A week in the country, the wedding of the year and a trip to London part 2

The wedding of the year was between Clarissa and Phil (son of Helen's sister Jo) and my nephew and godson (although I am not sure I have done a good job in that respect!). This blog is all about faces and those interested in our travels should feel free to go no further – it may upset Phil but that is no big deal and is a regular (and some may say desirable) outcome.

Phil opted for two “best men”  so that there were twice as many people to talk about him when it came to the speeches. Son Michael and very good friend Ben flank shiny top Phil.

Our younger team looked particularly well turned out and were largely attentive. From left to right Aimee, Sonia, Kellan, Baeddan, Tieve and Seren. Young Daelin and his Dad Glen are on the next row.

Clarissa’s eldest son Louis gave the first reading in the service and set a very high bar for all subsequent speakers. Both parents look justifiably proud.

Clarissa looked stunning and even Phil scrubbed up OK and almost looked presentable when sitting alongside in his (forgotten) brand name suit.

Mum Jo was determined to be noticed and the hat made sure of that. The outfit was brilliant but the appropriate notch or two below the bride.

There seemed to be a lot of this over the course of the day. No comment other than some of the youngsters were suitably embarrassed so it was a good idea.

The venue was purpose designed for weddings and was stunning. The only stress over the months since booking was whether it would be ready given this was the second wedding since opening. The ground floor floats over a pond while the wedding party looked down from the royal balcony on their rowdy invitees. It took quite a while to get everyone to listen to instructions and face outwards.

 Some although well turned out just had mischief in mind.

And this trio were no different (daughter Lianne, daughter in law Sonia and Helen’s very good school friend Ann).

Now here are some posers (Tieve, Daelin and Seren). The young ladies looked good in their matching dresses.

I’ve got a bigger one has been a theme that has cropped up with Jo on a few occasions (but I won’t go there).

So who is going to speak first and are you going to talk about when Phil…..

The Clarissa mob.

The young lads got on well (Kellan, Baeddan, Louis and Ben). Ben was not sure he should listen to some of the banter either that or he had heard the joke before.

The other half of the younger table.

This shot from an overlooking balcony really captures the architecture with its vaulted ceilings and oak structure. Some wonderful workmanship with mortise and tenon and wooden pegs…..

A bit of quiet time to run through the speech one more time. The key is to tell “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”

Mind you quiet time was hard to find particularly when two of the waiters suddenly burst into opera.

So saying all the speeches went very well and we all learned quite a bit more embarrassing stuff about Phil and this is a KPI of any Best Man speach. I went over to congratulate a much more relaxed Michael while Lee (a very bad influence) decided to take command of my camera.

Now here is someone clearly having a good time. The apron was a gift to those nominated to carve the roast beef on their table. An essential bit of attire and a wonderful bit of memorabilia which will be used for future cooking events thereby precipitating discussion on what was a brilliant day