The Wedding(s)

Wales..

Not the big ones in the sea that blow air through their spouts, but the mountainous country to the west of England.

I'd been warned about the weather (typically freezing, and raining all year round) and the different laid back "country" way of life (so don't to expect any kind of hustle & bustle).

So after an amazing nights sleep in London on Monday night, I jumped on a 10am train on Tuesday to Bath. Sharon was picking me.up from there at about 3pm to then drive over to Aberystwyth (Wales). I was lucky enough to miss the rain on the way to the tube, but it pretty much poured the whole train ride to Bath, and my 2.5 hours of being a tourist (with no brolly) was spent taking cover in shops. First stop - Sally Lunn's tea shop..apparently where this lady a few hundred years ago would bake these amazing sweet n savoury buns with her secret recipe, and her buns are now famous in Bath called "Sally Lunn's Buns". I didn't have a bun (feeling crook after flying as I always do) but the cappuccino was pretty good. I tried to kill as much time as possible sitting in the little teashop (avoiding the rain) but given that the place is famous and only had about 8 tables I was "stared down" pretty quickly so I left.

Next stop was supposed to be the roman baths but the queue was about 30mins long and out in the pissing rain so I took a photo of the front and kept going. I eventually bought the cheapest brolly I could find (£5 and leopard print of course), wandered around a bit before taking shelter in a pub, ordering a local cider (not bad!), called Francois to complain a bit about the cold, and waited for Sharon..

The drive from Bath to Aberystwyth was about 4.5 hours with shit traffic and a lotttt of rain. Funnily enough you have to pay a toll to get over the bridge into Wales, but no toll on the way out (btw, is WA the only place that doesnt have these stupid road tolls?).

So we got to Borth (north of Aberystwyth) to our little chalet in northfield holiday park at about 8pm, saw Maman & Papa for the first time in about 5 weeks (and true to form, the first thing maman says after I put my bags down was would I like a rum & coke. Yes, yes I would haha) we had some curry, caught up with the parents and my aunty n uncle, & went to sleep with the heater on its highest setting.

Wake up Wednesday morning (the morning of the first wedding) and I swear it was a different place. Sun shining, the greenest most beautiful view from our cabin overlooking the coastline, still a bit fresh but not freezing. I went for a run, & took a few pics (wishing a certain someone spesh was there to share the view) & I couldn't believe it. Wales didn't look the same.

Rachy & Ben's official ceremony wasnt til Saturday, but because of their humanist/pagan style wedding, its not recognised as a legal marriage so they had to have a civil service @ the registry office too. So on Wednesday Rach got ready in her parents chalet (the one next to ours), Amy and I did her hair (yes, I was half responsible for doing something girly haha, and yes - it actually looked great!!). So we headed down to the registry office, rach looking amazing in a floral dress, had a beautiful service (including a reading by Sharon about 2 dinosaurs that fall in love), and I must admit, considering it wasn't their big ceremony - it was pretty emosh !

Anyway we had drinks (and this amazing pimms punch) & nibbles @ Ben's parents place before a big feed at the local pub/restaurant "the black lion" with their closer friends n family. And wow, ben & rach have some brilliant friends. Especially given the next 2 days....

Its crazy really. The big wedding was held on their friends Rodrig (wrong spelling but im hopeless) and Sarah's organic farm out in basically the middle of nowhere. Thursday morning, the field was empty and there was cow & sheep shit everywhere.. but wow did everyone pull together. The first marqee went up, then the 2nd (the 2nd being hired from a circus company so it was covered in trees). The boys spent the whole day  thursday shovelling shit so that the guests wouldn't be walking through it and so that they could park in the big sheds. They've set up all these hay bails for ppl to sit on during the service. All the decorations / flower arrangements / banting was made by friends n family. Friday was just a massive day of setting up EVERYTHING. But wow it all came.together. from an empty farm on thursday to possibly the most beautiful and unique wedding setup by friday night. Ben & Rach even had this Mongolian "teepee" set up next to the marquees where they would camp for their first night as a married couple.

Friday came and the ceremony / reception was just magical. The ceremony was in the "circus" tent, the brides maids and bride were driven down on the back of a tractor,  the celebrant was hilarious and laid back, bens brother in law played the piano while we all attempted to sing this welsh anthem (in welsh), my (rather emotional) reading of a creole translation of an albert eistein quote was what "sealed" their marriage, Ben's mum sang this incredible opera song, and true to ben & rachs style, their final wedding song before the end of the service was the little mermaids "under the sea"..

The reception (if possible) was even more beautiful. Keeping in mind since wednesday there hadnt been any rain or cloud, pure sunshine (which is unheard of in wales) the big white marquee was nice and warm inside, and wow it looked unrecognisable from when it first went up. The first meal was all from an organic catering company, there was a home brew competition going on throughout the night, the lamb for the 2nd meal was incredible (and again, organic), & the wine was yummy. The speeches were so emotional. Ben is clearly completely smitten with rach and theyre both overwhelmed by all the hard work that went into getting the place all set up in less than 2 days. The best men (all 4 groomsmen because ben couldnt pick just one best man haha) did the most hilarious speech. They had us all singing the chorus of " all you need is love" while they sang their own personalised verses. There was a giant badger, an unexpected trumpet player, a bit of acting, loads of props (including a comparison of "real time" and "ben&rachel time", and a foam helmet for ben so he'll stop maiming himself). The dj was awesome & the dessert even better haham Ive never been to or even seen on tv anything like it. The night was really just beautiful.

Leaving Wales now and heading back to reality (london town) it all feels a bit surreal like it was all a whirlwind and Its over now..but wow, if im lucky enough to have a wedding half as incredible as ben n rachs (I know - a boyfriend would be a nice start haha) then I'll be over the moon, just like they are.

✌