wedding update - in which Fred takes advice from 13 elderly British ladies (a coven)

Gracious, I didn't know there were so many elderly British ladies with dashed hopes for their granddaughters in New York! But what good sports they are, phoning, stopping by, offering advice and good wishes and helpful hints - kind of a reverse coven....  I have learned that guests will not be allowed to bring cellphones or cameras into the Abbey. But I have also learned that one of these kind and helpful ladies has a grandson whose partner is a BBC cameraman, so she's going to email him a picture of my outfit and with any luck I'll be identifiable in the pews. She advised bright colours (note the British spelling) for this purpose,  pointing out that it's not as if I'm going to be in the posed photographs. Cruel but practical. Also since I'm apparently not going to the formal (seated) dinner, but only to the "crush" with "passed things," she suggested practical footwear. Finally, dress and jacket (weather undependable), dress not tight-fitting since ceremony has a lot of standing up and sitting down and standing up again and so on.

I am in fact feeling a touch deprived at not having to go shopping. I had kind of looked forward to delicately hinting at the Very Special Occasion for which the outfit was required.  On the other hand, what's more American than Ingenuity? That will  be the theme of my outfit.  I didn't get anywhere researching our national dress. Have no intention of showing up in jeans and regional t-shirt. And I will have to buy or create a hat in a hurry. I may wind up putting flowers on hat with baggie twistems on the plane if I'm not lucky tomorrow. Here are my ideas for the Hat:

 I'm thinking pink, because I have no idea what the lighting will be like, and even though the day is not about me, I feel obligated to Make An Effort. Pink always helps. I actually have a pink hat like the one above, so could add some organdie and some flowers...

I will post a picture of the dress tomorrow.  And the jacket. Both are vintage (which in Fred-speak means I bought them a while ago and couldn't part with them and finally remembered where I put them). Worried about shoes. Nothing makes you look old like shoes that hurt your feet!

Transportation - don't want to take a chance with flying standby, too late to do anything with mileage, thinking of signing on with a temp agency for flight staff to get over there, and worrying about getting back after the event. Hotel: well, I'll just have to use all the money I won't be spending on shopping!