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Friends Wedding
Aug. 20th, 2006 12:00 pmWell it was good, and they both are very happy which at the end of the day is all you can possibly ask for...
Of course the chocolate fountain was pure bonus, but more on that later :-).
So yes this weekend has involved much traveling to get up to Liverpool to celebrate the second wedding from my circle of friends from before University. So cue training it up to Nottingham to stay the night at one of the others of the groups' home, having him drive across to Liverpool for the wedding and back again (2.25 hours each way, not too bad going), and I have another 3.25 hour train journey to get back in a hour and a half. I hate (non-swiss) public transport to the extent that I'm quite happy to spend more money and damage the environment to avoid using it, selfish person that I am. The train journey was ok, the normal annoyances of smokers in the train station *glowers at smokers who dare to smoke within my presence in general*, and a 2 hour train journey next to 6 month old baby, breast feeding mum, and 6 year old boy. Suffice to say evidence to the contrary of my public transport opinion has yet to surface.
The wedding and the genuine joy of my friend that we were there are of course more than worth the effort and annoyance of traveling. Oh yes and chocolate fountain erases all wrongs. The wedding was held in Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, which is an ugly lump of a concrete tent on the outside, and very modern and quite lovely on the inside. The actual service took place in a small chapel off the main area, and I must admit to not having clicked until actually seeing the chapel, that the wedding was taking place in the Cathedral itself. *Sigh* Silly me. The service was nice if the priest did seem a little nervous and unsure of himself, and that's in comparison to the groom, who'd had a tense few minutes just before wedding playing 'Find the Priest', and a preceding 24 hours of the universe conspiring to keep his guests from arriving (lightning taking out a train service up to Liverpool and a section of the M6, all six lanes, being closed by an oil tanker crashing). The wedding was a catholic service, rather than a catholic mass with a wedding service added on. This saved some 30-40 minutes off the time of the service, which I can't say I was disappointed by. Catholic masses, with wedding services included always seem to have the service as a sort of cut and paste addition, and I can't help feeling it detracts from the day. Oh yes and the other thing worth mentioning being a catholic wedding is the talk of children, repeatedly, to the extent that the vows actually include a promise to have children and raise them Catholic. Still if it's what the bride and groom want, then it is what they should have. It's been a long time since I've been to a mass, I stopped going when I decided that particular style of worship was not for me, and it is slightly weird to go through the half remembered motions after all that time. Still myself and my friend/driver,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jeat, who has only once gone to a catholic mass amused ourselves spotting all the various states of the groom we have seen over the years. Our favourite being concentrating-on-the-structure-of-the-service-so-he-doesn't-have-to-think-about-the-ramifications-of-it-groom. Ah yes, the only other thing of interest was the 6 month old (?not sure?) nephew of the groom making the most of the truly excellent acoustics of the building, me thinks that at least some of the noise was made because of the echo. However all of that said, it was a good wedding, and they were clearly very happy with it.
The reception was pleasant, the hotel plush, the food, well, the kind of food you get when a hotel prepares the same meal for 70 people. The speeches were, well, wedding speeches if perhaps said by not the most practiced of public speakers, and it was interesting to meet people who have known Mike since university and to confirm that even after seven years he hasn't actually changed at all, or done anything notably embarrassing either.
The reception also has a chocolate fountain, as I have not-so-subtly alluded to so far. I should point out that every wedding I am invited to should have one. Hint. It consists of a three or four feet structure, well fountain, over which pours continuously flowing warm liquid chocolate. Skewers are provided so you can dip the various provided things into the fountain, those things being strawberries, grapes, mini donuts, pieces of fudge, turkish delight, biscuits and banana. There was also a much smaller, all of about a foot and a half, white chocolate fountain, though I am informed that one was too sickly. Having indulged ourselves we left, but not before discovering the happy couple had managed to find a DJ, who would not only play only the music you asked for, would happily turn the music volume up or down if asked, and would not attempt to insult your guests into dancing or for their dancing for that matter. I could barely believe he was real.
So yes a very good day, and one I wouldn't have missed for the world. I just hope the bride and groom have a happy and easy as possible marriage. Especially considering that after their honeymoon they will not be able to see each much at all for a whole year, as she is very much tied to Liverpool for her PhD, and he is soon to leave for Geneva in Switzerland for his.
Of course the chocolate fountain was pure bonus, but more on that later :-).
So yes this weekend has involved much traveling to get up to Liverpool to celebrate the second wedding from my circle of friends from before University. So cue training it up to Nottingham to stay the night at one of the others of the groups' home, having him drive across to Liverpool for the wedding and back again (2.25 hours each way, not too bad going), and I have another 3.25 hour train journey to get back in a hour and a half. I hate (non-swiss) public transport to the extent that I'm quite happy to spend more money and damage the environment to avoid using it, selfish person that I am. The train journey was ok, the normal annoyances of smokers in the train station *glowers at smokers who dare to smoke within my presence in general*, and a 2 hour train journey next to 6 month old baby, breast feeding mum, and 6 year old boy. Suffice to say evidence to the contrary of my public transport opinion has yet to surface.
The wedding and the genuine joy of my friend that we were there are of course more than worth the effort and annoyance of traveling. Oh yes and chocolate fountain erases all wrongs. The wedding was held in Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, which is an ugly lump of a concrete tent on the outside, and very modern and quite lovely on the inside. The actual service took place in a small chapel off the main area, and I must admit to not having clicked until actually seeing the chapel, that the wedding was taking place in the Cathedral itself. *Sigh* Silly me. The service was nice if the priest did seem a little nervous and unsure of himself, and that's in comparison to the groom, who'd had a tense few minutes just before wedding playing 'Find the Priest', and a preceding 24 hours of the universe conspiring to keep his guests from arriving (lightning taking out a train service up to Liverpool and a section of the M6, all six lanes, being closed by an oil tanker crashing). The wedding was a catholic service, rather than a catholic mass with a wedding service added on. This saved some 30-40 minutes off the time of the service, which I can't say I was disappointed by. Catholic masses, with wedding services included always seem to have the service as a sort of cut and paste addition, and I can't help feeling it detracts from the day. Oh yes and the other thing worth mentioning being a catholic wedding is the talk of children, repeatedly, to the extent that the vows actually include a promise to have children and raise them Catholic. Still if it's what the bride and groom want, then it is what they should have. It's been a long time since I've been to a mass, I stopped going when I decided that particular style of worship was not for me, and it is slightly weird to go through the half remembered motions after all that time. Still myself and my friend/driver,
jeat, who has only once gone to a catholic mass amused ourselves spotting all the various states of the groom we have seen over the years. Our favourite being concentrating-on-the-structure-of-the-service-so-he-doesn't-have-to-think-about-the-ramifications-of-it-groom. Ah yes, the only other thing of interest was the 6 month old (?not sure?) nephew of the groom making the most of the truly excellent acoustics of the building, me thinks that at least some of the noise was made because of the echo. However all of that said, it was a good wedding, and they were clearly very happy with it.The reception was pleasant, the hotel plush, the food, well, the kind of food you get when a hotel prepares the same meal for 70 people. The speeches were, well, wedding speeches if perhaps said by not the most practiced of public speakers, and it was interesting to meet people who have known Mike since university and to confirm that even after seven years he hasn't actually changed at all, or done anything notably embarrassing either.
The reception also has a chocolate fountain, as I have not-so-subtly alluded to so far. I should point out that every wedding I am invited to should have one. Hint. It consists of a three or four feet structure, well fountain, over which pours continuously flowing warm liquid chocolate. Skewers are provided so you can dip the various provided things into the fountain, those things being strawberries, grapes, mini donuts, pieces of fudge, turkish delight, biscuits and banana. There was also a much smaller, all of about a foot and a half, white chocolate fountain, though I am informed that one was too sickly. Having indulged ourselves we left, but not before discovering the happy couple had managed to find a DJ, who would not only play only the music you asked for, would happily turn the music volume up or down if asked, and would not attempt to insult your guests into dancing or for their dancing for that matter. I could barely believe he was real.
So yes a very good day, and one I wouldn't have missed for the world. I just hope the bride and groom have a happy and easy as possible marriage. Especially considering that after their honeymoon they will not be able to see each much at all for a whole year, as she is very much tied to Liverpool for her PhD, and he is soon to leave for Geneva in Switzerland for his.
