‘No, she couldn't,' Sarah wailed, and then regretted it. 'Sorry, Lily, she could probably advise you, but she's booked for Carrie. Carrie wanted her specially.'

‘Oh, so although I'm your sister, I don't get the best people?' Sarah couldn't work out if she was teasing or not. 'Lily, who does your hair normally? That's the best person for you,' said Elsa.

Lily shrugged, picking up a scrap of the ribbon that had decorated Elsa's dress. 'I haven't been for ages. There's no one I trust. Can I have this on my dress?'

‘Sorry, I haven't got any more. And it costs a fortune,' Elsa replied. 'I'll find you something just as lovely though.'

‘Bron might be able to recommend someone for your hair,' said Sarah, hoping against hope that Bron would know a hairdresser so far away from her own area. She had a nightmare-flash of there being no one but her to put her sister's silky locks into a bun on top of her head. Donating a kidney would be very much easier.

Bron arrived with a Chinese takeaway and a couple of bottles of Pinot Grigio on the dot of seven. 'I wasn't sure if I should bring wine. Are we working or not?' she asked.

‘Wine is always a good idea,' said Lily. She shot Sarah a look. 'Well, for people who aren't pregnant, anyway.’

Sarah smiled. 'Bron, this is my sister, Lily. Lily, this is Bron,' she said.

‘You do hair and make-up?' said Lily, cutting to the chase without preliminaries. 'Sarah says you can't do mine for my wedding.’

Bron took in the situation after a couple of seconds. 'I'm sorry, but I really can't. What sort of style did you have in mind?'

‘You should have it in a bun on top of your head, with ringlets over your ears,' said Elsa, confirming Sarah's worst fears.

‘Like you'll wear for your ball?' said Bron. 'Up-dos are quite time consuming. Don't, whatever you do, have your hair cut between now and then.'

‘Oh, I won't,' said Lily.

‘And are you having a veil, or not?' asked Bron.

Elsa, Lily and Sarah all looked questioningly at each other. 'You don't have to if you don't want to,' said Sarah.

‘You could have a really pretty tiara instead,' suggested Elsa. 'I've got a couple you could try now.'

‘Not having a veil would save money, wouldn't it?' said Lily.

‘Definitely,' said Sarah.

‘Then I won't have one.' She looked at her sister quizzically. 'You see, I can be economical sometimes.’

While Sarah hunted in Elsa's little kitchen for plates and cutlery and Elsa performed magic with scissors, pins and an old wedding dress, Bron and Lily talked about hair. They were a good team and once again they had proved themselves stalwarts, especially when this was a wedding they weren't supposed to be involved in.

‘You'll need to have a couple of practice runs before the big day,' said Bron. 'Especially if you don't have a regular hairdresser. One dummy run is enough if you do get to know someone.'

‘I can't afford to keep going to the hairdresser,' said Lily, worried. 'That's partly why I haven't been for so long.'

‘OK, so what you need to do is find a hairdresser who has students. They advertise for models in the window. They do your hair very reasonably, and if the student was good and you got to know each other, she'd probably do your hair for your wedding day.'

‘Would you trust someone with so little experience?' asked Elsa, looking up from her seam-ripping.

‘If she and Lily have built up a good relationship, there's no reason why not,' said Bron. 'I did all my friends' hair when we were going to a big do. They were very pleased.'

‘But you're a very good hairdresser,' said Sarah, putting down a roll of kitchen towel as she perched on the sofa.

‘Yes,' Bron agreed modestly, 'but possibly not the only one.’

Sarah and Bron discussed the Catering Ladies and Lily chatted to Elsa as they tucked into the takeaways.

‘So, Elsa,' Sarah asked a little later, while they were all still shovelling up egg-fried rice and prawn crackers. 'How did your ballroom dancing lesson go?'

‘Oh! It was wonderful. I was a complete klutz at first -couldn't do it at all. I kept stepping all over Laurence's feet, but then Terry sent him out and I danced with him! It was a miracle. Suddenly, I could do it. He sort of clamped me to his body so I couldn't go wrong.' She stopped, aware that the others were looking at her oddly.

‘So, was he gorgeous?' asked Lily. 'The teacher, I mean?’

‘Mm. Quite. An amazing dancer. I think Laurence was a bit jealous of him, actually.'

‘Oh, so he's keen then?' said Bron.

Elsa shook her head. 'I don't know if it was that, more that he was annoyed that he couldn't teach me to dance.'

‘Men can be quite controlling,' said Lily. Everyone looked at her. 'Even Dirk is, a bit. My first husband was a real bully!'

‘Oh, love,' said Sarah. 'I hate to think of you with that horrible man.'

‘Roger was a bit of a bully,' said Bron. 'Or maybe it was me who allowed him to be.'

‘Men are very unreliable,' confirmed Sarah, the resident expert.

‘No,' said Lily firmly. 'Not all of them. Dirk, for instance, can be a bit bossy, but he'd cut off his arm for me; and when he is bossy, it's because he's looking out for me.'

‘Dirk is very nice,' agreed Sarah.

‘And he's not the only nice man,' said Elsa. 'Laurence is quite nice too. And I think he's reliable.'

‘I'm probably just a cynical old wedding planner,' said Sarah laughing, wanting to change the subject. 'I'm dying of thirst. Anyone else need a drink of water?'

‘So,' Elsa said when she'd returned, 'have you decided about your cake yet, Lily?'

‘It would be good if you could make it, Bron,' said Sarah. 'If you used the same ingredients as Carrie's cake there'd be the economy of scale.’

The other women looked at her.

‘I mean,' Sarah ploughed on, 'if you were buying ingredients in bulk, like dried fruit, it would be much cheaper. You'd have to keep exact records of how much of everything you used for each cake, of course. I wouldn't want to diddle Carrie.'

‘Although she could easily afford to pay for my cake ingredients,' said Lily.

Seeing Sarah take a combative breath, Bron said, 'But Carrie's cake has to be sponge. It would be really difficult to support the weight on a pole, otherwise.'

‘Does Carrie know this?' asked Sarah.

‘No, but honestly, would she really mind? I suppose you should check, but it was more the shape she wanted,' said Bron. 'Still, a sponge cake isn't very traditional.'

‘And we wouldn't be able to send sponge cake to all the far-flung aunties and uncles, would we?' said Lily. 'It would have to be fruit to do that,' agreed Bron. 'I suppose I could just about fit it in, but I will be pushed for time.'

‘I know!' said Sarah, her brainwave sending the prawn crackers flying. 'We'll ask Aunt Dot! She's a wonderful baker and would love to do it!'

‘Aunt Dot?' asked Lily, frowning.

‘Yes – not sure if she's a real aunt, but she makes brilliant cakes. I'll get the ingredients for her. Bron, do these catering-lady friends of yours have a Cash and Carry connection, do you think?'

‘I should think so. Veronica makes cakes for WI markets,' said Bron.

‘Brilliant.' Sarah raised her glass, her worried look leaving her for the first time in a while. 'We've got the dress, the caterers, the cake and the hairdresser all sorted for you, Lily. Let's have a toast!'

‘Hey,' said Lily when she'd taken the smallest sip. 'I've had a brilliant idea! You must all come to my hen party! Elsa and Bron, I feel like you're my new best friends.'

‘Surely you don't want a hen party when you're pregnant,' said Sarah without thinking. 'You won't be able to get drunk.'

‘Sarah,' said Lily, very dignified all of a sudden, 'a hen party is an opportunity to get together with one's female friends before you get married. You don't have to get drunk to have a good time.'