A Wedding

Bill's cousin Michael married his fiance Chris last month.  We've enjoyed their company since they moved up from Norfolk a couple of years ago.  I understood this to be so Mike could be nearer his elderly mother who passed away in June.  It turns out that Chris had lived in Newcastle before and her daughter lives less than a mile away from us.  I've shown you their amazing house.  I had no doubt the wedding would be awesome as well.

One of Chris's sisters manages a small B&B at Meathop Fell. 

The wedding filled the hotel, including the cabins but fortunately there was a caravan park within a few hundred yards of the hotel.  We got a lift to Kendal with Chris's best friend (whose name I was always going to remember, but  {poof!} it's gone). 

Chris's best friend, from Sheffield.

I thought she looked amazing; I fell in love with her shawl.   Though Chris and this lady apparently go back a long way, we learned that Chris seemingly makes friends at the drop of a hat and keeps them for years.  How many people do you know who are good friends with the folks they sold their house to? 

Mike and Chris were married in the Kendal Register Office.  This is a second marriage for them both and I've never seen a happier couple.

Like many weddings, it was a veritable fashion show. 

Everyone was decked out in their best frocks and suits except for me, I wore slacks.  Always the odd one out... 

Never mind, I'm American, so what can you expect? 

I love the custom of the speeches at the wedding dinner; one learns so much about the bride and groom! 

Chris's handsome son gave a speech in which he claimed that Mike 'had the patience of a saint'. 



The room where we had dinner was exquisite.

In addition to being a lovely sight to behold, Stephen turned out to be a really gifted speaker and we all had loads of laughs. 



A corner of the cake: made by Chris, decorated by Mike.

Mike followed up with his own speech which was also hilarious. 

Turns out they met through a computerised dating agency.  Mike, who has worked in computing in the past, said he wasn't much impressed with their software:  he asked for a woman who liked books, cars, quiet evenings at home, no children or pets. 



Chris's dress was cream coloured silk with embroidery down
the front, worn with a little chiffon shrug. Beautiful.

What he got was Chris, a major extrovert who loves to cook, drink wine and entertain; with two grown children, two (now one) very large, elderly dogs and a big black cat (black cats are considered good luck in England, by the way).   Mike said his alcohol consumption has definitely increased and he's developed a lot of patience with children and pets.  One can see he's got more than he bargained for, but sometimes that's a very good thing.  He has a rather busy, chaotic (except that Chris is incredibly organised) home life and he seems really content.

Some lovely friends of Michael, our dinner companions.   Her jacket
was hand woven to specification in India.  She asked for peacock colours
and it suits her perfectly.

Bill's other cousin Kathleen and her husband Bobby were keen to see our motor home. 

We've since all met up at Michael's 60th birthday party and they will all be here for Thanksgiving, so in some measure Chris has rather enlivened all our lives. 

The happy couple.  Even the weather was glorious!