[Holidays] Wedding in Wales
This weekend I found myself back in Wales. The
occasion this time it was the wedding of two old friends, Jenny and Jon, from
my Warwick lifesaving days. My
previous visit, mere weeks ago, was for the associated stag do, and I was
really looking forward to the wedding.
The table decorations were very pretty. (Credit: David Brown)
The church at RAF Valley. A very nice setting for a wedding. (Credit: David Brown)
The original plan was for me to drive down, book into
the hotel, then pick my girlfriend up from the train station in Bangor. However
I was running later than planned, and I actually ended up in Chester just half
an hour before she was due in to the station to change trains. So in the
interests of an earlier bedtime, I picked her up there and we did the last
section together.
One of the other guests kindly agreed to drive us to
the church, and then take us to the reception afterwards. The church was a
beautiful stone building, quite small but very intimate, and had been decorated
very nicely (a theme for the day). It wasn’t a big ceremony by any means, but
the service was lovely and included some fun rather untypical readings, which
was nice. Both the bride and groom looked spectacular, and were outdone only by
their ride of choice (what can I say, I love cars!).
The bride and groom's ride for the day. Beautiful - I want one! Credit: David Brown)
After the ceremony we went to the Officers’ Mess for
what have to have been the quickest wedding photos ever. In and out inside half
an hour, with 8 different groups, must be some kind of record. Then it was on
to the reception, where we were greeted with glasses of rather good mulled
wine. After a couple of hours of mingling, and catching up with the other
guests, we sat down to dinner. In true wedding style this took a long time, but
the food was really tasty, the company was good, and there were bubbles to keep
us entertained. Speeches followed, including one the bride, before we all went
upstairs for the dance. In true Warwick lifesaving fashion this started early
to get as much time as possible, but Ellen and I left slightly early as we were
incredibly tired. We did make sure that we stayed for the evening hog roast
though, which was delicious.
One of the rooms that was available for relaxing at the reception. The whole hotel was
a fantastic place. (Credit: David Brown)
One of the things that impressed me about the whole
day was the small details and personalized touches that Jen and Jon had put
everywhere. All of the places at dinner were named with large wooden hearts
hung over the back of the chairs, the tables were covered in small paper hearts
with little messages about the two of them, and every couple at the wedding got
a CD of the playlist. It was really nice too, with a proper CD sleeve with
their picture on, and a picture on the CD itself as well (sadly I left ours
somewhere in the hotel). They’d also hung pictures on the walls of the dining
room, and even produced some picture books that were passed around throughout
the reception. They were themed around various things, and brought back lots of
memories from my undergraduate days.
Caernarvon Castle. (Credit: David Brown)
On Sunday
we slept in as late as we could, then spent the afternoon wandering around
Caernarvon castle, which was surprisingly interesting. Then we drove to Chester
for dinner before heading on our separate ways home. It was a great weekend,
and Jen and Jon looked so happy together. They make a beautiful couple, and I’m
sure they’ll have a happy life together.
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