The best wedding ever
This year’s Julia Donaldson animation is The Scarecrows’ Wedding, the author’s favourite story as it reminds her of her own big day…
The Scarecrows' Wedding is on Christmas Day 3.10pm BBC One. Add it to your watchlist
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Malcolm and I were married in Hampstead, London, in September 1972. As the reception was only a short distance from the church, I thought it would be nice to have a procession with the bride and groom in a horse-drawn carriage and the guests following behind. But where to find the horse and carriage?
Someone suggested a funeral director, so I phoned one but was told that it would cost £300. I then hit on the idea of a rag-and-bone man. Somehow, I managed to track down the one whose horse and cart had been used in the sitcom Steptoe and Son. “I’ll do it,” he said, “but it’ll cost you a fiver.” I booked him on the spot.
Julia and Malcom on their wedding day. Courtesy of Julia Donaldson
On the day, it all worked out perfectly. The cart was decked out with flowers and also contained the rag-and-bone man’s daughter, which hadn’t been part of the plan but didn’t really matter. Malcolm and I sat in front beside him and learnt a lot about the rising cost of hay.
The reception was at a lovely old house called Burgh House. I knew it quite well because my father was involved with the Hampstead Music Club, which often held their concerts there, and he’d even done a lot of research into Mr Burgh and subsequent residents of the house.
Playing Harry and Betty was like getting married all over again
We didn’t have a sit-down meal – just canapés and wine – but the main event was a short operetta, which I’d written. There were songs for ourselves, plus the bridesmaids, the matron of honour (my sister), the ushers and the best man, Colin Sell. Colin, who had been Malcolm’s roommate at Bristol University, is now best known for being the pianist on Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue. He played the piano for all the songs and gave a brilliant performance of the one I’d written for him. This was a Noël Coward-style patter number, with lots of lines ending in a rhyme for “best man”, including, “I can do it so much better than the rest can,” “The biggest brain, the thickest skin, the widest chest span,” and (my favourite), “My ability to suck an egg impressed Gran”.
Malcom and Julia performing at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2015. Steve Ullathorne
Perhaps it’s because I have such happy memories of that day that The Scarecrows’ Wedding is my favourite of all the books I’ve created with the illustrator Axel Scheffler. Although the two scarecrows, Harry O’Hay and Betty O’Barley, don’t travel on a rag-and-bone cart or write an operetta, there is an ingenious self-made side to their wedding: the dress is made out of goose feathers and woven by a spider friend, the rings are from a farmhouse curtain and the bells are cowbells. I also identify with Harry and Betty’s romance, because Malcolm and I acted them on stage at the Edinburgh Fringe, which was a bit like getting married all over again.
Sadly, Malcolm won’t be able to watch the Magic Light animation of The Scarecrows’ Wedding as he died last year, just before what would have been our 52nd anniversary. But I shall be watching it with six of our nine grandchildren, who I’m sure will be remembering their wonderful grandpa.
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JULIA DONALDSON
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