My mother has had ‘a new idea’ for the Country Life 'Girl in Pearls' page. ‘Mother of the Girl in Pearls,’ she announces, holding her bejewelled paws aloft.
She has recently bought a new string of pearls - ‘baroque, fabulous’ - which will later make an appearance at the wedding and brings her collection to just over a mile in length and of various hues.
I’m ignoring her.
‘I could look very new and impressive,’ she adds emphatically. ‘It could start a trend!’
Luckily, my mother will have nothing to do with it, but the Frontispiece seems obligatory. For one thing, I work at Country Life and clearly my weekly headshot is not enough - there must be a full page of me and only me. Secondly, why would anyone turn down the opportunity to be professionally made up and photographed at a stunning location of my choice? I am very likely never to get the opportunity again. Plus, as I look like a lop-sided toddler in most photographs, I could use the professional help.
One moderately sunny April morning, I find myself at the beautiful Whithurst Park, home of Richard and Rick, a heavenly pair. Jenny Packham, Temperley and Beulah London have lent me dresses for the occasion, and Laurence Coste a collection of big, bold and beautiful earrings (how I love the journalistic perks), and I’ve been paired up with the talented Chris Allerton, he of the iconic naked-but-for-a-fur-wrap and underwater Girls in Pearls, to name a few. No pressure then. I’m sure me in a frock by a window in West Sussex is his least adventurous commission to date, but he is sweet, interspersing direction with compliments.
Soon I’m leaning awkwardly on the window ledge, with my arms twisted across each other in a way that feels like a straightjacket but somehow looks natural through the lens. After a brief problem when my top lip starts twitching - it happens when I fake-smile sometimes (awkward) - I’m totally at my ease. Cleverly, Chris orchestrates the pose so that the engagement ring is front and centre. I’m told to think about my future husband and look wistfully out of the window, but this is impossible. I settle for trying not to laugh while watching Stella, the Sardinian rescue dog, gently amble about on the gravel below.
An hour later, I am to be found by the lake, trying not to fall off a pontoon, in a long pink dress and a flower crown, leaning against an oar with all the nonchalance of a turkey at Christmas. The lighting is beautiful and the staging superb, but thankfully, when he sees the photos, Mark, our editor, agrees that ‘the red dress pictures are best’ - and it’s his choice, as with all our Frontispieces.
My lady-in-red photo is published in our beautiful April 26 wedding special, which makes waves in the press for its call for restraint over what has become ‘the nuptial equivalent of an arms race’. The issue also includes an article by me on why one-day weddings are far superior to three-day bonanzas, mostly because I get sleepy if I have to do three things in a row—don’t worry, I promise not to subject anyone to more than one big blow out when the time comes.
I’d like to say the Frontispiece is my last major task before The Wedding, but it feels like there are 101 challenges ahead. Luckily for me, there is another enchanting Jenny Packham dress in my future…
- - -
To be continued… look out for the next instalment as Annie plans her English country wedding, delving into a world of dress-shopping, venues, flowers, bridesmaids, intensive decision-making, cake-eating, wine-tasting and much, much more.
-
Baby elephants, 60s classics and David Beckham's last meal on planet earth in the Country Life Quiz of the Day, October 24, 2025Test your general knowledge this fine Thursday.
-
In the footsteps of the Beckhams: Five beautiful homes in Manchester, Miami, Madrid, London and the CotswoldsIn honour of this week's guest editor of Country Life, we take a look at some of the finest homes for sale in places that Sir David Beckham and his family have called home in the last 25 years.
-
‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is now'Now is the time to firstly, hug a tree, and secondly, plant some more — in increasingly imaginative ways.
-
Nôtre-Dame: An over-crowded Parisian triumphAthena visits the re-built French wonder, and is more than impressed by the restoration work that has been completed so far.
-
Agromenes: Evolution, not revolution, is what we need for a green and sustainable futureThe short-term pain of a green transition will be worth it in the long run. What we need is some bold vision to get there.
-
The proposed National Gallery extension is a ray of light in a stormy sectorThe announcement of a new wing for one of the nation's top art galleries 'is a transformative initiative undertaken through private philanthropy to clear and universal benefit. What is there not to celebrate?'
-
Don't blame it on the sunshine, don't blame it on the moonlight, don't blame it on the good times, blame it on the batsBats and newts are an easy target, but can they actually be blamed for not building enough houses?
-
Agromenes: Why is our tax money not being spent on British food?A Freedom of Information request reveals that many of our local councils and government departments aren't buying British-grown food. It's an insult to our farmers.
-
Affordable, sustainable, rural: How a group of volunteers embarrassed the government and built some of the best new homes in the countryHazelmead has won almost every RIBA award going. The development on the outskirts of Bridport might be a springboard for a rural housing revolution, much like the Arts-and-Crafts movement more than a century ago.
-
William Hanson: Why etiquette must evolve to suit modern lifeNoodle slurping and the left-handed taboo. The king of modern manners details the evolution of proper conduct in his latest book.
