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Diary - 7 weeks to go!
A bicylce made for two - ahhhhhh, isn't that cute?
Date: 22-03-03
Katherine has been really excited about this weekend ever since we had a go of our
neighbour's tandem. Ok, I've been excited, too, but Katherine moreso I think.
Before that, though, we had a wander around Cardiff this morning to check out some
vases and vase bases for the table centre display and some waist coats for me (the hired
suite comes with one, but it would be nice to have one slightly different from the rest
of the male wedding crew). After a bit of wandering around the
Pier we managed to find something we
liked for the vases. We'll have to check them out with the florist tomorrow.
Finding some waist coats proved more difficult, though. Not many places seem to do them
for formal suits. Or not at this time of year, at least. We did find one I liked, but the
shop only hires them out as part of a suit. You can't hire them out on their own or even buy
them!. I can't understand why, and they didn't seem to want to give me a reason. How annoying.
We wandered around a bit more and tried a few places with large selections of "gentleman's
attire", but came out empty handed. Oh well, look like I'll be wearing the waist coat that
the others will be wearing.
The afternoon was more exciting, though, as we headed down to
St. John Street Cycles in Bridgewater
to check out some tandems. They're tandem specialists - one our neighbours bought their
tandem from them a few years ago - and we know they're good because Katherine bought her
custom Thorn Audax from them three years ago (pretty much on this weekend, which is quite
spooky). In fact, the person showing us the frames and taking us through the options was the
same person who sold the Audax to Katherine. Chosing the frame (Thorn Explorer), upgrades and
optional extras wasn't too difficult. The major headache came to chosing the colour. In the
end (after a wander up and down the street and getting an ice cream) we plumped for metallic
Cobalt Blue. Nice. All in all, we were there for about three hours. I think they got their
money's worth out of us, though! The bike should be with us within a month or so. Blimey!
We were thinking that the bike was going to be a present for the two of us, but one couple
have already expressed an interest in giving us a donation towards it as a wedding present.
So we've decided to open it up to the rest of you - check out the
Funky presents page.
We had some more RSVPs through today. More "no"s. Looks like we're going to have to resend
most of the evening invitations to promote them!
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What's taking you so long?
Date: 21-03-03
The RSVPs seem to be trickling in at the moment. Some days we get two, others none. Today was
one of the former. The numbers are steadily growing, but it would be nice if people responded
a bit quicker. You see, this morning we sent out the rest of the invites - people who,
unfortunately due to numbers and funds, we could only invite to the church and the evening part
of the reception. We've left it this late to send these invites out as it gave other people
invited to the whole thing time to reply - if they can't come, then we can promote some of
the "evening" people to "all-dayers".
Having had only one "Sorry, can't make it" so far, we though that we weren't going to be able
to promote anyone. Until today. If only people had replied sooner! It means sending out another
lot of invitations now!
On a more positive note, Katherine's dad has ordered the beer (good man!) and Penny's dress
is back in at the dress shop after some alterations. It's a shame neither of us had the time
to go and pick it up before we headed down to Cardiff to see her this evening! Ah well. She'll
have to wait, like Katherine's still having to for her dress.
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More invites!
Date: 20-03-03
These, I hope, will be the last of the invites to write. Not too many for this sitting,
though.....10 or so? I can't say we counted.
We managed to get through to the photographer on the phone - her email account just bounces
the mails back at the moment. We've arranged to meet her a week Saturday at the Orchard, and
then we're going to head over to the church and show her around inside to see where it's best
to take shots during (if it's allowed) and after the service.
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Honeymoon - nearly finished!
Date: 19-03-03
Finally got around to phoning one of the hotels we're staying at for the honeymoon
about hire cars - the only thing left to organise there. They'd sent us a quote for a
car if we got them to organise one for us, but it was a bit on the steep side. She gave me
the details of the company and I checked out the website. I managed to get a much more
reasonable quote by selecting a smaller car. I just need to phone them up
at some point to ask about all the extras they normally charge - extra driver, excess
reduction etc. Nearly there, though.
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Order of service
Date: 16-03-03
A nice relaxing start to the day at the hotel, and a massive cooked breakfast. It was
nice to have a bit of time in the afternoon to faff and talk to the neighbours for a bit.
We even managed to have a go at our neighbours tandem (we're thinking of buying one)
which was all rather scarey.
We rang a 1/4 peal with some other friends to celebrate Kath and Chris's wedding and then
we headed over to our church to speak to the vicar about the order of service - the only
major thing left to organise I think.
The problem we've been having with the OoS is which hymns and reading to have. We were
going along the lines of two readings and three hymns surrounding the marriage ceremony,
the address from the vicar and signing of the register. All well and good if you can choose
yourself three hymns and two readings! So many of the readings look "perfect", and we can
only think of two hymns that everyone will be able to join in. All of our favourite ones
are quite modern, and we don't want to be two in a handful of other people who know it.
The vicar pointed towards an OoS with five hymns and one reading which he said was very much
a "rough outline". Hmmmmm.....we'd have to choose another two hymns!
After a bit of chatting we came out with an OoS that we were all happy with with three hymns
and one reading. The reading will form the basis for the address, which sounds good - this
vicar is a good preacher. We finally chose the third hymn - this was quite a difficult
choice as we wanted something "different", but not so different that only a handful of
the congregation will know the tune to. The one we chose is fairly modern, but it's a very
easy tune to pick up.
All that's left to decide now is what's going on while we're signing the register - the music
director can help us here.
It was quite weird flicking through the wording for the actuall marriage part - seeing all
the "I will"s, the vows and the "I now pronounce you..." bits. It feels even more real now.
And we can't wait. 7 weeks, 6 days and counting.
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