I had left him in the capable (!) hands of his big brothers, James and Jake, for the first time instead of our usual plan, when we stay overnight somewhere, leaving them in the very capable hands of Robin's Mum, Evelyn.
I looked at his face and realised that he wasn't talking about a few spots, his face was covered in a very nasty rash. He pulled down his pyjama top and showed me that it had spread to his chest. He confessed it had developed some time after we headed off for Aberdeen the day before, but James had reassured him that it was just adolescence and with a shrug, he accepted Dr Wiseman's diagnosis and got on with his day.
So the contacting home and asking 'is everything ok?' wasn't specific enough. I really should've texted 'is everything ok and has your little brother developed any nasty rashes???'
This lack of information reminds me of the time that I, against my better judgement, gave in to Caleb and Phoebe's begging to be allowed to camp out in the garden on a balmy July evening a few years back. I agreed, only on the terms that they would keep their walkie talkie by them and would contact me immediately, on my corresponding set beside the bed, if they were worried about anything.
We found out from our neighbour Yvonne, the next day, that there had been a drive by shooting by some nutter with a rifle. They stopped beside our garden, fired a few shots and then headed off. The police were called out and were searching the area. Phoebe had heard the shots, but decided not to wake us as she didn't want to bother us!!
I would've been pretty miffed if I had to turn tail from Aberdeen and come back to Macduff as I had been looking forward to this wedding for a long time.
Hilary and I work together on reception at the health centre in Macuff, every Thursday I come in to release her from her morning shift. We always have a wee catchup about what's been going on, especially any family news. So when she asked me to check if Robin was free, to do her daughter Colleen and fiance Dave's wedding on May 16th 2015, I excitedly called Robin to check. Yes, all good, the date went in the diary..
So a few years later here we were at the Norwood House Hotel, waiting to check in to our room that we had decided to book for the night.
As we stepped in to the Hotel ,the warmth and the wonderful smell of the wood fires in the reception area hit us. We waited to book in and took in the amazingly ornate wood panelled walls and fantastic age old tapestries.
We had stayed here once before at the wedding of Laura and Craig Park back in 2011 and had the most wonderful day with them and their family, so we were really looking forward to another treat.
We were shown through the Pitfodels function suite, where the celebration would be, to our luxurious room, just along the corridor. And what a lovely room it was, really spacious, with a sofa and arm chair, a huge bathroom with double shower and bath and my favourite toiletries from Arran aromatics, I can tell you they would be coming home with me, every last mini bottle!
Robin headed out after changing, to find the groom and set up his 'stuff'. I enjoyed a cuppa and put on my dress for the day....yes, it had a zip, but really I must get over that phobia...just to be on the safe side I brought another dress with me!
The dress is an M&Co one that I have had for a few years and like my floral one, that I wore to Jill and Mark's wedding a few weeks ago, is a tried and tested favourite.
I've never told you this before, but since Michael and Jill's big day back in January, I have used the same handbag for every wedding I have been at since and the plan was to try and take it to every wedding this year.....
....Though I brought it along to Colleen and Dave's, I just felt that it really wasn't necessary as I store all my emergency kit items in it and didn't really need to carry them about as we were staying just up the corridor form all the action.
So the bag stayed in the room and I went off to enjoy myself.
Robin was mucking about with the furniture when I came into the beautifully laid out function suite and I helped him secure the candles, that the bride and groom were lighting, to their bases ( I have my uses) . Soon it was time for the guests to come through and I soon had company as Lynsey and her husband Michael came and sat beside me. We had seen each other last year at Lynsey's friend Lorna's wedding, to John ,which they had in a Marquee in front of their house. A fantastic day where they had a hog roast and enough meat to feed an army. Lynsey made me promise not to mention her in my blog, so I'd better get back to the wedding.....
The best men ( yes, there were three) and groom were piped in, with Robin announcing their names. "Dave, Francis, Andy and Frodo"...Lynsey ( Oh, no I've done it again) and I looked at each other, puzzled and wondering if Frodo was a dog or a pet hamster? It turned out that Frodo was Kevin.. 'the ring bearer'....such is the sense of humour of these lads.
Colleen's bridesmaids Claire, her sister and Victoria looked simply stunning in their 'Sea green' dresses ( not Duck egg blue Robin!). They walked down the aisle with Freya and Fletcher, Claire and Mark's beautiful children.
We all stood and Colleen came in looking quite stunning on her dad, Leslie's arm. In fact I think he was so keen to get rid of her he ran her down the aisle, it was like , blink and you'll miss them! We found out later that nerves had got the better of him just before the ceremony and he was just glad that his legs were working at all!
The ceremony was lovely with advice from their dog Sophie, who Robin claimed to have had a chat with, earlier in the week. Questioning Leslie, asking if he really was happy to let Dave, a Manchester United fan, in to his family as he is an Arsenal supporter!
They said their I dos, even to the extreme promises of allowing Colleen to watch her 'Made in Chelsea' programmes and for Dave to be allowed to splash out on his designer outfits. We all toasted the new Mr and Mrs Masson with some whiskey from the quiache and watched as they beamed their way down the aisle.
I caught up with Hilary and Leslie outside to offer my congratulations, and though the weather was a bit changeable, they all managed to get their photographs taken outside as planned. Here's the proud Mum and Dad with their beautiful daughter.
We all enjoyed a glass of bucks fizz with some canapes. Robin's eyes lit up when he saw there were haggis balls on the plate. Now let me tell you that a haggis ball can be a very dangerous thing, they smell delightful and come in a very handy, 'just the right size to pop in your mouth'. But woe and betide if they have just come out of the oven, for those little beggers could do some damage. Once at the Springs Robin took one and popped the whole thing in his mouth, only to realise too late that it was 200C in the middle. It was really amusing and I'm only sorry I didn't have my camera at the time to show you his facial expressions as he tried to keep it in his mouth!
We popped back to our room for another cuppa and for Robin to catch up on whatever sport it is that he likes to watch ( so, not interested!). We had been told there was going to be a line up just after four, so we headed back out and were eventually told that the bride and groom were ready to greet us with their parents.
We went through first so kissed, hugged and thanked all the 'lineupees' and went to our seats at the top table. We sat down and were accosted by the maitre de who told us that as we were at the top table, we needed to be piped in with the rest. So we (again!) had to leave our seats and take a detour round the hotel so we could do a grand entrance with everyone else. Thankfully at this stage I got a really good look at the bridesmaids dresses and the girl's kindly posed for me to give you a front and back view. You can't see Victoria's face, but i can assure you she is in every way as beautiful as Claire, take my word for it!
We finally were piped in and took our seats, us sitting next to Leslie and Hilary and the speeches began. Leslie had chosen not to do a speech, so Dave kicked off the proceedings , telling us about Colleen's great love of darts that she inherited from her Mum. Not long after they moved in together he found her on Face time with Hilary singing the theme tune together with great vigour!
The best men carried a third of a speech each and had a slide show for us all to see. After giving Leslie the fright of his life by announcing that he had indeed decided to speak, the real fun began! They had managed to interview few 'local celebrities' with best wishes for the happy couple. One was the owner of the kebab shop in Banff, where Dave is obviously known as a near family member. Eddie's touching words of wisdom were very moving to hear as he carved the donner!
This was followed, much to Colleen's horror, with pictures of both her and Dave from birth to the present day...a lovely touching tribute that saved the trio of best men from being completely in the dog house after their initial comments about Dave!
We had a fabulous meal and really enjoyed sitting with Leslie and Hilary, especially hearing how Leslie had left his bank card at a petrol station on their way in to the hotel the night before. He only realised it was missing when he went to pay for their meal on the Friday night! Thankfully he got it back and the wedding was able to go ahead!
After the meal I got a whirlwind tour of the hotel and Colleen and Dave kindly let me have a peak at their fantastic four poster bed in the bridal suite. I watched as Victoria professionally managed to tie Colleen's train up for the evening ( very impressed ) and headed back to our room to put my feet up before the evening fun began.
The band for the evening were Mustang, a great four piece band from Aberdeen. We had missed them at Lauren and Jimmy's wedding last Sunday after the second awful zip incident. Then on Saturday evening at Ross and Eilidh's wedding they were setting up as we were leaving, so I was looking forward to hearing them and I was in the mood for a dance!
We met the girls from my work in the bar as we waited to go in for the dance. After we had discussed the difference between the price of a pint in an Aberdeen hotel ( £6!) and one in the golf club in Macduff , we headed through to grab a table.
We grand marched and watched as Dave and Colleen danced their first dance to 'Thinking out loud' by Ed Sheeran.
Well the next song wasn't 'Brown eyed girl' by Van Morrison, it wasn't 'Walk of life' by Dire straits and it certainly wasn't 'Dance the night away' by the Mavericks! No, it was Paulo Nautini's 'Pencil full of lead' followed hot on it's heels by.....wait for it.....only one of my all time favourites...'Ship called Dignity' by Deacon Blue...I was in dance heaven!
And what a great evening...up dancing to nearly every song and enjoying the great company.
After bacon baps and wedding cake, Robin decided that his four a.m. start had caught up with him and we decided to back out gracefully.
We said our farewells, just in case we wouldn't see folks in the morning, thanking Dave, Colleen and all the family for making us feel so much a part of their day. We headed for bed leaving the party in full swing.
In the morning we had a full English breakfast in the tapestry walled dining room and thought that as we checked out we would miss everyone. But no, Hilary and Leslie were around, having been up till 3am having coffee and wedding cake in their room.
Well after all the planning and the decision making, the emotion and the celebrating, the laughter and the love that goes with a wedding. I wish Dave and Colleen all the best for this new chapter in their lives....and even though the fans would've liked something different I think that the Man Utd v Arsenal score of 1-1 was a great result for today...just like Dave and Colleen...a well balanced and perfect match x
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