You would be amazed but occasionally hic-ups did happen on the day.

My ‘kit bag’ contained spare tights, safety pins, polo mints, tissues, plasters, hair clips, perfume, spare toothbrushes and toothpaste, sunscreen, sewing kits, mascara, assorted lipsticks, nail polish remover and polish, mirror, stain wipes, shoe laces, wellingtons and thick socks (yes wellies) …gosh the list is long.

My lovely winners always looked fabulous to meet the press, occasionally though when tears of joy take over… tissues, followed by fresh mascara are a pre-requisite… if you have a dry mouth, mints work a treat…no lady wants to have a picture taken with a run in her tights…and if the weather is really bad and the grass is more like a mud bath, wellingtons save new shoes being ruined and numerous winners were asked to stand in water, such as the couple who wished for a lottery win by throwing coins into a ‘lucky fountain’… yes the media wanted them standing in said fountain!

My ‘kit bag’ was a natural carry over when I retired from PR to become a wedding planner…although, it was minus the dozen bottles of champagne I always carried in my car boot. Champagne was replaced by spare flip flops for guests with sore feet, assorted ties for gentlemen who forgot to pack a shirt tie to wear at the wedding… yes! this did happen more than you can ever imagine. Nails polish false nails, false eyelashes (don’t laugh) Cufflinks, like ties seemed to be a popular forgotten item, but I always saved the day with many lovely pairs bought in charity shops… once borrowed never to be returned…. I would tell clients to keep them as a memento of a special day. Cosy wraps for chilly guests, story books and dot-to-dot to entertain little people… my kit bag certainly made me feel like Mary Poppins.

As a Celebrant, my ‘kit-bag’ is just as important now as it ever was, on that very day I first went to my very first winner press conference in 1995

……no father of the bride will be without cufflinks for his French cuff shirt on my watch!

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