Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Wedding report

... but not much of one, actually, because I don't remember that much. I was told this would happen. To gather impressions you need to be an observer on the periphery, not the (slightly offset) centre of attention. I surprised myself by almost getting teary towards the end; isn't that meant to be the mother's job? But in my speech I thanked (and named) the people who had been especially kind to us and most especially to Best Beloved, and suddenly there was a lump where previously there had been none. And before that my uncle had made a little speech of his own, remembering when he had come to Northern Ireland and met me for the first time, and given me a bottle, and then gone downstairs to watch Dr Who. My uncle is pushing 60 and has a mental age of five, and he had spent most of the day before composing that offering. That got to me.

What else do I remember ...
  • my bride alighting from her car and looking absolutely beautiful. And then getting back in again so the photographer could capture the moment.
  • sweltering heat; temperatures inside my hired suit approaching the temperature inside Chernobyl shortly before it became world famous.
  • wrath-of-God-type thunderstorm as we were having our drinks afterwards.
  • a swirl of smiling faces, everyone apart from one whiny six year old (and who cares?) seeming to be happy and enjoying it; everyone there special to at least one of us and wishing us well.
  • year 9 girl sitting on year 11 boy's bike and refusing to move until he offered to marry her. (Me: "It would make a lovely match." Her dad: "Well, for her, maybe ...")
And I think that's it. More may follow. I'd post some pictures, but the deal with Hello! magazine was pretty exclusive.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:32 pm

    Welcome back, Ben. Thought I'd post here for once, rather than just lurking and laughing in my office. :-)

    Thought the service was very nice (if hot!) and managed not to get too soaked afterwards. And Kerstin did look lovely (and you looked very smart too!).

    Anyway, hope you had a lovely week away and are now enjoying the roadworks that prevent you from getting to and from home... ;-)

    Claire

    PS We got to go inside the eyesore last week. Quite impressive actually - apart from the lack of bedside tables, which was a little odd.

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  2. This week's Abingdon Herald mentions "a multi-million pound 800-bedroom guest house due to be completed this autumn". I think the standards of journalism may be slipping.

    Anyway, I'm really glad you enjoyed the do, and thanks for the sheep (which should raise the eyebrows of any other readers ...) See you next week!

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  3. Anonymous3:25 pm

    Congratulations!

    I'm sorry we couldn't make your special day.

    Thanks for posting the photo too.

    All the best

    Penny & Chris

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  4. Glad to be of service! I'm sure it was a good excuse ...

    Your place was apparently taken by someone I hadn't even realised was there until he came up to me afterwards and apologised for walking right past me on the way in. I had to decide which of these equally truthful responses was less rude: "that's okay, I didn't see you either" or "that's okay, I didn't invite you anyway."

    ReplyDelete

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