People often share what wonderful locations they have been to on holiday and it is a common question that we get at weddings,
" So, are you guys going on holiday this year?"
We did have a family holiday almost 12 years ago, but generally what happens is that I take some or all of the kids off somewhere and Robin stays at home to look after the dog and any remaining offspring (as long as they can be entertained with screens and live off pizza or chips!).
He has been known to go off on a wee adventure without us all. The most recent was a pilgimage to Linsdisfarne a few years back, but he did go off to India with a group when James ( now 18) was just 3 weeks old and Cuba just before the twins came on the scene, which generally put a dampner on any travel arrangements for quite a long time!
Our favourite holiday was to get a caravan at the Banff Links at the same time as my friend Ruth who came up from Edinburgh with her lot. We had the best of times playing rounders on the beach, building fires, occasionally sunbathing ( yes, it can happen) and relaxing with a gin and tonic or a glass of wine after the kids had gone to bed or were at least contained in their pyjamas watching a film. Robin would still stay at home, but came and visited us each day after his work as a postie, so it worked really well.
So we try to explain this to people and they generally look at us as though we are a bit disfunctional, and do you know, I think we may be.
The reason I am jealous of Anika and Shaun is that they are in Austria watching the Eurovsion song contest one of my all time favourite competitions.
As and avid fan from childhood, having watched Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton John, Linsey De Paul, Brotherhood of man, Bucks Fizz, Dana, Johnny Logan and the rest, it's a night I hate to miss.
I can only assume that any couple who get married on the day of the Eurovision final must be massive fans, so as the morning dawned with gorgeous sunshine, I was imagining the fabulous theme. ......All the tables named after the various countries and having corresponding flags The groom wearing his diamonte embossed kilt while the bride flies in on a wire to the most amazing light show, with her dress that tranforms into a mini skirt ,with a pull of her outer layers.
With this in mind I decided to got 'my bling thing on'. I painted my nails with glittery nail varnish and donned my super sequinned 'Eurovision' dress that I'm sure even Conchita would be jealous of...
And off we go....
It was pretty clear when I walked in to the Springs for Alexander ( Sandy, known as Spanky to his friends!) and Katrina's wedding, that I had been very mistaken...this was going to be a totally tasteful wedding,....how on earth would I blend in?
Katrina and Sandy live in Macduff and so there were many 'well kent' faces there, in fact quite a few who have been to weddings Robin has done this year. This is often a common occurance where a group of friends who have grown up together all start the ball rolling by getting engaged around the same time and then have a massive glut of hennys, staggers and weddings all within a few years of each other...one long party...hey, just like Eurovison!!
The chairbacks were ties with beautiful taupe ribbons covered in cream lace to match Katrina's beautiful bridesmaids. Even Robin was easily persuaded that it wasn't 'camel'...camel, really?
Walking in to Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking out loud', Katrina looked stunning in her white strapless fishtail dress and was supported by her Dad, Dennis. He gave her way to Sandy and they laughed as Robin quoted Norma, Katrina's Mum by saying that Sandy fitted in so well to their family that he was her 'number one son', much to the disgust of Katrina's brothers who objected vocally! This was a standing joke for the rest of the day and even as we were getting in to the taxi at the end of the night we could hear a voice shouting
" Number one son...I don't think so!"
When it came to their vows, Robin started to ask Sandy if he would take Katrina to be his wife...before was even half way through, Sandy intterupted with a lovely "I do", so keen to have Katrina as his Mrs. After the false start, he managed to wait patiently and soon they were man and wife.
Katrina finally gave up the fight she was having with her veil and like Jill a few weeks ago, handed it off to her Mum, so she could get on and enjoy kissing her new husband.
So, as we sang 'One more step along the way I go', the quiaches were passed around and we toasted the new Mr and Mrs Stuart..
Lots of friends had been involved in making this day special, as is the way with many weddings. Someone had made the most beautiful photo montage of them both during various stages of their lives, for us all to enjoy. It was pointed out to me that one of the pictures was of Sandy without anything on his bottom half, but on closer examination I realised that it was when he was just a few days old at the most, so we'll let them off!
The day, that had started off so beautifully, had started to dull over slightly, which in photography terms is wonderful, I've been told. The wedding party disappeared for the perfect photo shoot and we sat down to catch up with each other.
Robin has been wearing more black ties this week than usual, if you know what I mean, and when he is particularly busy, it can be great to have a local wedding to go to at the end of the week, a kind of date night for the disfunctional couple!
As we were chatting we noticed a couple of likely lads who on my count definitely weren't at the service and were mouching around with the other guests. Could they be 'real' wedding crashers?? We knew Robert as he lives just round the corner from us, so we accosted him on his way to the bar and asked for an explanation...
It turns out that two of the guests weren't able to come as one was being very sick in early pregnancy and Katrina had called Robert and Steven, his partner, asking if they wanted to fill the gap and enjoy the poor couple's meal! Never ones to turn down a free meal, they accepted gladly and I still don't know how they found out where to sit, but it all seemed to work out really well. In fact I noticed Robert shouting the waitress over to get more gravy, so he was well into his part by the end of the meal.
Cake cutting came first and as we were sitting at the top table, I was perfectly placed to take a few pictures of all five tiers getting the chop.
We were sitting next to Norma and Dennis and enjoyed hearing how Norma had been brought up on a farm. When Dennis first asked her out on dates she had to make sure that she had picked enough 'neeps fae the park' for the cows before she would be able to go out courting. Dennis suffered a brain aneurism a few years back and you could see how much it meant to him to be be able to walk Katrina down the aisle and enjoy the day to it's fullest with all their friends and family.
There was planty of banter from the boys during the speeches with Dennis reciting a witty poem about his daughter and new son-in-law and giving Sandy a gift of a new pair of Crocs as he obviously eyes Dennis' up every time he goes up to visit. As I write this Robin is standing in front of me with his faithful Crocs on, so he's in great company now!!
Jordan, Sandy's best man, told us how he was amazed at how brave Sandy was to ask for Katrina's hand as Dennis had enough shotguns to 'invade North Korea...and probably in his digger'...a brilliant mental picture!
He gave us all a laugh as he brought out a life size cut out of Sandy in a dress, with a very fetching headband on, that he donned during his stag do. I'm sure just having a picture of this passed around would've been bad enough!
After a lovely meal where we served by the fantastic Louise and Jocelyn, who told me I had bigged Jillian up far too much in my previous blogs and needed to give them a mention, I managed to get a picture of the new Mrs Stuart with her new man....Mandy!
We got up to stretch our legs after a lovely cup of tea and opened the door to the foyer. It was hooching full of the bride and groom's friends who had turned up for the evening celebration. We caught up with a few glammed up guests and decided to bow out.
So here I sit in my pyjamas watching Conchita singing her new song and waiting for the scores on the doors to be announced ,while getting constant whatsapp notifications form my fellow Eurovision fanatic friend Kirsteen, who hopes to be there next year.
Katrina and Sandy will be partying just as hard, if not harder with all their loved ones, to Pepperpot a popular Aberdeen band, who certainly get everyone up and moving from the first to the last.
A huge thanks to Katrina and Sandy for making me feel so welcome and allowing me to post the picture of Sandy in a dress on the internet ( I'm sure they said that was ok?).
Even though they didn't go for the Eurovision theme ( does that mean my career as a wedding planner is a over?), Katrina still made plenty of waves(!) and I know that Sandy will save all his kisses for her (!)
I, for one, give them a wholehearted 'Douze pointes' for a fabulous day and a wonderful life together as Mr and Mrs Stuart ......and Mandy of course!
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