....the Wedding!

After nearly a week since my last post, i'm back with an update. The reason i've been so delayed is that i 've spent most of this week recovering from the weekend...having never flown anywhere of any distance, i can't claim to be an expert on jetlag, but i'd nearly argue that a weekend in london is a more than sufficient cause - and yes, i now fully expect all you long-haul people to be outraged and tell me i have no idea :)

The weekend overall went really well. Like alan has said (i think), we didnt arrive at the hotel on friday night till after 1am because of a delayed flight, so we had very little opportunity to grab some shut-eye before the next day hit us - the wedding day. Everyone had breakfast together in the hotel, where some sleepy introductions were made, after which we either had to occupy ourselves for the day or help out with preparations, the ceremony not kicking off till 5pm. While Alan and Tim & Sam and Tom (my cousins) immediatley set up camp in my room (quickly proceeding to turn it into a gambling den) with the complimentary minibar, I was left to run around doing jobs for my two aunties (one the bride, one not) and my grandma...equality i think not!

But then we hit the later part of the afternoon, and everybody started retiring to their rooms to get showered and dressed up....everybody but alan, i should say, who decided this was the opportune moment to hang out with ben, a friend from his gap year in India who lived fairly nearby, in the hotel's bar! To be fair, he had everything in hand, and it was great to see ben again (although i hardly stopped in the bar for more than a few minutes before running out again) - but at the time i was like "WHAT is he doing?!?!? there's no time!". Let's just say me and alan have very different attitudes to timing; mine is along the lines of "timing happens to me", whereas alan's is "I happen to timing".

With regards to the ceremony, it went exactly as they wanted, and their love for each other was very evident; yet like alan said on his blog, we were very aware of an unmistakeable "god-gap", it being a civil ceremony. The lady who was conducting the legalities even had to leave when they were lighting a candle to symbolise the joining of their two families because it "might be seen to have religious connotations"...oh dear. So yeah, even though it was fantastic to be there, I missed the worship and prayers that i 'm so used to being a huge part of weddings.

The reception was held on a boat; about a hundred of trish and david's family and friends going up and down the themes with alcohol, the compulsory dj, and much dancing. A recipe for disaster you may think, but in fact no, it was a great night, alan's air-guitar prompting much speculation as to how much he had drunk, and even more concern when it was revealed that he was in fact sober...i enjoyed myself a lot. The night drew to a close somewhere between midnight and 4am depending on who you were..... one of their friends somehow ended up sleeping in the hotel library, even though he wasnt even booked in as a guest. Anyway, to rap it up, we had a great time, and i wish them all the best.

As we were leaving on sunday, the most common farewell was, "it'll be yours next!"......