Newly single, our columnist Liz Frost gets to grips with the dreaded ‘Plus One’, a delicious pudding and comes out on top
I love being single. I can go where I want, when I want, I don’t have to present my case to watch Desperate Housewives… and I don’t have to shave my legs half as often… but if there’s two words that fill me with dread it’s: ‘Plus One’.
Plus one says, ‘You don’t have to come alone!’ but what it really means is ‘Let’s see who you’re dating now, this should be interesting…’. So, with no potential date on the horizon, - well apart from Rob from the cake shop who’s been trying to lure me with his French Fancies (I haven’t the heart to tell him he’d have better luck with chocolate fudge cake) - I decided to brave my friend, Laura’s wedding A-L-O-N-E.
It wasn’t bad at first, there was an abundance of booze and miniature quiches on the buffet table. All was well in the world until I reached my table. There was Graham and Sarah, Paul and Rachel, Tracy and Owen… and me. “Hi!” I said, and swiftly topped up my glass before seating myself between Graham and Owen. This was going to be a long meal.
Three courses and practically a vineyard of wine later, I was beginning to get in the swing of things. The speeches were funny, the band was great and was it me or were the groomsmen getting cuter by the second? Apart from the fact that I had had to remove Graham’s hand from my knee three times, I was actually having fun.
Suddenly, with the dessert out of the way (Strawberry Pavlova. Result.) I realised I was alone in my merriment. Tracy and Owen were bickering about who would drive home, Rachel was staring stoney-faced at Paul, who was ‘windmilling’ his way round the dancefloor to ‘Love Shack’ and Sarah had been crying in the loo for the last half hour, well, probably because Graham was a slimy bastard.
In danger of sobering up, I swiftly removed myself from the table and made my way to the bar to chat up the cute groomsman. After all, next in line to the bridesmaids for pulling at a wedding are the single mates of the bride…
Maybe ‘Plus One’ wasn’t such a bad thing after all. Smug couples aren’t always as smug as they first seem and if you don’t have a Plus One to begin with, maybe you’ll have one by the time you leave?
Liz Frost is a freelance writer specialising in features for women's magazines. She writes for Company, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Zest, B and Bliss. Email her at liz_frost@yahoo.co.uk, even if it's just to say hello!
