enjoying the last half hour or so of warm sunshine that took all day to break through heavy rainclouds. I have a pint of Five Points Pale in front of me, and rather than block out the world with my headphones, I’m enjoying the atmospheric rise and fall of conversations all around me, a real after work crowd revelling in their freedom after another day’s graft.
My Pale is light to the touch and Citra-zingy, perfect after an afternoon of studying different cider varieties. Before I know it I’m halfway done, and I have to check myself before I wreck myself. Tonight is going to be a late one. But it’s just so delicious, so perfect in this moment. Savour it, I tell myself, knowing that I can’t. I’m not a savourer. I eat in big bites, drink in big gulps. I want the best things all in one go, now. The noise in The Robin continues to grow as it fills with larger groups, and I feel as though I’m part of the action, even though I’m on my own. I watch Deliveroo scooters and e-bikes zoom towards Crouch End, and pedestrians manoeuvre their way past each other on the packed pavement—city stuff. I don’t get any of this at home.
I’m waiting for Claire to arrive. Claire is one of my oldest beer-world friends, and we try to meet up every time I’m in town, which isn’t often. This meeting is more exciting than usual—of course, I’m always excited to see her, but that’s not why I’m buzzing. I’m staying in her beautiful spare room while I’m here, so we’ve already hung out and put the world to rights. I’m watching the door because I can’t wait for her to walk through it and scream at me, arms up in the air. She’s been wedding dress shopping today.
I finish my pint, but I don’t replace it, waiting for her to arrive before I plough into another. It starts to rain in beautiful long raindrops that fall vertically like pearl drop earrings from a partially blue sky. The light is stunning, a golden hour hue tempered by deep shadows cast by the passing shower. Here she is.
Pints now replenished we—Claire, her fiancé, and I—sit at a different table away from the window and after some chattering about our days and what we’ve had to eat, Claire scrolls through the dresses she tried on today. I am married, but this is an experience I’ve never had. The idea of walking into a boutique and trying on thousands of pounds worth of lace and silk makes me a little breathless. I imagine how regal it must feel to have a seamstress pinning a gown to your form, as you turn this way and that in the perfectly lit studio to admire how the material falls on your figure. I shout at each picture: “Fuck OFF!!”, “Holy shit mamaaa!”, “YOWZA”. She’s like: I know. I know!!
A friend joins us after seeing that we were here on Instagram, and he brings even more enthusiasm to the party. There’s this one gown she looked incredible in, a waterfall of sequins, that brings tears to my eyes—he’s clapping. We love this. We cackle and finish our pints, get new ones, and look through the collection again, whooping and hollering, and discussing cuts and styles in great detail as only three-pints-in-experts can. We hug and I talk about my wedding, and our friend his, and offer our advice and recommendations. We sip Pale like we own the place, and in this moment, surrounded by imaginary diamonds and chandeliers, it’s as exquisite and refreshing as Bollinger.
Other Stuff
Reece Hugill of Donzoko Brewing is featured in this week’s Pellicle
The way Autumn stirs up memory and melancholy is perfectly put by ATJ
A friend who loves F1 and knows I don’t get it recommended I listen to this BBC podcast from 2022 about SPYGATE and corporate espionage within the F1 teams and honestly—it’s addictive.
My Stuff
Join me for a pitching and self-editing workshop on Wednesday 23 September! Book your space now.
Your dress was perfect Katie 😍