The Wedding

I was invited to Ollie and Becky's wedding and it fell this last Saturday. I was scratching my head as to when I last went to such a do - I suspect it was either a school mate or ceekayjay or fjm; in any case it's probably a decade ago. All my acquaintances are now married or confirmed bachelors/spinsters or divorced. But if I will hang out with twenty-somethings, then I guess I'm going to go to knot-tying events.

Fortunately I remembered that you need to get there before the 3 o'clock kick off, and indeed need to be sat down before the bride. I also panicked a little on buses - it is close to two routes, but I'm not sure on timings, and a ten minute or so walk from a stop served by a frequent route. You takes your chances.

I was struck by the lack of wedding cards in the one card shop I looked in - birthday, funeral, bar mitzvah, sympathy, Valentines, piss off, good luck, you've passed, yes, but nothing resembling happy hitching. I found a bearable card with a blank interior and settled for that.

The church was where I thought it was, and I timed it about right - even if I was too late for a pint in the Beverley, which I must sample. Supposedly it's the oldest church in town - although I thought St Martin's would trump it. The vicar seemed reasonable - he joked about the reception being in the Conservative Club, and if you didn't know where it was then you were clearly on the side of the angels.

The reception was hardly traditional - choose your own seat aside from the top table (which was removed when the eating started) and speeches (the bride's mother, the groom, both best men) gotten out of the way before the meal, and pleasingly short but actually moving. Then an all you can eat buffet (and we ate plenty) before a ska cover band played the evening. I had a bizarre encounter with an old friend, and Spence apparently got barred for drinking in the main bar.

After closing, most of the guests inevitably ended up at the Bell&, before decanting to the Carps. A very pleasant day - I thought I'd end up sloping off after eating, but I stayed to the death, and beyond.

Sunday morning was a washout, mind.