Nic & Darren's wedding
Altrincham & Congleton
Friday 19th December 2008
It was a grey December day, as Rick and Suze walked wistfully along the pavement, in a far from romantic setting, whilst Lynne and I shuffled behind.
We were on the way to the venue of the wedding, of course, the functionally titled Dunham Road Unitarian Chapel. Unitarian is, according to wikipedia, as a theology the belief in the single personality of God (rather than three, as per the Trinity). So that's nice. Anyway, regardless of whether the deity that so many people seem to believe in (with not a jot of evidence, but we'll let that go for now) was schizophrenic or not, the important fact was that it was LICENSED FOR MARRIAGES. Phew, eh.
Suze and Lynne pose demurely for the camera, at first anyway, before doing an old woman look under instruction. Suze didn't really get quite as much into it as Lynne, but there you go. She's a natural actress.
The church's grand stained glass windows were unusually obscured by a Christmas tree (unusually for me, anyway, since I only go for weddings).
Darren waited nervously (probably) with the best man. It looks murky - it probably wasn't.
Along came the beaming bride, Nic, escorted by proud father Brian.
Followed by the bridesmaids, Nic's cousin Jody and Nic's sister Sarah.
This is one of the few photos taken of the wedding ceremony itself. The lady who ran it requested (ok, told) people not to use their cameras. Tch, the cheek of it.
So, erm, yeah, they got married, it went ok. No hiccups. Time for everyone to pose. I'm not naming them all. Wouldn't know where to start.
Lynne and Claire, both looking rather affected by the whole thing. Or not, as the case may be.
She's had enough - Lynne is first to race out of the church. Well not quite, cos I'm here.
And a quick reverse shot catches Ken the photographer sharing a thought with Suze. Suze's dad is not far behind.
Here's the wedding car, a BMW all ribboned up.
More will appear here soon...
...which turned out to be a big, fat lie. It's been over a year since I updated this page. Oops! Anyway, I am here now. Right, where was I? Oh yes, the wedding. The bride and groom get bombarded with confetti, as is customary.
Crazy wand woman magics them a future of happiness.
The happy couple set off in the wedding car, with Nic doing some jazz hands.
I will be your driver for the day. Where would you like to go? Congleton? No problem, madam. It did mean driving through Alderley Edge, where they have invented their own driving rules, which involve buying a bigger car than everyone else and pulling out of junctions with the aim of forcing traffic to stop in order to secure themselves right of way. Damn them.
Still, we did make it through to Congleton. One of the main problems of having a December wedding is the almost inevitable unreliability of the weather. I'm sure this looks beautiful in the summer. Now, it just looks wet. And just a little bleak.
Miss Schofield looks a bit chilly whilst munching on some well-deserved snackage. And appears somewhat less than impressed to be snapped doing so.
Inside, Claire and a much happier Lynne enjoy a frighteningly brightly coloured beverage.
This area should be marked "dedicated smokers only".
The pianist did play. Some tunes. For us.
Oh good lord, does Ken have insurance for this kind of thing? Please take care, sir.
I squeeze my big head between the girls' and take a close up photo. It's not pleasant but it is mildly amusing.
It did afford him a great view for taking photos. Suze is easily distracted by my photo taking. Rick isn't, though. He's either ignoring me deliberately, or mumbling something like "shoot the back of my head, punk". Probably the former.
"Girls, it's show time! Give me some good poses."
More, soon(-er than last time).
And yes, that turned it to be the very next day. How conscientious of me (for a change). Okay, back to the bride and groom, who are waiting for instructions on what to do next.
Yes, that's right; Ken wants you to pretend to dance on the grass outside in the FREEZING COLD. I just hope that dress is going to be ok, I really do.
The grand banqueting hall awaited us.
And it was clear who was providing entertainment for the evening.
Hmmm, I think it's probably time for another page.