Febstuary - Wedding Bells!
So, we arrived bloody late in Woking. We had dinner at an Irish Pub - one of the only places open that we could get a meal. We kind of played along to the Trivia rounds in that we named answers but didn't write them on any kind of page. Happily fed, we hopped a cab to Gorse Hill to check in.
We'd booked one of the cheap rooms for the wedding, int he annex that is on the other side of the courtyard from the main building. So, imagine my surprise when we checked in and were given a room in the main house right up stairs and in fact across the hall from the bride to be, win! Actually, all the wedding guests managed to be moved in to the main building at the lower price, none of us were complaining. We were pretty worn out from our whirlwind trip to the Isle of Wight in a weekend, so we appreciated our spacious room, didn't bother with the tele and hung out wedding clothes up so they'd drop their creases for the next day.
The next morning we got up and had a full English Breakfast, again. As soon as we ordered it, we commented that we really ought not to order them as we always are overwhelmed by the sheer size of them. And then we ate as much as we could anyway. We spent the morning pottering around, visiting the bride to be and helping out wherever we could. And, of course getting ourselves ready. Wonderboyf, having not met the bride and groom until that day pretty much, was happy to help out by being on Skype duty. Since the bride, miss Joey, is Australian, and a number of Aussies couldn't make it, they had arranged for an internet connection and a Skype group call to those in Aus who wanted to be there virtually. So we'd collected the laptop and arranged a cab in the hopes of getting to the church early to set up. As we were preparing to leave, the bride's 'limousine' turned up. She was expecting a limo from her soon to be hubby's father's work. Instead, a white, horse drawn carriage turned up - one last surprise from the groom. I popped in to her room and told her that the 'limo' looked great. We were still outside when she arrived at the front door and discovered the carriage :) Let's say she was overcome with emotion, but trying very hard not to ruin the makeup ;)
Our cabby knew the best/ fast ways and we completely skipped the line of cars following the horse and carriage. We managed to get there, get set up on Skype, accept all the people in the group and have like seconds to spare before the whole shindig got under way. We won't mention the scary last minute drop outs of the call, it literally fell in to place moments before the door opened and the beautiful bride walked in.
The wedding itself was beautiful, held in a Church which is about 1000 years old. I was honoured to be giving one of the readings, Faith, Hope, Love. I couldn't have been happier for the two and to read such a lovely piece had me working hard not to blubber like a baby. The whole ceremony was just lovely, witty and very them. After much flower petal throwing (and by throwing I mean people generally pouring it on the bride and grooms heads to be funny) and bubble blowing outside the church, we headed back to Gorse Hill for all the photos to be taken and then the Wedding Breakfast - which is of course, dinner. (Silly English!!)
I was also in charge of making sure the sheep all turned up for the right photos, aka, Photo Nazi. I'm pretty good at ordering people around. We made it through something like 100 combinations of parents, family, friends, bridal party and so on in about 40 mins.
I've lost track of when it was, but there was the inevitable bouquet toss. I went through the reception drinks and called all the 'unmarried ladies' to come outside - many were none the wiser and were horrified that I had tricked them in to being involved with the bouquet toss. Sad to say, as I have seen many times at weddings now, most women shied away from catching or even looking like they might attempt to catch said bouquet. So there I was limbering up, doing my stretches, picking out the best vantage spot for likely bouquet trajectory, and my only competitor was the bride's Mum! But she was a feisty one, we nearly hit the ground wrestling but I came out on top as the victor :) It was all a bit of fun really. It disappoints me that so many people put a stigma and superstition on such a fun part of a wedding - if a bride wants to throw the bouquet to the unmarried women (note not just single, but the ones who are not yet married), then I think it should be right and proper for everyone to get in the spirit of it to try and catch the bouquet - it's an honour and a good omen for the newly weds I think. To date I've caught definitely 3 bouquets, but I think there was a fourth I cannot remember now. Michelle Sallans, Cat Cowell and Jo Stewart have all blessed me with their good wishes for my future relationships through sharing their bouquets - plus they're all still married! (and if I caught yours and haven't mentioned it, please remind me!! Suzanne??). I'd love to start the change in mindset about what is actually a lovely and very fun part of a bride's day - it shouldn't be shunned by those not wanting to catch a bouquet for fear of what it might mean, it's not Herpes for goodness sake!. Flick Merten will recall the absolute fervor with which we struggled over each other to catch Cat's bouquet - and I was only kidding about catching it, but it literally flew in to my chest when she threw it. Anyway, enough about bouquets (for now!).
So after that must have been dinner, we were at a table with my housemates and some of Jo's teaching friends from her former work. My housemate is a teacher, there was some very spirited discussion around the table. I chatted to one non-teacher husband and Wonderboyf chatted with my other housemate who I'm sure has heard the 'teacher tirade' enough times to be able to pass as a teacher in public, if she tried. The wine over dinner was lovely, and our whole table quite enjoyed our share. The speeches were in turns heartfelt and funny. And once the main meal was over, we all headed out in to the other parts of the function center, to the bar, where a local brewery's TEA (something, something Ale) was served. The Bride and Groom had arranged it especially, so Wonderboyf thought he should definitely partake in it, not to disappoint the hosts!
The photographers had set up a photobooth in the bar, with some novelty hats and silly things to pose with. Once a few drinks were had, the photobooth became a very popular place for very silly pictures. Some nice portraits, but the bridal rock band and wandering sheriffs did seem to produce much funnier photos in the end.
There was another room with a dancefloor and some DJs. The Groom was not much of a dancer. I'd had a couple of chats with the bride before the wedding, and they had decided early on to skip the first dance because the groom really didn't like to dance and it was all a bit too hard, so best to just skip it. Well, when you have a Father of the Bride who had traveled form Australia, a couple of well lubricated guests, and all of them feeling very insistent about a first dance, well, that's when you get a bride, dragged out on the dancefloor, with no groom to be seen. *Cue KT stepping in for a dance* It's a good thing I always danced the male role when I used to dance with another Jo back home. So I whirled the Bride around the floor for a bit before her father cut in - honestly, who does he think he IS!? :) So they had a bit of a dance, and eventually, the groomsmen, who had gone in search of the errant groom, managed to frog march said groom on to the dancefloor. It was a bit tense, because the entire room knew he didn't want to dance, and likely couldn't dance well, but there had been such an underground movement among the guests, that he was kind of pressured in to doing it, because it's a part of the day you have to have. So the next song came on and there was that awkward moment, a collective thought of 'how is this going to pan out', when the bride and groom break out in to a full rehearsed DANCE ROUTINE!! Complete with some kind of crumping type RnB, Hip Hop moves that 'kids these days' TM do - actually I think it was dance moves that went with the song they'd picked - I don't know, and I don't care, BECAUSE IT WAS MADE OF AWESOME!
So after more dancing, some more food, a chocolate fountain and epic cheese platters that I wish I could have eaten more of, it was getting late and the party was winding down. There was still plenty of Ale left so Wonderboyf ad co continued to drink as much Ale as they could appreciate and eventually, the competition between Ale and Men was called a draw and we all went and collapsed in our respective beds having had a fabulous and big day.
The next morning, we had to revise the scores, Ale won, I believe. Wonderboyf was not well. When I say not well, did not come to breakfast, could not eat the tea and toast I brought up to him, could not spend more than a moment out of bed without needing the exclusive use of the bathroom to drive the porcelain bus. He was in fact, so bad that we couldn't check out when we were supposed too. I managed to get an extra hour or so for him to sleep some more and get himself together. Eventually he finally got up and dressed, and I got him down to the foyer where we sat and he promptly set about dozing. He wasn't going anywhere - no way would he survive a cab ride and an hour or so train ride. No. So the Bride and Groom took their things home, and had to come back to collect more of the Wedding paraphernalia, so they offered to take us back to their house when they came back for their second trip. Wonderboyf rode with the groom who drove very carefully, smoothly and slow, Wonderboyf only just made it in one piece, then promptly went to pieces at their house. I put him in their bed (as they were taking things off to various other places still) and I hung out in their lounge room, waiting for him to recover. It was a long wait.
By 5pm he was able to hold down food and we decided he could risk traveling. Such a trooper, we actually went and had dinner with some other friends of mine and he even drank the wine. I know I shouldn;t tell everyone about the absolute worst hangover I've ever seen him have, but i feel I'll never see the likes of it again and it is proof of an excellent and much enjoyed wedding. It's like the ultimate compliment to the couple, right? And it's only right to share!
The rest of the week was me at work again and Wonderboyf heading to Cambridge and such I think (memory has blurred all the London days together).
And that brings us to the start of our final portion of Febstuary. But that can wait till the next installment.
We'd booked one of the cheap rooms for the wedding, int he annex that is on the other side of the courtyard from the main building. So, imagine my surprise when we checked in and were given a room in the main house right up stairs and in fact across the hall from the bride to be, win! Actually, all the wedding guests managed to be moved in to the main building at the lower price, none of us were complaining. We were pretty worn out from our whirlwind trip to the Isle of Wight in a weekend, so we appreciated our spacious room, didn't bother with the tele and hung out wedding clothes up so they'd drop their creases for the next day.
The next morning we got up and had a full English Breakfast, again. As soon as we ordered it, we commented that we really ought not to order them as we always are overwhelmed by the sheer size of them. And then we ate as much as we could anyway. We spent the morning pottering around, visiting the bride to be and helping out wherever we could. And, of course getting ourselves ready. Wonderboyf, having not met the bride and groom until that day pretty much, was happy to help out by being on Skype duty. Since the bride, miss Joey, is Australian, and a number of Aussies couldn't make it, they had arranged for an internet connection and a Skype group call to those in Aus who wanted to be there virtually. So we'd collected the laptop and arranged a cab in the hopes of getting to the church early to set up. As we were preparing to leave, the bride's 'limousine' turned up. She was expecting a limo from her soon to be hubby's father's work. Instead, a white, horse drawn carriage turned up - one last surprise from the groom. I popped in to her room and told her that the 'limo' looked great. We were still outside when she arrived at the front door and discovered the carriage :) Let's say she was overcome with emotion, but trying very hard not to ruin the makeup ;)
Our cabby knew the best/ fast ways and we completely skipped the line of cars following the horse and carriage. We managed to get there, get set up on Skype, accept all the people in the group and have like seconds to spare before the whole shindig got under way. We won't mention the scary last minute drop outs of the call, it literally fell in to place moments before the door opened and the beautiful bride walked in.
The wedding itself was beautiful, held in a Church which is about 1000 years old. I was honoured to be giving one of the readings, Faith, Hope, Love. I couldn't have been happier for the two and to read such a lovely piece had me working hard not to blubber like a baby. The whole ceremony was just lovely, witty and very them. After much flower petal throwing (and by throwing I mean people generally pouring it on the bride and grooms heads to be funny) and bubble blowing outside the church, we headed back to Gorse Hill for all the photos to be taken and then the Wedding Breakfast - which is of course, dinner. (Silly English!!)
I was also in charge of making sure the sheep all turned up for the right photos, aka, Photo Nazi. I'm pretty good at ordering people around. We made it through something like 100 combinations of parents, family, friends, bridal party and so on in about 40 mins.
I've lost track of when it was, but there was the inevitable bouquet toss. I went through the reception drinks and called all the 'unmarried ladies' to come outside - many were none the wiser and were horrified that I had tricked them in to being involved with the bouquet toss. Sad to say, as I have seen many times at weddings now, most women shied away from catching or even looking like they might attempt to catch said bouquet. So there I was limbering up, doing my stretches, picking out the best vantage spot for likely bouquet trajectory, and my only competitor was the bride's Mum! But she was a feisty one, we nearly hit the ground wrestling but I came out on top as the victor :) It was all a bit of fun really. It disappoints me that so many people put a stigma and superstition on such a fun part of a wedding - if a bride wants to throw the bouquet to the unmarried women (note not just single, but the ones who are not yet married), then I think it should be right and proper for everyone to get in the spirit of it to try and catch the bouquet - it's an honour and a good omen for the newly weds I think. To date I've caught definitely 3 bouquets, but I think there was a fourth I cannot remember now. Michelle Sallans, Cat Cowell and Jo Stewart have all blessed me with their good wishes for my future relationships through sharing their bouquets - plus they're all still married! (and if I caught yours and haven't mentioned it, please remind me!! Suzanne??). I'd love to start the change in mindset about what is actually a lovely and very fun part of a bride's day - it shouldn't be shunned by those not wanting to catch a bouquet for fear of what it might mean, it's not Herpes for goodness sake!. Flick Merten will recall the absolute fervor with which we struggled over each other to catch Cat's bouquet - and I was only kidding about catching it, but it literally flew in to my chest when she threw it. Anyway, enough about bouquets (for now!).
So after that must have been dinner, we were at a table with my housemates and some of Jo's teaching friends from her former work. My housemate is a teacher, there was some very spirited discussion around the table. I chatted to one non-teacher husband and Wonderboyf chatted with my other housemate who I'm sure has heard the 'teacher tirade' enough times to be able to pass as a teacher in public, if she tried. The wine over dinner was lovely, and our whole table quite enjoyed our share. The speeches were in turns heartfelt and funny. And once the main meal was over, we all headed out in to the other parts of the function center, to the bar, where a local brewery's TEA (something, something Ale) was served. The Bride and Groom had arranged it especially, so Wonderboyf thought he should definitely partake in it, not to disappoint the hosts!
The photographers had set up a photobooth in the bar, with some novelty hats and silly things to pose with. Once a few drinks were had, the photobooth became a very popular place for very silly pictures. Some nice portraits, but the bridal rock band and wandering sheriffs did seem to produce much funnier photos in the end.
There was another room with a dancefloor and some DJs. The Groom was not much of a dancer. I'd had a couple of chats with the bride before the wedding, and they had decided early on to skip the first dance because the groom really didn't like to dance and it was all a bit too hard, so best to just skip it. Well, when you have a Father of the Bride who had traveled form Australia, a couple of well lubricated guests, and all of them feeling very insistent about a first dance, well, that's when you get a bride, dragged out on the dancefloor, with no groom to be seen. *Cue KT stepping in for a dance* It's a good thing I always danced the male role when I used to dance with another Jo back home. So I whirled the Bride around the floor for a bit before her father cut in - honestly, who does he think he IS!? :) So they had a bit of a dance, and eventually, the groomsmen, who had gone in search of the errant groom, managed to frog march said groom on to the dancefloor. It was a bit tense, because the entire room knew he didn't want to dance, and likely couldn't dance well, but there had been such an underground movement among the guests, that he was kind of pressured in to doing it, because it's a part of the day you have to have. So the next song came on and there was that awkward moment, a collective thought of 'how is this going to pan out', when the bride and groom break out in to a full rehearsed DANCE ROUTINE!! Complete with some kind of crumping type RnB, Hip Hop moves that 'kids these days' TM do - actually I think it was dance moves that went with the song they'd picked - I don't know, and I don't care, BECAUSE IT WAS MADE OF AWESOME!
So after more dancing, some more food, a chocolate fountain and epic cheese platters that I wish I could have eaten more of, it was getting late and the party was winding down. There was still plenty of Ale left so Wonderboyf ad co continued to drink as much Ale as they could appreciate and eventually, the competition between Ale and Men was called a draw and we all went and collapsed in our respective beds having had a fabulous and big day.
The next morning, we had to revise the scores, Ale won, I believe. Wonderboyf was not well. When I say not well, did not come to breakfast, could not eat the tea and toast I brought up to him, could not spend more than a moment out of bed without needing the exclusive use of the bathroom to drive the porcelain bus. He was in fact, so bad that we couldn't check out when we were supposed too. I managed to get an extra hour or so for him to sleep some more and get himself together. Eventually he finally got up and dressed, and I got him down to the foyer where we sat and he promptly set about dozing. He wasn't going anywhere - no way would he survive a cab ride and an hour or so train ride. No. So the Bride and Groom took their things home, and had to come back to collect more of the Wedding paraphernalia, so they offered to take us back to their house when they came back for their second trip. Wonderboyf rode with the groom who drove very carefully, smoothly and slow, Wonderboyf only just made it in one piece, then promptly went to pieces at their house. I put him in their bed (as they were taking things off to various other places still) and I hung out in their lounge room, waiting for him to recover. It was a long wait.
By 5pm he was able to hold down food and we decided he could risk traveling. Such a trooper, we actually went and had dinner with some other friends of mine and he even drank the wine. I know I shouldn;t tell everyone about the absolute worst hangover I've ever seen him have, but i feel I'll never see the likes of it again and it is proof of an excellent and much enjoyed wedding. It's like the ultimate compliment to the couple, right? And it's only right to share!
The rest of the week was me at work again and Wonderboyf heading to Cambridge and such I think (memory has blurred all the London days together).
And that brings us to the start of our final portion of Febstuary. But that can wait till the next installment.