Wedding Abi and Adam

When I was in York I had lovely friends. I was only there for a year but blimey did it make an impression! One of them was a tireless PhD student called Abi. She had a lovely (but more understated) boyfriend called Adam. I had been to her birthday once while already living in Bangor. And now she would do something much more memorable than having a birthday: she and Adam would marry! And I got invited!

I had to first sort out how to get my hands free for it. I hinted before at that this wedding would fall within Welcome Week, which has a weekend component as during the weekend the students move in. I'm the peer guides' emergency contact! But I wouldn't answer phones in a wedding ceremony. My colleague Andy volunteered to cover for me. What a sweetheart! So I could go.

I drove up. When I got close I saw the landscape was beautiful. And so was the venue! Initially I didn't see anyone I knew so I just introduced myself to the first two people I saw. But then a man appeared: it was my friend Tom! It was great to see him again. And then I saw Owain. And Sian. Lots of familiar faces! Great! Nobody had changed a bit (except Owain having a beard now).

After a while the ceremony started. It was beautiful! I tend to reverberate strongly with social atmosphere, so in an emotional setting like a wedding ceremony I get swamped with feelings. As I did now! They were both very beautiful and very sweet.

Later there were pictures, and dinner, and speeches, and all the usual ingredients of a wedding. Lovely! I also greeted Abi's family; I had met her mother, of whom Abi had once said she has two settings: very happy and asleep. True, as far as I can tell! And now I also met her father. She looks like him! And he is a wheelchair user these days but clearly won't let that get him down. For his speech he stood up against the wall, upon which Abi barricaded him in with a chair so he wold be able to remain standing for the duration of his speech. It's such a cheering family. And now Adam, who has been described by Abi as having the face of a Quokka on the body of a seal, is joining them. He'll be quite happy I'm sure! And so will she.

 

 Posing with the bride

After dinner there would, of course, be a ceilidh. Abi is (apart from a fisheries scientist and a school teacher) a folk fiddler. I like ceilidhs! Although most I have done were ceilidhs for the sake of ceilidhs, so everyone there wants to dance. Very easy to find a partner! But here everyone was there for the wedding, and dancers were harder to come by. The disadvantage of going to a wedding on your own! I had to miss quite a few dances due to lack of partner but, mainly thanks to the York bunch, I got to join enough of them. The last dance I even formed an inventive 'couple' of three with Tom and Sian. It worked!

The first dance

When the dancing stopped I started saying my goodbyes. It was getting late, I was tired, and I had to first drive to my accommodation and then all the way back the next day. And then snap into peer guide coordinator duties immediately afterwards. It was sad to say goodbye to all these folks. But it had to be done at some point!

I am sure Abi and Adam will have a lovely married life! And I hope to see them again. Not in the too distant future this time!

My view the next morning