A date with Sarah-Kate; Kate’s home truths

Love it when people tie the knot? I do, I do, say s Kate

There’s something about weddings that makes me all gooey, mushy and tearful every single time. I don’t know why, but even if I barely know the bride or groom, I still go weak at the knees at the witnessing of young love. All that hope and promise, all that effort, all those lovely vows and the beautiful gowns ... It’s magical.

When I was growing up, I used to think you’d only feel that way about your own wedding. But actually, I love everybody’s weddings. I love watching and hearing people commit to each other inside the sanctity of such an ancient yet powerful institution.

I felt particularly emotional when Australia voted yes to gay marriage. Everyone should be able to marry and I was thrilled that even when put to a postal vote, love won.

Weddings have all the magic ingredients to pull on your heartstrings. They signify all the goodness of people, love, hope, kindness, respect, commitment ... These are things to be cherished. Yes, I know they don’t always go the distance and the wheels fall off, but the wedding itself seems such a happy time.

Having been married twice, I know there are two ways of doing it. In a rush, – young and with no real thought as to what you’re actually doing – or in a considered, mature way as the result of hard work, tenacity and a deep commitment to someone. Anyone who has put in the hard yards of blending a family, then been engaged for two years (as we were), then finally got married knows that if you’re still together by the time you get to that aisle, then it means something. In fact, by the time I walked down the aisle the second time, I was in no doubt as to what I was doing or why I was doing it.

I’d also worked out by then that the marriage is vastly more important than the wedding. What’s cool about getting married a second time (not that I’m advising it if you’re happily ensconced in your first marriage!) is having your kids there as part of the wedding party. For our blended family, it signified a binding of us all together, not just the “husband and wife” commitment, but the coming together of us all as a family unit. Your daughters as bridesmaids or flower girls, your sons walking you down the aisle, spending the honeymoon together as a family ... Wait, what?

Oh, that’s right. Much to my husband’s chagrin, I decided in our circumstances, a “family-moon” would be more appropriate. Although he went with it, in hindsight, having everybody together just digesting the day and hanging out for the week probably wasn’t my smartest idea. He soon booked a “proper honeymoon”. But whether it’s a first, second, third or even fourth wedding, you can’t argue with the magic of them. Nothing beats witnessing two lovebirds say “I do”.