Tuesday 4 August 2009

Rachael and Andy get married!

After a cracking Stag at Ascot Races the weekend before and a round of golf at Moor Hall the day before Friday 31st July was finally the day that Andy married Rachael!

We got dressed in suitable attire and met the groom in the pub next door to the church for a quick final drink as a single man! Unsurprisingly the pub was a popular meeting point for much of the congregation and soon enough it was time to head off into church.

Unusually the ceremony was conducted by Andy's father and was followed by the christening of Andy and Rachael's daughter Ruby. Everyting went very smoothly and soon afterwards the confetti was being thrown at the happy couple outside.


This was a very local wedding for us as the church is about 1 mile away from our house and according to Andy, the groom, we live 1700 yards from the reception at Moor Hall Hotel We arrived before the guests of honour and enjoyed having characateurs of ourselves drawn by an artist and leaving video messages (these must have got funnier as the night wore on!). Elaine, being South African, is not used to the tradition of wearing hats at weddings and has always laughed at 'fascinators' previously but guess what? She went for it at this wedding! The following photo is especially for all of her friends!


The photographers eventually started marshalling the guests into the required formations for the group wedding shots and those of us not required spent our time hanging around on the professional's shoulders to get our own version of their shots! Here are Andy and Rachael with their two children Max and Ruby.


It was time for speeches and food so we took our seats and listened with interest. Always good to have a laugh before a good meal I say, though importantly there was a very serious side to both the groom and best man's speeches. Breast cancer has affected many people known to those of us in the room so the opportunity was taken to highlight what we could all do to help promote the fight against it, starting with a generous contribution from the groom. We would appreciate it if you all took a moment to visit Cancer Research UK to find out more.

The speeches were followed by a really good meal and the traditional dance! The free bar was an unexpected treat and really helped to get people in the mood for dancing. Not least Bas, who will be one of my best men next January, who treated us to his famous interpretation of 'Ice Ice Baby' and didn't leave the dance floor again! To say he was a bit sweaty by the end of the night would be an understatement! He finished a great night in the wee small hours shirtless and wearing an improvised tafetta tie!


Congratulations Mr and Mrs Jefferson!

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