she’s going to come and see me lots now.’ ‘That’s good,’said Miss Hope. ‘But she might forget,’ I said. ‘Perhaps,’she said cautiously. I sighed. Miss Hope patted my shoulder. We sat for a little while in silence. ‘Hadn’t you better go and have your lunch, Tilly?’ Miss Hope suggested. ‘Oh, lunch.’ I got up and fetched my lunchbox. I unsnapped it. I had a lemon drink, a chicken sandwich, a clementine, and two fairy cakes with dribbly icing and little pink hearts. ‘Would you like a fairy cake, Miss Hope?’ I said, offering her the box. ‘I made them all by myself.’ ‘I’d love one,’she said. ‘But you’ve only got two. One for Matty and one for you.’ ‘I don’t really want one. And there’s more at home anyway. You have it. It’s my saying-sorry cake for you,’ I said. ‘Then I’ll say thank you very much,’said Miss Hope, helping herself. She took a bite. ‘Mmm, delicious!’ ‘My friend Mrs Flower is teaching me how to bake. We’re going to do cheesecake next, which will be super yummy. When I can make cheesecake, could you come to tea?’ I said. ‘I’d like that very much,’said Miss Hope. ‘But perhaps we’d better check that it’s all right with your dad.’ ‘You know he’d like it too!’ I said. ‘And would you really like it, Tilly?’ asked Miss Hope, taking another bite. ‘Yes, of course I would,’ I said. ‘Then that should be fine,’said Miss Hope. ‘Perhaps we’ll be a little discreet about this, mm?’ I nodded. ‘It’s a secret,’ I promised. It was definitely a secret and I didn’t tell a soul – except for Matty. You tell your best friend forever all your secrets. And I didn’t tell her at school, where anyone could be eavesdropping. I told her when we were at her house after
school, playing Warrior Princesses with Lewis. Little brothers of best friends can hear secrets too. ‘Oh wow!’said Matty. ‘Then maybe you really will be your dad’s bridesmaid!’ ‘If they get married,’ I said. ‘And you wouldn’t mind?’ ‘I think I’d like it.’ ‘So your teacher would turn into your mum then?’said Lewis. ‘No, because I’ve got a mum already. Miss Hope would be like a friendaunty,’ I told him. ‘If only it didn’t mean wearing an awful frilly dress, I’d like to be a bridesmaid too when Miss Hope marries your dad,’said Matty. ‘And me,’said Lewis. ‘Don’t be daft – boys can’t be bridesmaids,’said Matty. ‘Boys don’t wear dresses!’ ‘Yes they do! Dad read us a story about a boy in a frock. Two stories,’said Lewis. ‘That’s just stories, stupid.’ Matty bashed him with her Princess Powerful. Lewis tried to smother her with his biggest bear. They started rolling around the floor, giggling and squealing. ‘Stop fighting, you two. There probably won’t be any wedding at all,’ I said. ‘Do you think your dad’s really serious about her?’ ‘I’m not sure. I think so,’ I said. ‘I’ll sound him out tonight.’ So on the way home in the car I told Dad I’d given Miss Hope one of my cakes and that I’d said sorry for shouting at her on the phone. ‘That’s good,’said Dad. ‘She likes my cakes,’ I said. ‘She wants to come to tea some time when I’ve made some more.’ ‘She said that, did she?’ ‘Well, sort of. I invited her and she said yes.’ ‘Right,’said Dad. ‘That’s OK, isn’t it?’ ‘Of course it is.’ ‘You like Miss Hope, don’t you, Dad?’ I asked as we parked the car outside our house. ‘I like her very much,’said Dad. ‘A lot?’ ‘Tilly, quit badgering me,’ he said, but he was smiling as we went up the path to our front door.
Dad put his key in the lock and let us in. He put on the kettle and then switched on his iPad. I walked up and down the hall, swishing an imaginary bridesmaid’s dress. ‘I love weddings,’ I said dreamily. ‘Dad, are you listening?’ ‘Mmm,’ he said, reading his messages. ‘Do you think I’ll ever get to be a bridesmaid again?’ I asked, hinting heavily. ‘I’d say a definite yes to that,’said Dad. ‘Really? So you’re going to marry Miss Hope?’ ‘No, I didn’t say that at all! It’s early days yet. Much too soon to think about marriage. Good heavens, we haven’t really gone out together properly yet! We’ll just have to wait and see,’said Dad. ‘But you said I’d definitely get to be a bridesmaid again.’ ‘I know. Come and look at this message from London Local. Apparently they’ve been inundated with emails, all wanting to get hold of you. Half the people London seem to want to rent you as their bridesmaid!’said Dad. There were at least twenty requests for me to choose from! My bridesmaid’s dress would be worn to shreds by the time Dad and Miss Hope made up their minds to get married. And I’d have grown a bit too. So let’s end this story with another dress. Not any old dress. Not a checked school dress or a pinafore dress or a party dress or a princess dress. This is a bridesmaid’s dress. But it’s not raspberry pink. It’s maybe sky-blue silk, patterned with white embroidered daisies, with white petticoats as fluffy as clouds. Or perhaps it’s lilac satin, reaching right down to the ground, like a proper evening dress, and I’ll wear purple sparkly shoes with real heels. Or perhaps it’s a winter wedding and my bridesmaid’s dress will be soft red velvet with a little white fur bolero. Whichever I choose, it will definitely be the most beautiful bridesmaid’s dress in the world.
Tilly’s Wonderful Wedding Facts The Guinness World Record for the most guests at a wedding stands at 150,000! The guests were hosted by Jayalalitha Jayaram at her son’s wedding in Madras, India, in 1995. The record for the biggest bridal party is held by Nisansala and Nalin, a Sri Lankan couple who, on their wedding in 2013, had 126 bridesmaids, 25 best men, 23 flower girls and 20 page boys. Around 240,000 people attended the Wedding Dresses exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in 2014 and 2015. The exhibition took two weeks to put in place, and six people were required to install one dress, designed by Norman Hartnell, due to its 5.5m-long train! It is thought that the tradition of exchanging wedding rings was created by the Ancient Egyptians. Rings are worn on the third finger as people believed that finger contained a blood vessel which went straight to the heart, the loveliest internal organ. One of the world’s most famous gowns is the wedding dress worn by Lady Diana Spencer when she married Charles, Prince of Wales, in 1981. The dress was designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, who knew it was going to be a global sensation. They even created a back-up dress which Diana was to wear if details of the main dress had been revealed before the big day. Queen Victoria is credited with making white the colour of choice for bridal gowns in Europe. The dress she wore to marry Prince Albert in 1840 is now in storage at Kensington Palace. It is not the only item to have survived from her big day – a slice of the huge wedding cake (it weighed about 140kg!), which was boxed as a gift
for a guest, is still owned by a London collector, and was displayed at Christie’s auction house in 2014!
Make Your Own Wedding Favours! Unlike Tilly, you may not have a calendar bulging with weddings to attend, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have all the fun of the party! Follow the instructions below to make wedding-style favours, which you can enjoy whether or not there’s a bride and groom in the room! 1. Copy or trace the template onto sheets of stiff paper or card. Cut out carefully with scissors – you might need help from a grown-up – and use a hole punch to make two holes over the dots as indicated. Use pencils, paint or felt pens to decorate your cut-outs any way you like – you may even want to use glitter! 2. When you’re happy with your decorations and your cut-outs are completely dry, apply glue to the strip to the left of the dotted line. Making sure there isn’t a hole at the bottom, twist your cones into shape, pressing down on the glued strip to seal them. 3. When the glue is completely dry, thread ribbon or string through the holes to make a handle. 4. Fill your cones with delicious treats – sugared almonds are traditional for wedding favours, but you can use whatever you like – raisins, popcorn or gummy sweets! Now all that’s left to do is share the beautifully packaged favours with your friends!
Miss Hope’s Quiz What’s Aunty Sue’s favourite treat? What colour are Matty’s special sparkly trainers? What’s the name of Marty’s homemade snake creation? What flavour cake do Tilly and her dad take to the lido? What kind of flowers does Mr Flowers bring to Iris to say sorry? Which delicious dessert does Tilly enjoy at Simon and Matthew’s wedding? What’s the name of the school where Simon is the headteacher? What does Mandy demand Tilly get replaced on her bridesmaid’s dress? How long is Tilly’s TV interview? What cake is Tilly going to make for Miss Hope when she comes round for tea?
Answers: teacakes; green; Basil; coffee and walnut; irises; Larch Road Infant School; the rosebuds; 3 minutes; cheesecake
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jacqueline Wilson is one of Britain’s bestselling authors, with more than 38 million books sold in the UK alone. She has been honoured with many prizes for her work, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award and the Children’s Book of the Year. Jacqueline is a former Children’s Laureate, a professor of children’s literature, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame for services to children’s literature. Visit Jacqueline’s fantastic website at www.jacquelinewilson.co.uk
RHCP DIGITAL UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia India | New Zealand | South Africa RHCP Digital is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com. www.penguin.co.uk www.puffin.co.uk www.ladybird.co.uk First published 2016 This ebook published 2016 Text copyright © Jacqueline Wilson, 2016 Illustrations copyright © Nick Sharratt, 2016 The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978–1–448–17179–8 All correspondence to: RHCP Digital Penguin Random House Children’s 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL