Wedding &c.
Apr. 9th, 2008 01:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teylaminhThat was a pleasant, if exhausting, few days.
Saturday was spent doing incredibly little, although we did head out briefly to get Paul a hair cut. This weekend we have both suffered with Stylist-Giving-Us-Their-Own-Hairstyle Syndrome, as the guy in the barber's gave him the exact same 'mullet'-type style as himself. Rather a change from Paul's usual army-issue short-back-and-sides, but it looks quite good. :)
Sunday I spent packing the case, doing washing, the usual things. 'Stenders has hit a bit of an interest low at the moment, but it's to be expected post-Easter. The Frank/Pat plotline was nice (I like it when they intersperse canon, despite randomly changing actresses), though I'm not quite sure if I'm glad of the return of Ricky and Bianca... Bianca's current troubles are looking to provide some entertainment, at least...
So, on Monday we left the house at 9.45 to catch a 10.48 train to Manchester Piccadilly, and then onwards to Manchester Airport. If nothing else, this has proven that Manchester is a viable option should we ever be able to afford a holiday, as the journey was relatively painless - no delays, and we got straight onto a train to the airport.
Once at the airport we hopped into a black cab and told him where we were going. When I looked at the respective locations of the hotel and the airport on Google, it didn't look too far, but because it was out-of-area (the hotel was in Cheshire, some 18 miles from the airport), it came to a flat rate of £25... The driver was nice enough, though. He kept pointing out where footballers lived and saying how much various houses cost, as it was a very posh area.
The hotel was gorgeous. Lovely grounds, which it would have been nice to explore had the weather been better. We found our room (a good size, and also a large bathroom) and got changed, then went to find Lisa and Heather in the bar. Heather had driven Lisa up and we got there about 30 seconds before them, as we ran into them at reception. ;)
It turned out my ex-manager was there (Carol W, she of the Inline bannage) but luckily enough she didn't seem to either recognise nor acknowledge me, so no awkward conversations.
The service was lovely, and Jen's dress was gorgeous. :) The only trouble with going to other people's weddings is I inevitably end up thinking "ooh, that's a good idea" and stealing it for future reference.
In between the service and the meal, Lisa and I went around the tables turning over the napkins, having discovered that they'd been arranged upside down (the bows uppermost), and given the hours we spend folding them and putting ribbon around them, it simply wouldn't do. That didn't take too long, luckily.
The meal was very nice, also. Melon with red berry sauce for starters (which I managed a fair bit of, despite not liking melon - again, it suffers with that thing of my liking the texture but not the flavour...), chicken with vegetables in a sort of mushroomy sauce (and peppercorn gravy) for the main, and little chocolate mousse things for dessert. Delicious. :) Also, we were kept plied with free wine and champagne for the toasts.
During the gap whilst they set up the band space / disco in the other room, we were sitting in the bar talking and eventually decided to go and get changed into more comfortable clothing - at the last wedding I went to (Tor's, where I was ill) everyone was changed before the party afterwards. Naturally, at this one, everyone stayed in their wedding garb. Typical. Anyway, as a result of our bad timing and not knowing when things were going to happen, we managed to miss the first dance. Bugger.
By about 10.00pm when we were sitting in the disco / band room, I had somewhat run out of steam. I was also trying not to fall into the trap of thinking "Fuck, I'm never going to be able to afford any of this...", which made me a bit blah for the majority of the evening.
The 'buffet' was a choice of chicken curry or (presumably) beef stroganoff, with some of the wedding cake for afters, which was very nice. Jen had thoughtfully decided on part fruitcake, part sponge. :)
The evening's entertainment was provided by three bands, which IIRC were The Klopeks, The Hunchbacks and 3 1/2 Inch Floppy. Earplugs had been provided, thankfully. Still, by that point I was a little too tired to appreciate it. Paul and I sloped off to bed at around 12.30 and watched about 10 minutes of Battle Royale on Channel 4 before giving up. Apparently Jen stayed up until 3.00am...
The breakfast next morning was also nice - the choice was "whatever you want" so I had a full English, minus beans and tomatoes but plus hash browns, and it was all very good except for the mushrooms, which were a bit tasteless...
Jen gave us a lift to the nearest station (before which, Dave gave me a bone-crunching hug on our departure) and we got a train from there to Piccadilly at a cost of about 2.90. At Piccadilly we spotted a train to Reading via Birmingham so got on it, then sat there for about an hour as it wasn't due to leave for ages. Ah well. Got back around 1.30, whereupon I had a shower (using the new shampoo I got from Supercuts - v. nice, smells of oranges, hair all soft...) and we went out for McDonalds.
I managed to drag myself to choir that evening despite falling asleep on the bus there, as it was the final rehearsal before Saturday's Mahler concert in Tewkesbury (this time I'm getting a lift home...)
Back at work today and it's not been too bad, although I was very tired this morning. Going swimming tonight and then next week we'll be back to Mondays and hopefully regular attendance. ;) Next Wednesday, Paul and I will have been together threelong years. How terrifying...
Saturday was spent doing incredibly little, although we did head out briefly to get Paul a hair cut. This weekend we have both suffered with Stylist-Giving-Us-Their-Own-Hairstyle Syndrome, as the guy in the barber's gave him the exact same 'mullet'-type style as himself. Rather a change from Paul's usual army-issue short-back-and-sides, but it looks quite good. :)
Sunday I spent packing the case, doing washing, the usual things. 'Stenders has hit a bit of an interest low at the moment, but it's to be expected post-Easter. The Frank/Pat plotline was nice (I like it when they intersperse canon, despite randomly changing actresses), though I'm not quite sure if I'm glad of the return of Ricky and Bianca... Bianca's current troubles are looking to provide some entertainment, at least...
So, on Monday we left the house at 9.45 to catch a 10.48 train to Manchester Piccadilly, and then onwards to Manchester Airport. If nothing else, this has proven that Manchester is a viable option should we ever be able to afford a holiday, as the journey was relatively painless - no delays, and we got straight onto a train to the airport.
Once at the airport we hopped into a black cab and told him where we were going. When I looked at the respective locations of the hotel and the airport on Google, it didn't look too far, but because it was out-of-area (the hotel was in Cheshire, some 18 miles from the airport), it came to a flat rate of £25... The driver was nice enough, though. He kept pointing out where footballers lived and saying how much various houses cost, as it was a very posh area.
The hotel was gorgeous. Lovely grounds, which it would have been nice to explore had the weather been better. We found our room (a good size, and also a large bathroom) and got changed, then went to find Lisa and Heather in the bar. Heather had driven Lisa up and we got there about 30 seconds before them, as we ran into them at reception. ;)
It turned out my ex-manager was there (Carol W, she of the Inline bannage) but luckily enough she didn't seem to either recognise nor acknowledge me, so no awkward conversations.
The service was lovely, and Jen's dress was gorgeous. :) The only trouble with going to other people's weddings is I inevitably end up thinking "ooh, that's a good idea" and stealing it for future reference.
In between the service and the meal, Lisa and I went around the tables turning over the napkins, having discovered that they'd been arranged upside down (the bows uppermost), and given the hours we spend folding them and putting ribbon around them, it simply wouldn't do. That didn't take too long, luckily.
The meal was very nice, also. Melon with red berry sauce for starters (which I managed a fair bit of, despite not liking melon - again, it suffers with that thing of my liking the texture but not the flavour...), chicken with vegetables in a sort of mushroomy sauce (and peppercorn gravy) for the main, and little chocolate mousse things for dessert. Delicious. :) Also, we were kept plied with free wine and champagne for the toasts.
During the gap whilst they set up the band space / disco in the other room, we were sitting in the bar talking and eventually decided to go and get changed into more comfortable clothing - at the last wedding I went to (Tor's, where I was ill) everyone was changed before the party afterwards. Naturally, at this one, everyone stayed in their wedding garb. Typical. Anyway, as a result of our bad timing and not knowing when things were going to happen, we managed to miss the first dance. Bugger.
By about 10.00pm when we were sitting in the disco / band room, I had somewhat run out of steam. I was also trying not to fall into the trap of thinking "Fuck, I'm never going to be able to afford any of this...", which made me a bit blah for the majority of the evening.
The 'buffet' was a choice of chicken curry or (presumably) beef stroganoff, with some of the wedding cake for afters, which was very nice. Jen had thoughtfully decided on part fruitcake, part sponge. :)
The evening's entertainment was provided by three bands, which IIRC were The Klopeks, The Hunchbacks and 3 1/2 Inch Floppy. Earplugs had been provided, thankfully. Still, by that point I was a little too tired to appreciate it. Paul and I sloped off to bed at around 12.30 and watched about 10 minutes of Battle Royale on Channel 4 before giving up. Apparently Jen stayed up until 3.00am...
The breakfast next morning was also nice - the choice was "whatever you want" so I had a full English, minus beans and tomatoes but plus hash browns, and it was all very good except for the mushrooms, which were a bit tasteless...
Jen gave us a lift to the nearest station (before which, Dave gave me a bone-crunching hug on our departure) and we got a train from there to Piccadilly at a cost of about 2.90. At Piccadilly we spotted a train to Reading via Birmingham so got on it, then sat there for about an hour as it wasn't due to leave for ages. Ah well. Got back around 1.30, whereupon I had a shower (using the new shampoo I got from Supercuts - v. nice, smells of oranges, hair all soft...) and we went out for McDonalds.
I managed to drag myself to choir that evening despite falling asleep on the bus there, as it was the final rehearsal before Saturday's Mahler concert in Tewkesbury (this time I'm getting a lift home...)
Back at work today and it's not been too bad, although I was very tired this morning. Going swimming tonight and then next week we'll be back to Mondays and hopefully regular attendance. ;) Next Wednesday, Paul and I will have been together three
