"She was dressed in rich materials -- satins, and lace, and silks -- all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table....I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes."
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
While my 30-year-old wedding bouquet looks pretty good in this photograph, trust me when I say it was every bit as decayed and decaying as the spurned Miss Havisham. (I must confess my first introduction to Great Expectations was television rather than the book. David's Lean's film of 1946 -- particularly with the mice running in and out of the wedding cake -- put me over the edge for a lifetime.)
The link to the scene where Pip first meets Miss H. is here. The mice part comes much later in the movie, so you'll have time to work up to it.
Note to future brides: press a rose or two from your bouquet and call it a day. Better yet, take a really good picture.
Now back to the basement.
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