London calling to the faraway towns...

I went to London over the weekend for Sophie and Max' wedding. I headed down on the Friday morning (in my kilt and a t-shirt, proving not only that I am at the height of fashion, but that I am also quite brave) and got into Richmond to meet Julie and Izz (whose account of the day can be found here by the way) at about 11. We had lunch, got changed and met up with everyone else as and when they arrived.

The service was at 3, and was very nice. The church was lovely - quite an old building (Colin reckoned Georgian) and a far cry from the concrete box I got married in! The service went well, and the Canon was very keen and worth listening to. Above all, it was great to see Sophie and Max get married. I'm very pleased to see them manage it at last, as I know they've been waiting a while for it. They're so much in love and really good for each other, so it's brilliant to see them married.

Julie, Izz and myself headed off to the reception, via the hotel to check in and drop off luggage, which was a bit of a pain as the traffic was appalling and as such it took us over an hour to make the round trip of about 3 miles. So, by the time we got back to the reception all the photos were done. Still, we made it into the final group photo so that's something. Then we got on with the important business of celebrating, by which I of course mean eating and drinking a lot. It was good to see everyone from uni, who I've been slack and not seen in ages, and doubly good to see them over a very nice meal. The ceilidh afterwards was fun, though as per usual alcohol impeded proper execution of the steps, no matter how clearly they were explained! Good fun nonetheless. I normally can't stand dancing, but I do enjoy ceilidhs. Perhaps it's because someone else is telling me where to put my legs and arms, so there's significantly less chance of me embarrassing myself or injuring a fellow dancer with my "moves".

We said farewell to Sophie and Max at about 11:30 and then headed back to the hotel. Thanks to a bit of confusion over the booking, I wound up sharing a double bed with my (male) friend Alex. Ho hum. Still, we figured it was less dubious than my sharing with Ju or Izz, so there you go!

Anyway, before I get to the rest, here's a couple of photos from the wedding:

Here's Sophie in her dress:



Here's Sophie and Max after they cut the cake:



Here's Sophie and Max dancing:



Here's some random dude who evidently pinched my camera at some point:



On Saturday we all went our separate ways. I went back to Richmond to meet up with my friend Nikki Wilson, who I've not seen since my own wedding. She lives in the same end of London as I was visiting, so it made sense to see her while I was there. She's just announced her engagement, so we had a good long chat about weddings and marriage. Good stuff. After which meeting I got the train back to Leicester and my wife, daughter and bombsite house.

On which note... packing is going OK, though it's hard work. Things are just about getting sorted with the solicitors, though I'll not be resting easy until I'm in the new house on Saturday. It should be OK, though it does hinge on a lot of money making it's way to the relevant people in time for completion on Friday. If anyone feels like praying for the banks to get it done, please do!