This weekend was one of the most fun, happiest and absolutely busiest weekend that I can remember having for a very, very long time.
On Friday, P’s sister got married. On Saturday Rhys and Louise got married. On Sunday, I did extremely little.
So, on Friday morning we got up, dressed up all fancy and made our way over to church number one. Everyone looked fabulous, the church was beautiful and the only thing that was less than perfect was the priest, who… Well, I’m speculating that he wasn’t fully paying attention to what he was doing. First, he got the bride and groom’s names wrong, choosing instead P’s parent’s names. Then he nearly forgot to have the bride and groom sign the wedding certificates. Finally, he congratulated the new Mr and Mrs M, when again, it’s P’s parents who are Mr and Mrs M – the happy couple are Mr and Mrs H.
Oooops. Fortunately, everyone had a sense of humour. I hadn’t expected to do quite so much laughing in a church that morning. So the worst that came of it was everyone spending the rest of the day making the same five or six jokes over and over.
Off we went to the hotel for the reception. We were at the Bothwell Bridge Hotel, a lovely place built in 1800. We checked in, freshened up and went to join the party. There were beautiful little canapes, the sun came out just enough to enjoy their garden and soon everyone was happily chatting away over champagne. We had speeches from the bride’s father, the groom and the best man, a delicious dinner and we danced into the night.
In the morning, after breakfast, P and I booked a taxi to head over to the second hotel of the weekend – The Hilton Doubletree at Strathclyde. We had a couple of hours before wedding number 2, so took advantage of their pool before getting dressed up again and making our way to the church.
This service did not involve much drama (thank goodness) but Rhys’s brother, a music teacher, had composed a piece for the organ, just for Rhys and Louise, and it was played as we waited for a very slightly late Louise to arrive. Once again, everyone looked fabulous.
It wasn’t long before we were back in the hotel, ready to party. More canapes, more champagne, another delicious dinner, uplifting speeches from the bride’s father, the bride, the groom and the best man, and more dancing. Plus, a photo booth complete with props! It’s possible that we took a few silly photos. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you otherwise.
You know what? I think I like weddings. I would go to more. What struck me is how unlike other parties they are – even during large family events people don’t seem anywhere near as unreservedly happy as they do at weddings. The two weddings this weekend were very similar in their format, both being Catholic weddings and filled with friends and family, but I’m sure that with all weddings the one most consistent feature must be the joy. I love seeing everyone all dressed up and ready to celebrate with the happy couple as they start their married lives together.
So while attending two weddings in one weekend was somewhat hectic, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I know that both couples will be completely, unreasonably and endlessly happy and I’m delighted to have been able to celebrate with them.
In Becky's Head 
That’s a good comment on how different they can be to other parties. In my experience you’re right, people do tend to be extra joyous at a wedding and people seem to try to take everything in the right spirit. I’ve heard horror stories, but the ones I’ve been to have generally been very positive experiences.
Alas there was no ceilidh at wedding #2 but what about #1? I love a good ceilidh 🙂 (aside: I always feel very awkward doing, er, “unstructured” dancing, but I’ve found that having something [my cane] to keep the hands occupied helps a lot).
And the photobooth was a huge amount of fun. I really enjoyed that and got several great shots in it (all up on Flickr now)
LikeLiked by 1 person
No ceilidh at either wedding! Honestly, I think I prefer that – I’m not a ceilidh dancer, but I can see why people like them.
Thanks for the link to the photos! 😀
LikeLike
That’s fair enough, although I do love a ceilidh[*]. I’m afraid I would probably have asked you to dance 🙂 – it’s a point of pride that I dance every (structured) dance at a ceilidh. I need to take the opportunity, since I rarely get the chance, these days.
[*] these days, anyway. I remember being horrified by the idea when I came to Glasgow. It was only when I was best man for Jo & Dave that I thought I should probably do it, and found that it was huge fun (it’s really mostly physics – it’s all about the spinning 🙂 ).
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you’d asked me I would certainly have danced, I’m not a total spoil sport 😛
LikeLike