An account of a long day yesterday, with a cousin’s wedding at its heart.
Yesterday a cousin of mine got married in Southend (where the couple live). Given the amount of travel involved in attending the wedding, my parents and I also decided to visit Wallasea Island, a wetland area/ bird reserve that has been created using spoil from the Elizabeth line, and which is more or less on the way.
OUTWARD BOUND
My father arrived to pick me up just before 9AM, and we then went into the centre of town to pick up my mother who had opted not to walk from their accommodation to my place, where the car was parked. Then we headed by various roads towards Wallasea Island. My parents car is not well suited to photography, but I managed to capture a few views of Ely Cathedral…
WALLASEA ISLAND
We saw hardly any of Wallasea Island in the end, and saw no exotic species during our time there, but I saw enough to be impressed.
ROCHFORD
We made a stop for refreshments at Rochford, just on the outskirts of Southend. The cafe we visited was excellent, and Rochford has a couple of interesting features.
The Rochford town map.
THE MAIN EVENT
There was one final problem before the main event. My sister and my nephew both also needed lifts from the centre of Southend to the actual venue, The Red Brick Barn, Sutton Hall, Rochford, and my parents car seats only four. In the end my sister and I were dropped at the venue first and then my parents went on to meet my nephew and bring him to the venue. The ceremony was followed by official photographs and then a meal. We left not long after six, with my parents having an early start the next day, and me not being a huge fan of big social occasions (it was still 9:30PM by the time we got to my place!).
These last pictures were taken during the official photograph session.Amand and Ed, the happy couple.
A MINIATURE RAILWAY
My sister reported seeing a railway carriage in the grounds, so I went to investigate, and while there was no actual rolling stock there was a station on a miniature railway.
A personal account of the wedding party for Rob and Olivia Yates, with lots of quality pics. Also, some important links at the end.
INTRODUCTION
I will start with a word of warning: this is going to be a very long post, as there is a lot to talk about and I have some fabulous pictures to share with you. Olivia Croft (now Yates) is a cousin of mine, which is why I was there.
THE PRELIMINARIES
Needing to arrive at Kegworth early enough for those who would be at the ceremony itself to travel on to Loughborough and arrive by 12 meant an early start. I was not at the ceremony and was assigned another task along with my nephew Zachary, which I have already written about in a previous post. After a schemozzle over room bookings, which worked out to my benefit since I ended up with a room to myself (they had messed up, so we got the extra room we needed at no further cost) it was time to deposit our bags in the rooms and make the short walk to the house where the party was taking place, next door to the Kegworth museum.
THE PARTY
Arriving at the venue the first arresting sight was a 1950s vintage Morris…
The Morris in all its glory
A very old style AA badge – this close up shot was gained much later than the shot of the car.
This is the time, before going on to the party itself to introduce my feature image, a montage of some of the many pictures I took through the day…
There was a Pimm’s table for those whose tastes run in that direction, although I ignored that and was then delighted to located cask beer (four kegs, each different). I went for something called Blue Monkey Infinity and it was delicious. There was a barbecue lunch which was excellent. It is now time for a brief diversion to…
THE FISH POND
The fish pond was quite simply magnificent, with a stunning variety of fish and an excellent rock garden…
PUNCH AND JUDY
At 4PM there was a Punch and Judy puppet show. I watched it all and got some good pictures. It seemed to appeal to its target audience, the children, but I was unimpressed to say the least…
OUTDOOR MUSIC
Early on in the day there was some live music outside in the sun, and helped to be the volume not being too ridiculously amped up it was actually quite pleasant from a distance…
THE SPEECHES
The speeches took place in the same area as the Punch and Judy, and with the exception of the opening salvo from Andy, the bride’s stepfather, none were particularly impressive…
The groom, who was also MC for the speeches.
Andy, giving the first speech.
The bride’s sister, flanked by Evie (blonde) and Libby (darker)
The groom’s father making his speech.
The groom’s brother at the mic.
The bride making her speech.
AN INTERLUDE – SOME GENERAL PICS
Before going on to mention the supper and my own departure from the event here are some pictures taken at various times through the day that don’t fit neatly into a particular section…
Each table in the marquee had floral displays on them, one of which featured this sunflower.
A full floral display.
My cousin Richard and his fiancee Ida – they will soon be off to her native Sweden.
Ida and Rachel, girlfriend of another of my cousins, Edward
Me and Richard
Serious rain in the early evening.
SUPPER AND TAKING MY LEAVE
Supper was fish (or sausage in my case) and chips, and it was delicious (give what my uncle had apparently paid for the hire of the chip van for the evening so it jolly well ought to have been). While I was eating it in the shelter of the marquee, the evening’s entertainment were warming up, and that was sufficient to persuade me that as it was no longer suitable weather for being outside it was time to return, since there was no way I could cope with that kind of music at that volume and accompanied by strobe lighting at close quarters.
The cake, which I did not get to see being cut.
These last two pics are of the evening’s entertainment making their preparations.
I had a fabulous day, and by departing early was able to keep the good memories untarnished. This concludes the main part of this post, but I also have some…
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