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We arrived at the Orchard first, followed by the other wedding cars. The Orchard coordinater - Sarah - met us by the car as we stepped out and congratulated us. The weather was holding out - patchy clouds - so things were looking good. We walked into the Orchard itself, and the few people outside watched us as we made our way to the roped-off section underneath a large apple tree for the reception drinks. Glasses of sparkling wine were thrust into our hands. The bus bringing people from town had obviously arrived as 50 people streamed around the corner into the Orchard. It was an amazing sight! We started walking out of the roped-off section to go and meet people, but as they were all streaming in one after the other and queuing for the drinks, it turned into a pseudo receiving line! Ah well. We greeted and shooks hands/kissed and we generally mingled with the crowds. Before too long, it as time to get the photos done. The two ushers, Martin and Daron, did a sterling job getting all the people into the right shot, and the photographer seemed happy with the results (many "This is the shot of the century"s from him). The final set of photos we wanted done down by the river with the wedding crew. Unfortunately none of us knew quite which way to get to the particular meadow the photographer wanted to use without climbing over several styles. Not easy with Katherine's dress! At one point we came up from a lane and ended up facing the church. There were some random people walking past, so Penny, quick as a flash, said "At last! We've found the church!". Much laughter from the crew. The photographer finally remembered how to get there, so we all trooped off and found the spot he was after. There were quite a few students down there - I think they'd punted up there from Cambridge - but we didn't get in their way, and they didn't get in our way. A few more photos, and we saw Martin striding across a field with a tray of drinks for us - "I've had to climb over three styles with this tray!" were his first words to us. A pint of Woodforde's Wherry for all then. Nice. It gave the photographer an opportunity to take a few more casual shots with the beers, and then we all walked back. A few shots of us doing a mock-cake cutting and then we were free to chat to people in the Orchard (who all seemed to have gone to the tea shop to buy some scones and tea!) - we had an hour before we were going to be sitting down for the meal. As ever, the time went all too quickly, and the guests were ushered into the dining room, awaiting our entrance. Percy introduced us into the room, and it was amazing - first hearing "Mr and Mrs Probert" and then hearing the noise as people whooped and cheered us into the room. Katherine's Godmother's husband (Godfather-in-law?) said grace, we sat down and the food was brought out to us. The food, I must say, was absolutely amazing! Everyone loved it. I was a little nervous (I don't know if it was nerves about my speech, Katherine's dad's speech or both!), so couldn't eat much. Before the desserts were brought out, we went and cut the cake. Then it was time for the speeches. Katherine's dad was first - and what a hilarious speech it was. I've not heard him speak in public before, and I was impressed. Everyone loved the speech. He proposed a toast to us at the end of it, and then it was my turn. It's difficult to know if people are being polite or they did enjoy the speech, but people said they liked it. You can read it here. After the toast to the bridesmaids, I introduced the Best Man, Percy. You can read his speech here. What can you say? Classic Percy. (Cheers bloke!). Time for the after dinner entertainment. Katherine and I wandered around, trying to speak to the people who arrived for the evening do. The dinner had run on a bit, so they were arriving before the band had started setting up. It's difficult making sure that you manage to speak to most people - unfortunately it's not easy, so I think we missed quite a few people. we hope they didn't mind. The band started up, and after much hassle from people saying "why aren't you two dancing?" and us going "there is no first dance, just get up there!", people started to move to the dancefloor. We didn't spend much time on the dancefloor as we wanted to speak to people (and we're not terribly good at dancing!), but people said good things about the band. Towards the end, things got a little hazy - not through drink, but because the time just flew by! I remember looking at my watch and thinking "Great, it's 9.30. We've got loads of time". And then the next time I checked my watch, it was 11 o'clock! 15 minutes before the taxi was meant to whisk us away! We wizzed around and said our goodbyes to as many as we could. Sarah spoke to the band, who got all the guests onto the dancefloor and got people to make an arch. Because there were so many, the arch weaved its way across the dancefloor. With the band playing, we crouched through this long archway and said goodbye to people as we walked passed them. As we walked out of the function room and looked back, people were waving through the doorway. It was a surreal experience, seeing all these people saying goodbye. Some came out to the carpark with us, and waved the taxi off. We looked back and there was a tinge of sadness - neither of us particularly wanted to leave at that point, but if we didn't, we wouldn't have left on such a high. We probably would have been the last to leave! What a day! One we'll never forget. |