Bit by bit

Bit by bit, putting it together, piece by piece, only way to make a work of art

Bit by bit
I got myself out of bed & showered, making my way to the kitchen, wondering if I had heard Rhett correctly & that there was a wedding happening later. Mama T was in the kitchen, on the phone, organising something. As I helped myself to a coffee she finished the call. She asked me if I had heard the news about the wedding. I hadn’t been dreaming then. I said I had & asked if there was anything I could do to help in getting everything organised. Mama T asked if I had ever worked as a bartender. I said I hadn’t. Mama T started another phone call to find someone to serve drinks. That was the extent of me trying to help.

The wedding venue

I decided the best thing to do was for me to try and keep out of the way so I took myself out to the patio with another cup of coffee & my MacBook. A small army of cleaners arrived and set about cleaning the entire house and gardens ready for the upcoming nuptials. I chatted with Mother for a while on Skype. One of the women who had been cleaning the outdoor bar & lounge walked round the back of me. Mother asked who it was. I explained what was going on. Mother asked if I had been drinking. I said I hadn’t. Over the course of the day things started to fall in place for the wedding. I guess when you have nothing arranged with less than 24 hours to go anything that you can get organised is a bonus. By the time Rhett got back from work that evening the bridal party had just arrived and were having hair and make up done. He caught up with Mama T and then came to see me. He told me that over the course of the day they had managed to arrange a wedding dress, someone to do hair & make up, a minister, catering (which was being done by Mas Tacos), an alcohol delivery, a barmaid, a photographer, flowers, a cake and a live band to play after the ceremony. And over 50 guests had been invited and would be attending. I was in awe that a wedding could be put together at such short notice.

Putting it together 

The wedding

I showered and changed into the one shirt that I had so that I looked at least half way respectable. Around 8pm we all gathered outside by the pool, the band playing some music. The groom and the minister were stood on the far side of the pool; the ceremony was going to take place on the putting green. One of the guests was holding up his iPad so some people who couldn’t make the wedding could watch on Skype. The bridal party entered from the far end, walking slowly down the grass towards the putting green. A flower girl scattered petals in front of the bride who looked stunning in a traditional white dress. The short ceremony was really touching. Instead of a wedding ring for the groom the bride placed the dog tags that belonged to the groom’s father and brother around his neck. I had never met the couple but I could feel a lump rising in the back of my throat. The newlyweds kissed, everyone cheered and clapped. Mama T jumped into the swimming pool in her full-length gown. As you do.

Afterwards, the guests tucked into the tasty tacos and corn on the cob, which had been barbecued until it was sweet and tender (and smothered in butter). People went through the usual wedding conversation, saying how lovely the bride looked, how great the ceremony was, how nice it was to have been a part of it but the thing that most people mentioned was how amazing it was that it had all been organised in 12 hours. I had to admit that I had doubted that anything of that size and quality could be organised in such a short space of time. I thought even Anneka Rice might have struggled but everyone in Nashville had pulled together to make the evening go without a hitch.

Rhett & Brad performing

I sat outside chatting with Rhett, his friend Brandon, the minister and his wife. I waited for a lull in the conversation to excuse myself to go back for seconds on the tacos. I didn’t feel quite so bad when the others joined me too. The guests gathered once more at the poolside to toast the happy couple, listen to some short speeches and watch the cake being cut. The band played a few more songs and then packed up for the evening. A few of the guests took this as their cue to get up and sing. It seems that everyone in Nashville is musical. Rhett sang while Brad played the guitar & the minister’s wife played keyboard and harmonised with Rhett. Brandon also sang a lovely rendition of Hallelujah. Despite forgetting some of the lyrics in the middle and making them up, accidentally swearing in the process, it was a great performance from everyone. I really admire people who are musical. I didn’t sing. I didn’t think they would appreciate an off-key version of Islands in the Stream, which I would have had to sing both parts as I didn’t have my karaoke partner from back home, Sarah.

Mmm, cake

After the guests had drifted away I started to pick up some of the plates and glasses that had been left dotted around the place. Rhett told me to leave it as the army of cleaners would be round first thing in the morning. A few of us went for a swim to finish off the evening. There were a few more drinks to be had as me, Rhett, Papa & Mama T and Brad all chatted in the Jacuzzi. I am not sure I will ever experience a wedding like that again.

The next day I got up and headed in to I+W with Rhett. I took myself off to Portland Brew again for a hangover breakfast bagel and a coffee. I sat and caught up on some writing and caught up with some messages from friends back home. Molly brought my breakfast over and asked how the wedding had been. I filled her in on all the crazy details of the previous evening. I spent the afternoon having a wander round the local area, calling in to a few of the local shops for a browse. I found myself back at I+W a while later and chatted to Donya again as she worked away at her sewing machine.

Piece by piece 

I settled myself on the big leather couch in the store to carry on doing a spot of writing until Rhett had done for the day. While I was sat there three girls came into the store. Rhett greeted them all. He asked the girl at the back if he knew her. She said probably. He asked if she had been in the store before but she said she hadn’t. I could see Rhett puzzling over how he knew her as they browsed the store. After the girl Rhett was puzzling over paid for her purchases and left the store he came bouncing over. He asked if I knew who the girl was. I said I had no idea. When she had given Rhett her credit card to pay he had looked down to see the name. The name on the card was Chelsea Clinton. I guess that was my biggest celebrity encounter of my trip to date (if you exclude my friend Simon who looks like Liza Minnelli/Matt Le Blanc). Rhett told Donya who had just bought a pair of her shorts. She was very excited and immediately phoned her Dad to tell him. They have quite a few famous customers at I+W but it was great to see them getting so excited.

After Rhett had done work for the day we met up with Molly and the three of us went to a bar restaurant called Merchant’s where we shared some great appetizers and a drink or two. Our appetizers consisted of duck fried tater tots, a mix of fried things (calamari, okra) and some crab guacamole with tortilla chips. After our healthy dinner we made the short journey to the Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Opry. A friend of Rhett’s had managed to get us some comp tickets to see Always…Patsy Cline, a musical based on the true life friendship between Patsy Cline and one of her fans, Louise. The musical was based on letters written by Patsy to Louise, which she signed off “Always…Patsy Cline”. The two women who played Patsy and Louise were amazing. Mandy Barnett, when she sang, sounded exactly like Patsy. I got goosebumps a couple of times while listening to her. I didn’t know a lot of the songs but it made me want to go & download some Patsy Cline. The show combined really funny moments, really sad moments and some great songs, culminating with Louise reading out the actual final letter she received from Patsy before her untimely death aged 30.

Only way to make a piece of art 

After the show we met up with Rhett’s friend who took us backstage. I got to even stand on the Grand Ole Opry stage, a stage that had been graced by so many famous performers. Rhett got a photo of me on the stage, holding the microphone. I didn’t sing, I felt it would somehow be sacrilegious. We headed back over to the front of the theatre where the two stars of the show were signing posters & cds for the audience. We hung around until the queue had gone down. Rhett’s friend introduced us & I got my photo taken with them both. I told them both that I had really enjoyed the performance and that they were both the great actresses.

We headed back over to Merchant’s for another drink. We were joined by the cast and the writer & director of the show and got to chat with them for a while. After a couple of drinks Molly went home & Rhett took me out to the local gay club, Play. There was a drag show on that night & we found a couple of seats. As we sat waiting for the show to start I pointed out a guy that I thought was attractive. It turned out to be a friend of Rhett’s called Trevor. He came and joined us for a drink. He had been out drinking all day so was a little tipsy. As we chatted he petted my beard as though it was some small furry animal. The drag show, my first experience of southern drag, was interesting. The performers didn’t do any banter with the audience, they just performed the numbers. After dancing for about half of the song they then spent the rest of the time going to the sides of the stage to collect money from the audience who had formed neat queues. I suppose wigs and false boobs don’t come cheap. We stayed at Play until the death as it took us a long time to try to leave the place. Rhett said that he didn’t do the gay scene that much so he ended up bumping into a lot of people he had not seen for a while who all wanted to catch up with him. We phoned his cab driver friend who came to pick us up to take us back home.

“Bit by bit, putting it together, piece by piece, only way to make a work of art” 
Lyrics from Putting it Together from the musical Sunday in the Park with George