Last-minute rescheduling a royal pain for commoners
By Beth Teitell
Wednesday, April 6, 2005

You know what I envy about Prince Charles and Lady-in-Extreme-Waiting Camilla even more than their multiple castles? Their flexibility.

Imagine being able to push your wedding back by a day - with only four days notice? That's living.

In case you somehow missed the big news, on Monday, with the pope's funeral planned for the end of the week, the bride and groom announced they'd marry on Saturday, not Friday.

As a London bookmaking firm offered Britons the chance to bet on the next mishap to strike the wedding, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if mere mortals tried such a stunt.

``I guess it would be a possibility,'' Phyllis Block, the director of weddings at the Seaport Hotel and Seaport World Trade Center said, still recovering from news of the royal delay.

``But there would be a lot of `if's.' You could do it if the ballroom is (still available), if the photographer, the florist, the band, the church, the justice of the peace, are all still available.

``I've been doing weddings for 25 years,'' Block noted, ``and I've never heard of anyone doing this.''

She drew in a calming breath, and ticked off additional challenges. ``Are the guests available? People hire babysitters. And people are flying in. Now it's the next day, but they've already got their airline tickets and hotel reservations. How does that work?

``And the transportation, the limo company. It goes on and on. Every single bride has her hair and makeup done.'' And what if the wedding is moved to a Sunday - will the beauty parlor have to open up then? ``And what's that going to cost?''

Eager to egg her on, not that she needed much egging, I mentioned the difficulty of notifying the guests. ``Do you think the queen is calling people?'' she asked rhetorically. ``No. It's in the newspaper. But (regular people) have to spread the word themselves.

``I don't see how you could do it unless you're Prince Charles. It would be easier to lose 10 pounds for your wedding,'' she concluded, ``than to change the day.''

Harder than losing 10 pounds? Now that's saying something.