A lovely wedding for two lovely people

Last weekend Ben and I headed up to Durham for the wedding of a very good friend of mine.  We met when we were postgraduate students at Durham, and found out we'd even been at the same college for our undergraduate degrees.  We clicked straight away (she invited me up to her room for tea, escaping a rather dull drinks reception, what better offer is there than that?!) and lived together for two years during our time as PhD students.

We were staying at Ramside Hall Hotel, as that's where the reception was being held, and we fancied a bit of luxury for once.  It's a long drive from Sussex to Durham, and the combination of it being a Friday and very very wet meant it took us eight hours to get there.  Eight!  The staff members I spoke to were very lovely and friendly.  Our room was a double, and had the biggest bed I have ever slept in, a super king size.  It was so big we could both lie in it, roll over towards the middle, and there would still be space available!  We're not the best at sharing a bed and duvet at the best of times (at home we each have our own duvets on our king size bed) but this weekend we managed sharing one duvet with no problems.

An early start in the morning, the all-you-can-eat breakfast at £12.95 per person was a tad on the expensive side I thought, but there was a good variety of hot and cold food and hot and cold drinks, so we ate as much as we could manage!  Then back to our room to get all dressed up, the shower was excellent, very hot and with good pressure (for me, hotels can be judged entirely on their bathrooms, a good bathroom does make all the difference) and lovely soft fluffy towers.  We drove to the church, and there my lovely friend got married.  She looked absolutely stunning, the most beautiful bride I've seen.  There were quite a few people there I know from university, so we had a good catch up.

Back to Ramside for the reception, there were three wedding receptions happening that afternoon (as well as Cambridge United FC turning up before their match) and the staff were very efficient and helpful in making sure all the guests attended the right one!  Champagne and canapes were followed by speeches and the wedding breakfast; I liked the speeches being first, as it meant the speakers were relaxed during the meal.

Wedding favours

Place settings

Our table of eight was great fun, laughing and chatting and generally getting on really well.  The meal (the sticky toffee pudding with white chocolate ice cream was excellent) was followed by a short break of an hour or so before the reception, which was held in the golf club.  An excellent live band, good company, good drinks, a very very happy couple.

As a pre-wedding present I had crocheted some bunting for them, which I knew had been hanging up in their flat.  I was very pleased to then see it gracing the top table!

Wedding bunting

Rachel and Graeme, thank you for inviting us to your wedding, and we wish you all the very, very best for the future xxx