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Published: August 26th 2006
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Post Wedding Lunch
Nick (Groom) Me Kate JULY 2006
I know Ive been slack. 3 entries in 6 months. Sorry! So here for those of you who have been eagerly awaiting the next enry (thanks mum ) it is! There is also some photos that where taken after the wedding when we went out to lunch the Monday after the wedding . Once I've figured out how to get the others on I'll put them on too
ENJOY!
I ‘ve been here in Scotland for a few months now working as a locum around the place. I have two more weeks of this and then I’m planning to blow all my hard earnt money. I had a
great weekend over the 27 july -1st August in London as my cousin got married.
Its was mindblowing
Picture if you will a 16th C castle, with moat of course, and us relaxing before the ceremony with a little game of croquet in the front courtyard of the castle.. yes Castle.
This was of course after we had been chauffered to the Castle in a black landrover. Complete with the darkly tinted windows
I should start at the beginning.
Paul and Nick organised to
have their wedding at Leeds Castle about an hour and half outside London. The castle was originally started i think in about 1600s , and has been
added on over the years untill the last bits were added in the 1800s. The castle was a royal castle untill it was eventually passed to a family who continued to live there until the 1970s. So the castle itself is a great mix of royal castle and a fancy family home complete with palours
breakfast room, library and of course baby grand piano. Marble bathrooms and stone staircase. The place was amazing!
So Nick s Dad collected us from the Station and drove us out to the castle. It was surreal, the castle is open to the public during the day and you have to park outside the gates
and then walk about 500m up through the gardens past more ponds, flowers and roaming peacocks, to the castle . But being extra “special” guests we were allowed to drive right up to the front of the castle, waving our very royal wave at the passing tourists, (I wished i had worn something nicer than jeans and a t-shirt pulling up at the front door an evening gown would have been very appropriate.)
The butler,.. yes butler met us at the front and showed up to our room in the
castle for the night...
We were giggling like kids the whole way.. trying to be cool and calm and failing with spectacular results. Met Paul on the grand staircase once we'd moved past the public areas into the
roped of private areas. He was pink with excitment an grinning from ear to ear in his royal bathrobe.
the bedrooms again , mindblowing! The grooms had a suite, each complete with four poster bed with the hangings, so did their parents and the rest of the bridal party and siblings.
These rooms are hard to describe. Even ours which was one of the smaller gues rooms had an ensuite, and a welcome book with descriptions of the 1700th century antique mirror and
tablets and lamps that furnished our rooms. Frought with danger, heaps of breakable antiques everywhere... and all these crazy people running about like little kids. Im sure they must have stashed some of the good stuff .
So with not much time to get ready we got changed and headed downstairs. Most of the tourists by this time had cleared of but I must say it was a great feeling to swan down the grand staircase in my outfit, looking I must say, not to shabby as all the tourists below looked up at me. I think I
could quite enjoy living in a castle.
We occupied ourself attempting to play croquet on the lawn before the ceremony , we managed to get half way around the course before retiring to let other people have a go (thats
our excuse and we're sticking to it!)
We were ushered inside my the staff through the library into the room where the ceremony was being held. Light green silk wallpaper, huge Chinese, urns above the double doors and the
bay window overlooking the private golf course across the moat.
We were sitting on chair arranged in a wide semi-circle. The bridal party walked in , pauls friends from Uni and Nicks best friend and then the couple walked in ...
We were all thinking that it would be Paul holding things up fixing his hair and outfit but we learnt later that is was actually Nick, who was the hold up. As soon as he walked through the door he absolutely dissolved with tears, it was so sweet ,
He basically bawlled the whole way through, which of course sent all of us off! But everyone was definitely smiling through the tears!
The ceremony was really nice mix of old and new. Traditional but also humorous and sensitive. The perfect mix. There were the traditional readings of love and happiness, and a great poem about the perfect man being a gay man, all set to the soundtrack of “I love you baby.. but if its
Quite alright I need you baby… “ you get the idea.
After the ceremony it was pims and champagne on the croquet lawn before our private guided tours around the castle. Imagine if you will the private bedchamber and bathroom of a 15th Century Queen and the Parlour and living rooms of a 1950s movie star complete with the photos of famous people on the mantle.
We then were ushered into the dining room of none other than King Henry VIII , the one with all the wives, His portrait hanging over the massive stone fireplace supervising the proceedings.
The rooms is dresses with massive ruby red curtains and wall hangings and tall majestic flower arrangements at each table. Very dark and very masculine and a perfect match to the dramatic surroundings.
The dinner was spectacular to complete the picture. Traditional scallops, lamb and peaches in rosewater sauce.
The speeches were heartfelt and again started everyone else off trying not to sob too loudly.with such a wonderful mix of people all so happy and proud to share such a special day. Messages from home and wellwishes for the future.
We then in true Bonnette danced the night away in what I would Imagine at one stage should have been a throne room, which is now the room where all the occupants over the centuries have their family shields displayed.
Later on, well into the night I was able to pull of what Im sure was a perfectly executed performance of either Mozart or Bach, on the baby grand piano. So much fun and yet another thing that goes onto my list of things that Im going to have when I grown up, a baby grand Steinway Piano!
The morning people appeared for breakfast and trickled in bleary eyed, and the bridal couple of course looking not too bad at all considering the damage, the open bar which included spirits, wreaked on the party goers!
And then luggage in toe we begin to depart in taxis from the Castle drive, with the help of the same butler from the night before. They guy was a machine, up until 3am the previous night and then turned out in the three piece suit for breakfast at nine that same morning!!! Unbelievable ! An whether it was the suit, the hangover , or the fact I might have still been a bit tipsy… gee he looked good. Perfectly completely the surroundings . Give me a guy in a suit anyday!
And I will leave you all with this image. A Bright Red 1980s VOLVO wagon being jump started in the turning circle of the castle, complete with tourist spectators and Uncle Ian at the wheel yelling “push boys.”... the grooms and friends at the back pushing to get the bloody thing started… we’re sooo classy.. . Nick Welcome to the Family.
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Lol
Cracked up - what a wedding :) Congrats to the grooms!