Daniel and Becky's Wedding

A week ago I wrote about the run-up to the wedding. A busy week, though it was so good to spend time with both my sons, and also good to get acquainted with Becky's family.

So, Saturday morning dawned... sunny, and not too cold. Just as well, since my outfit wasn't particularly warm, and I really didn't want to have to wear tights. Around 10.30 we drove to the house where Daniel has been living... he seemed quite relaxed:


It wasn't until we'd been there about half an hour or so that I noticed that he had shaved off his beard!

Around 11.45 we departed, to have lunch with my three siblings and their families near the Cathedral, leaving Daniel in the hands of his two 'best men': Tim and Euan.

By the time we arrived at St James' Church, around 1.20 or so, Daniel had - as another friend put it - scrubbed up nicely:


As the extended family arrived, he was happy to sit and chat:


Gradually the church filled up. In addition to the family, plus a very few long-term family friends (such as godparents) there were several of Daniel and Becky's colleagues and church friends from Carlisle, most of whom had had some part in preparing for their special day. There were also a few ex-Doulos friends who had been able to come for the weekend.

Shortly before 2.00, Daniel and his best men sat in the chairs put out for them in front of the pews:


John, the Vicar, chatted with them, then went to check that Becky had indeed arrived. He came back to report to Daniel that there was a reason for him to be there... and as the music started for the entrance of the bridesmaids and bride, he, Tim and Euan stood up to await them:


The camera was rolling, the Vicar ready, Euan and Tim mildly curious to see how the girls would be dressed... and Daniel had a wonderful look of anticipation on his face!

Becky's brother and his wife are worship pastors at a church in Canada; they had agreed to lead all the singing in the service, and did so competently on guitar and piano.

It was, of course, Daniel and Becky's day. But I couldn't help a tinge of extra pride when Tim read - extremely well - the passage they had asked for, the classic one about love from 1 Corinthians 13.


The sermon followed... we all wondered what was going on at first, since John simply sat in his chair, as if waiting for someone else. But it quickly became apparent that it was part of his talk... when he eventually stood up (the pause was probably no more than a minute, though it felt very long) his opening words were, 'Love is patient!'

He spoke very well, directed towards the happy couple, and was refreshingly brief. Then came the most important part of the ceremony. Earlier in the service Daniel and Becky had given their consent ("I will") to his questions. Now they had to make their vows and give each other rings:


After that, John invited them to 'greet each other in a culturally appropriate way'. But it didn't feel appropriate to take a photo at that point...

Then came the legal requirement, that of signing the registers in the vestry. In fountain pen. First Daniel:


Then Becky:


Tim and one of the bridesmaids were the official witnesses.

After that, we all went out in formation, returned briefly so that a group photo could be taken from the balcony, and then outside for many more official and unofficial photos. Here's one of Becky with her three bridesmaids:


The bride and groom then left with the official photographer for some more pictures around Carlisle, and the rest of us gradually made our way to the community hall where the reception was held, about ten miles away from the church. There was plenty of time to greet people we knew, and be introduced to some we didn't know. There was a table for any presents that had been brought to the ceremony, and - an idea I had never seen before - a table with cards for people to write special messages, if they wished.


Food started being served around 6.00pm, beginning with soup, followed by spit-roast lamb and other alternatives, and a wide variety of salads. All produced by one of Daniel's colleagues who used to be a chef. Desserts were many and varied, brought by several of Dan and Becky's friends. Then it was time for speeches and toasts:



Richard managed to record the second part of Daniel's speech (most of which was taken up with thanking everyone) and all of Tim's, which was deliberately brief. Rather echo-ey, but here it is anyway:

Then the tables were cleared and pushed to the sides, and it was time for the evening ceilidh. Daniel and Becky were invited to open it with a special waltz, but although they'd been primed by Euan, their minds apparently went blank and he had to take to the floor too before they got started:

That was followed by a standard and very enjoyable barn dance. Several guests had to leave around 8.00 to get home, but there were a good number who stayed to dance until the taxi arrived about 11.00 to take them to their honeymoon destination. By then they had changed into ordinary clothes, so the band got the rest of us to make an archway to see them off!

All in all, a wonderful day. I don't quite know how my firstborn can be old enough to get married... twenty-four-and-a-half years seem to have gone in the blink of an eye. But we're delighted that he's found such a lovely girl, and hope and pray that their marriage will be happy and fulfilled.

Out of Cyprus, Day Three. Birmingham ArtsFest

The reason we flew to Birmingham last week was that Tim was singing, with the Bournville Young Singers (formerly Bournville Children's Choir) in a couple of concerts in Birmingham ArtsFest. Otherwise, he might have stayed a bit longer in Cyprus.

So on Saturday, we dropped him - in our borrowed car - at the Friends' Meeting House, for a rehearsal, then drove into Town. Parking was easy enough near the Post Box (we even remembered to go a little way down the hill, near the Registry Office, where we could park for four hours at 2.50 rather than two hours at 5 pounds!).

Birmingham City Centre is looking much smarter than it used to, since the renovations in recent years. It was fairly crowded, too, but not overly so at 10am. We looked in a few shop windows, including one specialist board games shop, where we saw our favourite games in the window.

The most important thing to do was to buy our train ticket, to get down to Sussex on the 24th. Previous attempts at doing buy train tickets on-line have not worked, but leaving it to the last minute is also not a good idea, since prices soar within a week of travelling.

The girl in the information centre was very helpful, and the price was extremely good, although Richard is puzzled as to how the route works. I'm sure we'll figure that out nearer the time.

Next stop - after browsing several other places nearby - was Primark, a large and inexpensive clothes shop that we usually visit when in Birmingham. We needed a few more shirts and one or two other things, and ended up with a little more than we intended, since I really like the turquoise that seems to be one of this year's Autumn colours.

By this time it was nearly 11.30, so we wandered back to the location of the first concert (due to start at noon), looking for somewhere to have coffee. We were pleased to see a Costa coffee place inside Waterstones, just around the corner from the Pallisades ramp, right next to the concert location. So we popped in there for some cappuccinos, and a chance to sit down.


We went outside again just before twelve, and saw the choir assembling. Richard got out the video camera, and then we were delighted to see some old friends who stopped by to say hello.

The choir did well, amidst traffic noises, with a fair audience gathered around by the end.


They then hurried off to their second location, while we decided to have a sandwich, and sit down again for twenty minutes. We found a Pret a Manger restaurant which had organic, additive-free sandwiches at surprisingly reasonable prices, and bought a slightly odd rhubarb drink. The food was extremely good.

Then we went down the pedestrianised New Street (very different from how it used to be):


The sky was still blue. This is one of the old council buildings - the museum, perhaps? I never know which is which - contrasting with the ArtsFest booths (in white) and a modern looking stage (in black).


Then I had to take a picture of the Central Library. When we first moved to Cyprus, I missed the libraries so much. Tim has made good use of them since living in Birmingham, and visits the huge Central Library about once a month as well as using the local library, and, of course, his university one.


We had thought the second Bournville Young Singers concert would be outside, but eventually found them inside the library plaza (which I believe is called Paradise Place now):


Again, they did very well, despite one of the girls being overcome by the heat part-way through. Richard left me to go and pay for some more parking time for the car, since our four hours were nearly through, which meant I had the video camera. About two-thirds of the way through the concert, the battery - which we hadn't fully charged - gave up. And Richard had the spare one with him.

So I whipped out the still camera, and took two minutes of the barbershop group on the video setting, until the disc space ran out. We later realised we had left the main video camera lead in Cyprus, so the only one we've been able to upload so far is this brief section of the barbershop song.

I've never before embedded a video in a blog post, but will see if I can do so:



It wasn't until a few hours later that I realised that the song they are singing - some tavern song, apparently - is the same tune as 'Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes'!

After the concert we went out into the sunshine again:


But had no problems resisting the lure of the Monarch-sponsored 'beach' set up right outside the library:



Tim wanted to buy his student bus pass for the next year, so we went to the appropriate place. Unfortunately he discovered that he didn't have all the necessary paperwork, so that was no good. We then went into the Apple Mac shop, in a different mall, so Richard and Tim could look at the various computers and other technology for a while.

We had a brief look into several of the ArtsFest booths as we wandered around, and stopped for a while to watch some break-dancing, and an act with someone made up to look like a statue. There was a lot going on, but we didn't go deliberately to any other events. We had a programme, but it wasn't exactly easy to follow!

We finally got back, pretty tired, about 5pm. I took out all our Primark purchases:


Not bad for about 33 pounds. This lot would have been a LOT more expensive in Cyprus.