Bluebells

The weather forecast was for rain, and yes it was accurate.  We awoke to a very dark rand wet morning.  Not the best, as we were going to a wedding.  We didn’t rush, but we made ourselves go out for a wander in the rain.  It wasn’t too heavy by the time we went out and it did go off for a little while.  We knew we wouldn’t be getting fed until after 5pm, so we went for an early lunch – soup and a sandwich to keep us going.  We both remarked on how nice it was.  It was then back to the hotel to get ourselves ready and to meet a couple of TT’s colleagues who were also staying in our hotel as e were travelling together.  When the taxi arrived it was really pouring.  We all made it into the car without getting too wet thankfully.  We were at the venue in about fifteen minutes which was quicker than we expected. 
 
We had to walk from the drop off point to the venue, which wasn’t too far, and thankfully the rain had eased off a bit.  However, the sole of TT’s colleague’s shoe came off.  Disaster.  Luckily the venue found some duct tape and strapped it up for him.  It didn’t look great, but it did the job.  We met up with more friends and glasses of fizz appeared – just as well we had had that early lunch.  However we were quite quickly ushered into the ceremony as the bride didn’t want to be kept waiting.  She was very emotional, and was on the verge of tears throughout the whole ceremony.  The rain was thundering down throughout the ceremony.  Someone said it was good luck.  They will have buckets full of luck given the rain.
 
Once the ceremony was done there were some photos, and they risked an outside group shot.  The afternoon just disappeared as we chatted and enjoyed some more fizz and canapes.  They cut the cake (made of cheese) and then they had the speeches before the meal, which I think is very sensible.  The meal was delicious and very informal, with lots of sharing platters.  Later there was dancing and even later they served cheese and biscuits alongside a traditional wedding cake made by the groom’s mothers.  As the rain wasn’t very heavy we risked a walk around the grounds at around 9pm.  We were at a wedding in exactly the same venue last summer on a very hot and sunny day, so went to check out the walled garden.  The rain stopped while we were out, and there even seemed to be some brightness appearing.  However, it was too late after a day of rain.
 
I’m always amazed at how quickly the time goes at weddings, and before we knew it, we were waiting on our taxi back to the hotel; after a really lovely day.
 
I spotted these bluebells when TT and I went out for our late evening walk.  It was very dull and although the light was failing it was probably the brightest part of the whole day.