I had a day off yesterday. Instead of flying late into the office in a flurry of bed-tousled hair and plaintive apologies, I flew late into a Venetian church in a flurry of bed-tousled hair and plaintive apologies. It was my best mate's wedding and I was, some would argue, the misnomered best man; let's say I didn't exactly take to the job like a duck2water.

The day's nuptials have peculiar back story. The bride spent several years besotted with her groom's elder brother, gently stalking him in her thoughts, hoping that one day he would wake up with the revelation of his love for her.

It never materialised, and, like in some 19th century novel of social romance, she settled for the less attractive sibling (sorry, mate, it would be wrong to lie).

I've always refrained from mentioning the fact that my mate was a bit like Second Choice Steve, thinking that some things are best left unsaid. You can understand my shock and amusement then when Julie started walking down the aisle to the sound of the Rolling Stones classic You Can't Always Get What You Want.

The Chorus goes like this:

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well you might find
You get what you need

Whether the story is apocryphal or not, I don't know; but, according to another friend, one couple got a surprise at their wedding when, having requested that "beautiful song from the Robin Hood film", they were left having to walk down the aisle to the refrain of "Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen". That's one wedding I wish I'd been at. As anecdotes go, it sure hits the target.

Image © jameseilers via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence