Helen O’Connor studied the rough list she had worked out for Amy and Dan’s wedding. It was a marathon task trying to keep the numbers down. Paddy and she could hardly be described as socialites, yet they both seemed to have accumulated lots of lovely friends over the years. It made her feel good just looking at their names, but guilty as she began to strike them off the list.
‘I hadn’t realized just how many people we know and are friends with!’ She frowned, trying to decide who they should invite.
‘Start with the family,’ Paddy advised, scanning down the list of names. ‘Then we can see how many other places are left. We have to invite family.’
Helen had three brothers, all married, and obviously they were on the list – but should she include their kids? Her brother Tim and Linda had four, David and Anna had four and Brendan and Claire had two younger ones of eleven and nine. Did they all expect to be invited? Then Paddy had his two sisters, Sinead and Mary, both married with grown-up families. Mary’s two eldest were married, and Helen and Paddy had been at both weddings. Sinead’s daughter Hilary had always been friendly with Amy as they were the same age, and she was living with her German partner in Kilkenny. They would have to be on the list. Paddy’s older brother Eamon lived in Toronto and was married to Margaret, a lovely Canadian, and had five kids. When he had heard of the engagement he had announced the Canadian O’Connors would make a trip back home for a few weeks during the summer to attend the wedding.
‘God, that’s a huge crowd!’ said Helen, thinking of Eamon’s four hulking sons and their wives and girlfriends, and his daughter Kerry and her boyfriend, all descending on them in June.
‘He’s insisting on coming.’ Paddy sighed. ‘So what can I do? He’s my only brother.’
Then her mother Sheila was one of five. Two were deceased, but Aunt Bonnie – who was deaf as a post and almost seventy-nine and living in a retirement home – would have to come, and of course old Uncle Harry and Delia. Then what about all her cousins? It was certainly a conundrum.
‘One couple from each family,’ suggested Paddy firmly.
Amy had been furious when Carmel Quinn had emailed her a massive guest list, but at this rate the O’Connors were also going to have big numbers.
‘Then we have Fran and Tom and Maeve and Andy and all that gang.’
‘I’d like to invite Bill and his wife. After all, I work with him every day.’
Paddy got out his calculator to work out the exact cost per head of food and drink for each guest.
‘For God’s sake, Helen, we have to get this down or we’ll be bankrupted!’
Helen was totally flummoxed as to what they should do as she studied the long list of names. They both realized they just had to cut them.
‘I tell you what,’ said Paddy. ‘Copy the list out and we’ll both have a go taking twenty people off it. We won’t see each other doing it, and then we’ll look at the two lists and see who we have both picked out to go. If the name is on both lists, they are gone!’ he said triumphantly.
‘But these are our friends and relations!’ Helen interjected, not sure Paddy’s plan would work.
‘They’ll understand,’ he insisted, grabbing a pen and paper and disappearing off to the sitting room.
Helen laughed at the madness of it all as she went over her list one more time. Maybe they could take some of the much younger cousins off the list. The family would understand. Looking at all the names on the page, Helen smiled. It was going to be such a happy occasion having all those that they loved and cared for joining them on Amy and Dan’s wedding day.