No.17

      Caleb is older than Phoebe by a grand 3 minutes! Yes, I can let you visualise for a moment , if you like, how my labour went......
         When he got to about two , he hadn't spoke much at all, in fact he had said a few words, but then seemed to lose them again. I knew, having had three children before, that this wasn't just a 'twin thing' as some people kindly tried to reassure me and eventually, by the age of three, took him to the Doctor so we could look in to what was going on.
    Within 20 minutes of being with a special speech therapist in a unit in Aberdeen, she told us that he didn't understand speech! Now there was a shock to the system.
     It all made sense really, you could come in to a room while he was glued to the TV, staring intently and say to his back a few times "Caleb, we're going in the car". He wouldn't respond at all, but if you shook the bunch of car keys, he would jump round and allow you to pop his jacket on and off we would go.
      Amazingly 'Mr Tumble' from Cbeebies was our saving grace. I came in to the living room one day to hear Caleb, my little mute child, singing the whole of the theme tune a long to Mr Tumble the clown who did Makaton, a sign language specially developed for people with special needs...it was incredible!
         Since that point, Caleb has learnt to speak through the help of Makaton and visual aids and to see him now, though he is a year behind his 'younger' sister, you really wouldn't know that he has this problem. In fact he has just been chosen as a national finalist for a competition where he had to write about a person that inspired him and we should be heading off to Glasgow on June 16th for the finals!
           I had been e-baying last week and bought a dress that I thought would just about manage to squeeze in to my ever expanding wardrobe...well, Phoebe's ever expanding wardrobe! When it arrived I noticed a little disclaimer on the delivery note that said ' you might want to pin the cleavage as it can gape a little'.
   When I tried it on , I laughed to myself, thinking that the poor last owner mustn't have had as magnificent a bosom as me. It fitted wonderfully with no gaping and I was very chuffed at my £4 bargain.
   On the morning of Ryan and Samantha's wedding it was chucking it down, I mean real straight up and down, ploppy rain. I had been up early getting Kim and Robert's blog done, only to realise that not only did Phoebe have her 'Wizard of Oz' rehearsals at school, but I had run out of bread, milk, cereal and chewy bars, the main staples of the Wiseman children's diet. After a quick shower, I dropped Phoebe off at school and ran through the rain to Tesco, thankful that I hadn't dried my hair and only hoping that added rainwater would add an extra conditioning factor to my just washed locks.
         I got home with plenty of time to dry the rain off and transform myself in to a wedding guest!
As you know I try to get a picture of myself in my outfit for all of you people in Blog land and it is a constant bug bear to my older sons, who hate this task. Usually Caleb and Phoebe are up at Grandma's by the time I get ready but this day, they had decided to stay at home so I thought I'd get Caleb to do the deed.
   I walked in to the living room and did a twirl...." How do I look?", I asked him.
He scrutenised me  for a minute and  with a totally serious face said " You look like Elsa from Frozen" and then went back to watching TV.
    Me, me? I look like Elsa? Every little girl's dream? This was fantastic....my son is a total genius!

Despite the washing basket at my feet, he managed to take a pretty good picture and we waited for our friend Lorna and her daughter Hayley to pick us up.
        We arrived at the Springs where we were getting a bus to Fyvie castle and the windscreen wipers were going full pelt. We watched Jillian holding a huge umbrella trying to shelter guests as they ran through the rain to get on to the bus and contemplated waiting a few minutes to see if the rain would die down a little.....well, it didn't....I wrapped my pashmina over my head and ran to the bus door.
      After a sponge down with a few hankies, we were all setting off for Fyvie where thankfully it eased up a bit everyone could disembark without wedding hair getting ruined.

   Nine years ago, almost to the day, Robin did his sixth wedding ever for Scott and Nina and I remember standing in the shower that morning, with the deafening sound of rain on the velux window above me and the amazing sound of thunder. It was a fantastic day and the photographer, Iain Bain, took beautiful shots of them down at Duff House reflected in the puddles, very clever.
   Our own wedding day started the same way and it didn't phase me at all. There is something wonderful about rain falling and watering the earth, a real sign of growth and blessing. When you see the word 'rain' in the Bible, it is nearly always in conjunction with God's blessings being poured out  with love to make things grow.
     The ceremony was slightly delayed as the bride and a few of her party needed an urgent toilet stop, and as you can imagine, getting to the loo with your splendid wedding dress on can be no simple task, maybe it was all that water that set them off!
      Ryan came in, looking very smart in his kilt,  and patted his heart as he smiled at his friends and went to the front to wait for Samantha to arrive.
   I was sitting in amongst some of their friends and while waiting could hear a comment behind me as they read through the order of service...
"Robin Wiseman?....is he not that guy who was on dancing on ice?"
   Obviously with my Elsa dress on, Robin and make the perfect pairing....
        Samantha came in on her Dad's arm, looking beautiful. Her dress was strapless, diamante and jewel encrusted the whole way down her bodice and swept out at the bottom , with her veil flowing right to the end of her train. Many of her friend's welled up with tears, as they have known Samantha from school and she is rarely seen out of jeans and a football shirt...what a transformation.
        We heard how they had met when  Mr Ainslie, the maths teacher put them together in class. Six years later, here they were taking their vows in this wonderful setting. As Robin said, that wasn't the part that mattered, as beautiful as it was, the important fact was that they were making this commitment before God and all their family and friends.
          Two years ago our daughter Ellie married Conor, the love of her life and there were many who questioned them making this commitment at such a young age. Like Samantha and Ryan, they have the whole hearted love and support of both their families and they know that they can turn to any of us at any time. Sometimes it's right to wait and sometimes, you just know that this is the person you want to be in it for the long haul with, no matter what life brings, so it was lovely to see how relaxed and happy both couples were on this hugest of days.
          Champagne and canapes were served in the 'Raquet court' round the back of the castle and we enjoyed a seat and chatting with friends as the rain held off for some photos to be taken.
   It was only then that I glanced down at my dress and saw that, indeed, the cleavage did gape, quite a bit! I managed to pull it together and after a quick visit to the ladies to sort my tights that were slowly sliding down to my thighs, I managed to avert another outfit disaster.

    Ronnie and Helen, Ryan's Granda and Grandma, live just over the road from us and it was great to spend time with them and the family on this special day. We managed to catch Ryan when Samantha was off getting her pictures taken, for a quick pic with the Vicar.

     The bus hadn't arrived when we walked back round at setting off time but the oyster catcher was still in residence, in it's flower planter, allowing me a good close up...must be getting used to it's celebrity status.

The rain came on again as we all waited and it was lovely to see folks sharing umbrellas and offering coats to protect delicate fabrics and fabulous hairdos.

We had a lovely bus ride back to the Springs, both agreeing that when the time comes to get our free bus passes, we will have a great life travelling about , with someone else to do the driving!

      Back in Banff and seated in the bar with friends John and Brenda, we noted that the ground was totally dry in Banff, not a puddle to be seen...the rain had followed us to Fyvie obviously.

     As there were 200 guests, the function suite was full to capacity and we were sitting with a table who's name I can't pronounce. They were all named after ski resorts, as Ryan and Samantha are keen skiers, so as I sat down and saw the icy trees with crystal snowflakes, I knew that my dress was the perfect choice.

The cake was magnificent too, a structural work of art and the new Mrs and Mrs West were announced through and did a quick cut before sitting down.

We had some lovely company at our table, especially a fellow medical receptionist ( who wishes to remain nameless!) , who I had loads in common with as we chatted about the difficulties of making people believe how kind hearted and sweet we receptionists can be!

     Ian, Samantha's Dad, spoke of how welcome Ryan was to the family and how close he and Beverly are to Elaine and Derek, Ryan's parents. Robin and I have a great relationship with Ellie's in-laws, Lorna and Simon and I know what a difference this can make for family harmony.

     The staff were fantastic, managing the large number of guests with ease and it was great to see Robert back from his holidays as he has been absent from the last few weddings. I had to ask him about a Face Book post he had put up where he and his partner got off a train on their trip away and realised that they had the wrong case. Someone had got off earlier taking their case, which was almost identical, instead. On opening the bag they discovered that it was full of Bibles!! This made them quite hopeful that the offender, obviously a God fearing individual, would get Robert's designer gear back to them safely, but sadly the Bible smuggler preferred Robert's Prada shirts to God's word as the case has never been returned!

         A bit late in schedule, the band, Karmarockets, who had been brought up specially from Edinburgh, started to set up as we were having a lovely cup of tea and we all cleared out to let the staff set up for the dance.

       Robin's 99th wedding was Grant and Christine and it was fantastic to see them and Riley their son come in for the evening, especially as Christine is due a little brother or sister for Riley in the late summer. Riley insisted it was going to be a sister and told me all about the baby he had see in " Mummy's fat tummy".

       The rain stayed off for a few more family shots with the Banff links in the background and I managed to get Ryan and Samantha to pose for me. I was scared I might not get a photo of them together as the day had been so busy.

 A splendid sparkling white, Frozenesque, dancefloor had been put in place and I tried to get a picture but was photobombed by these two ladies ( Jillain and Louise) who took 30 seconds out of their busy day for a quick picture.

 The Grand march got in to full swing...

...and after the happy couple danced to 'Thinking out loud' , sang beautifully by the band, everyone joined in and the dance floor was full from the very start.
         After a bit of a boogie, we found Ryan and said our farewells to everyone, thanking them for a fantastic day and allowing us to be with them for it all.
    The rain didn't dampen this special day in any way at all. And I can be sure that it signified the huge blessing on the new Mr and Mrs West's life. A bit like Elsa would say..."The cold doesn't bother me anyway". x

     
     
     
I

No 16

Robin has put on some weight since he gave up being a postman two and a half years ago and decided to go full time, doing what he does now. When I say weight gain, the last time he went for his asthma check the nurse didn't say anything, she just handed him a print out with a graph of his weight over the last few years and the little line was heading steadily up the page
     Now you'd think it would be simple to just cut back a bit on the intake and increase the activity, but as we all know, the theory isn't as easy as it sounds.
       He decided to join a yoga class, buying himself new shorts and t-shirt oh and the trainers of course, because we all need new yoga trainers eh? This activity lasted one week. The class was on a Wednesday morning and he got a funeral every Wednesday for the next 5  weeks! Thankfully he didn't buy the new yoga mat he was planning on.
   Next came the swimming trunks. Now as you know I am an avid swimmer and nothing would make me happier than to see Robin come along for a cruise up and down the pool together. Needless to say, the dookers ( swim wear!) have stayed in the drawer with their tags on and Robin remains untouched by chlorine.
    I have a few 'best friends', all with different connections that have added and grown over the years to develop strong and firm friendships that will last the trials of time. Karen is one of these lovely ladies and we have known each other for the last 14 years or so since she and her family moved to Macduff.
     Karen and I don't need 'gear', we have experimented over the years with various activities. We've done Qigong ( a bit like Tai Chi) , swimming and  walking.
        We joined the gym in Turriff , went once for our induction  and then decided it really wasn't our thing, only to be reminded by the kind people at the pool every time we went swimming , that we hadn't completed our induction process yet, as it kept flagging up on the computer screen. I eventually looked the guy in the eyes and said ," that is never going to happen" and I think they removed it after that, as no-one has ever broached the subject again.
   Last week, Karen and I started to 'walk run'. This is an interesting activity where you start off walking with your friend and when the coast is clear of dog walkers or other pedestrians, you jog to the next bin or suitable object that's within view, then you walk again. We managed to get from the Banff links car park to Whitehills  and back without anyone seeing us run. It's a bit like being an exercise ninja, very exciting!
       Karen is not only my 'let's try something new' friend, she is my 'best friend with five kids' and not only that but my 'best friend with twins'.
          We met outside the nursery doors waiting for our kids, Dylan and James to come out and Karen's twin boys Bailley and Riley, who were only two at the time were attacked, in an affectionate kind of way, by Jake my middle son, who was 18 months. After the initial fear had worn off, they became best of pals as did Karen and I, especially as I was pregnant with twins at the time and wanted any advice on how to cope with what the future had ahead for us.
     Robert and Kim have twins, Miller and Indie, as well as their big sister Abbi. When I met Robert in the foyer of the Springs yesterday he was holding two and a half year old Miller in his arms as he had been baby sitting the night before so Kim could relax and and enjoy the preparations for her big day.
        I stood with Robin and we imagined having to organise a wedding when our twins were that age and we both agreed that it would've been more likely to have been a divorce in our case! Such were the stresses of having three children in nappies for the first few years and all the madness in between.
          It's only been a few weeks since we'd been there, but things had changed at the Springs. Jillian was very excited to show me the , finally completed, toilets in the function suite. Apparently the owner, Kenny, had been up till 1am doing the finishing touches. I had to go through for a tour and was very impressed indeed. They even had those turbo boost hand dryers that make your skin move on your hands ( well if you are nearly 50 it does!)

After my pulse settled down, I settled in to my seat and watched the Ogston/ Foubister connection filter in and take their seats.

         Abbi and Indie came in ahead of the bridesmaids holding hands, looking gorgeous in their little dresses with bows to match the raspberry pink of Kim's wedding colours. Indie took a second thought to the whole idea of walking down the aisle with her big sister and turned back to find her Mum. She was eventually whisked down to the front by Grandma and Kim came in on her Dad's arm , holding Miller's hand and looking stunning in her beautiful strapless taffeta dress with sliver embroidery around the bodice.

        All went well in the ceremony, with Kim and Robert both being totally relaxed and managing a wonderful hand fasting involving the whole family. After the vows, as is Robin's way, he added a few extra promises, asking Robert if he will promise to get off the sofa and help Kim out with the kids more and asking Kim if she would promise to stop talking for a minute and let Robert get a word in edgeways! 

        They finally kissed and walked up the aisle as Mr and Mrs Foubister for the first time.

It was a lovely sunny day and the bridal party headed off to Boyndie, just a few miles away , where they have beautiful gardens, to get their photos taken. The photographer was Debbie Walker and amazingly this as about the fourth time in as many weeks that we have been doing the same weddings. Debbie has a really relaxed style that couples seem to enjoy and from what we've seen, the results are great too. 

        We had a lovely relaxing afternoon having a drink and a cup of tea, watching as all the children were entertained by a balloon modeller and soon the place was filled with dinosaurs, swords and Olafs from Frozen.

        Kim and Robert came back a while later and we were able to see them photographed with many of the children that were there, giving them little gifts and tokens of blessing.

 They lined up as their guests came through for the meal and I got to congratulate Kim for the first time and tell her how wonderfully they had done to organise all of this. She smiled at me and said "Twin Mums" and I knew the conversation could've gone a lot further if there hadn't been folks waiting to greet the happy couple.

       "Did you go in to labour early?", "Did you feed them both yourself?", " How did you afford all those nappies", "Did you get people asking you if they were identical and have to explain that one has a penis and the other doesn't?"....the questions are never ending.

         We were at the top table again and had the pleasure of sitting next to Chris, Robert's groomsman, who had come over from Dubai just for the occasion. He and Robin got on like a house on fire and I had a chance to look at all the beautiful flowers that Robert's Granny had done.

 The wedding favours were trolley keys for Cancer Research and a lovely idea for the gents of a gift to a child from UNICEF of school materials.

Kim's Dad stood up to speak and then was followed by her Mum, who told Robert that Kim's initial 'KAO' had stood for 'Kicks Ass Often', now having changed to 'KAF'....'Kicks Ass Frequently'...so he'd better watch out!

   Robert spoke really well, giving thanks to everyone and saying how grateful they were for the input in to their lives.

       I could really relate to this, reminding me of the dedication that we had for Caleb and Phoebe, where we were able to thank those people in our lives who had supported us during the stressful first year of having twins......you can never be thankful enough for the support of friends and family.

    So with a tear in my eye we waited for Gary ( Gaz) the best man to stand. Robert had told us how they had been best friends since Playgroup and here they were supporting each other on this most important day, I can tell you my mascara was running!

     Gary spoke really well and honestly about his relationship with Robert and as he sat down beside Miller in his high chair ( Miller's not Gary's!), it was obvious to see how close they all were when he wiped Miller's face and kissed the top of his head...I'm going again!

    

      The meal was lovely as usual, served on square plates as per Jillian's new look table ware...what's she going to change next? And we enjoyed seeing all the kids running round and enjoying lots of 'cousin' time as they played together. Robert and Kim came up to thank Robin for all his help and flashed a bit of leg showing us the grooms undies.

Well that's clear to see eh?.....

     The fire was on in the foyer and we sat enjoying the warmth on the comfy leather chairs. We met Darren and Ellie who told us that they had tried to book Robin for their wedding in September but he was already booked. We heard the story of how they had to find an alternative and on enquiring with someone from Nairn, he told them he would charge 68p per mile to come and see them on top of his fee, so they quickly looked elsewhere. They now have someone else booked, but if Robin get's a cancellation for their date, he is to call!

    Quattro were playing for the evening dance and though we were going to head off early, we stayed to watch Kim and Robert do the grand march and first dance to Ben Haenow's 'Something I need'. .....I had to use Shazam to find out who it was and now have it on my phone...the wonders of technology!

         One of Robin's employers, Norman, the undertaker from Turriff, came in with his wife Brenda and we stood chatting. They told us that they enjoyed a quickstep and as that's just what the band were playing we asked them to show it how it was done.

    And here they are...

   

    

       

    After saying our farewells we stood waiting for our taxi to come and watched as the rain fell. I was just thinking how beautiful it was when I checked my facebook and Phoebe had just put up a post asking if anyone else loved the rain as much as her....gotta love that girl!

We had a great day, it was so lovely to meet all the Foubisters and though,I doubt that they will go on to have five children, we feel a real connection with them as a family with twins. So here's to a double blessing on their lives ahead and watch out you guys because you know that once you've had one set of twins the chances of another set are really high...you might end up with five after all!!

No.15

     If Robin and I ever get a divorce, the reason given in court for the breakdown, will definitely have something to do with travelling to unknown destinations together. I always give a small shudder when I realise that a wedding destination is some fabulous stately home or castle in the middle of nowhere, that we might possibly have heard of in an obscure wedding blog, but certainly have never visited in all those nonexistant family Sunday days out!
    Kindly friends and relatives have given us their secondhand Sat navs to use, in an effort to bring us in to the 20th Century of 'driving world', but they have been quickly shelved, after the monotonous voice that keeps saying, " Recalculating...recalcuating", gets too much to bear. I know, you should pay for a yearly upgrade, but let's face it folks, that aint going to happen, so as I drive in to the great unknown , with Robin as my co-pilot, we take the risk of bursting the marital bliss bubble with both hands and hope for the best.
      Katrina and Sandy's wedding was Robin's 170th since his story of being a wedding celebrant began...you know, he really should write a blog! He reminded me of this fact, the day after as we were heading off to find Haddo House and it took me back to the very first wedding that he did.....
        Stewart worked as a postie with Robin and decided to chuck it in to go and do Art History in Aberdeen. There he met the delightful Anny, from Luxemburg, and very soon he had dragged her back to Macduff ,to live in his 'man cave'.
         In 2003 Robin had been asked to do a blessing of a couple who were friends of theirs and it was at this occasion that Stewart and Anny hatched a plan, asking him if he would get his licence thing going and marry them! To cut a long story short, he managed to fnd enough people who believed in his capabilties as a  religious celebrant, form a small fellowship, write up a constitution and apply for a licence from Edinburgh. I can quite honestly say the only time I have seen him cry is when he recieved a letter from Edinburgh to say that his application had been refused! On calling the office, it turned out that there was a miswording in his application that made him sound like a cult leader and on changing it the first wedding could go ahead!
     Because Anny's family were all coming from abroad they had planned things very meticulously. Everyone would stay the night before the wedding in a National Heritage house near Stirling and after dinner Stewart and Anny would reveal to them all where the wedding was to take place. This was to be in Castle Campbell a National Trust property that they had managed to get permission to use for a short while (very relevant...take note!!) for the service.
          Robin and I had kindly been put up in a lovely hotel in Stirling where the wedding meal was to be held and  were really looking forward to the weekend, pretty nervous too as it was Robin's first time as a celebrant and I had been asked to sing ( No, I don't take bookings!)
           We drove up to the House on the morning of the wedding and found all the guests in various states of dress or undress after a a very heavy night of 'celebrating'. I was a nominated driver as our car had 8 seats at the time. Robin was to go with Stewart, wanting to get to the castle in plenty of time to set up, so I was taking the mother of the groom, his granny, his sister and friends.
  As the boys disappeared in Stewart's car, I got all my passengers on board and turned to ask who had the directions, as I knew that part of the revealing of wedding destination included a set of directions for each guest. Robin had taken ours with him.
    There was a brief silence and a few laughs as they all admitted having lost the important piece of paper , reassuring me that the castle was really easy to find, I mean how hard can it be to loose a whole castle?
    Really easy is the short answer to that! We ended up an hour late after almost going to the Wallace monument and having to stop at least two locals for directions. Thankfully we weren't the only ones, Robin and Stewart had got lost too as well as most of the other guests and despite Anny having to hide behind a car in the carpark for quite a while, we all managed to find our way there.
       Everything went ahead, just as planned, just a little later.......a wonderful day for all.

 Matt and Gilly had settled on Haddo house for their nuptials. It is a National Trust stately home near Methlick...Methlick, isn't that mentioned in a Proclaimers song? Apart from singing about it, I have never even been close, so we set off with me driving and Robin following google maps, shouting, " Turn left here" or "It's definitely straight along here" while I see the sign for Haddo house flash before my eyes, pointing in the other direction!

   We did eventually make it ,on relatively good terms, and proceeded along the drive at 15mph as per the speed limit. We were bombarded with signs along the way, warning us of our speed and the death toll to red squirrels!

By the 6th sign I was starting to wonder if this wasn't a bit biased, I mean what about the grey squirrels, are they just fast of foot or harder to hit? What about other wildlife?....

       As we approached the house  it was obvious that Sunday was a busy day for tourists and we felt mildly out of place in our wedding gear walking through the car park. I had decided to wear a dress I had got last week from the clearance section of Next that looked quite fetching with my lacy black heels. I felt black was in order after the abysmal marking of the UK's entry in Eurovsion the night before...poor old Electro Velvet....I thought it was a great song!



    I wore my flatties, as I was driving, and popped my heels in my one size fits all bag. I decided to keep them on as we walked through the grounds, hoping for an opportunistic moment to swap from comfort to glamour. Then we hit chuckies ( small stones for those of you not from the North East) and the flats stayed on. Then we entered the house and there was a sign up informing us that if you wanted to wear heels you needed to wear specially supplied heel guards. Now, I don't know if you've seen these before but they look like you've got small spaceships on the bottom of your shoes.

     I decided against the aforementioned fashion statement and the flats stayed on for the whole day!

    We were guided by men in kilts to the library where the action would happen and as I've just downloaded a new collage app, I thought I'd show you a few views of how great it all looked.

      

     Matt and Gilly had a very definite idea of how they wanted the day to go and everything was planned to perfection. There were instructions for a 'Haggis hunt' for the children to read while the ceremony went along.

     I was sitting at the back with a very tempting row of books to my right that I was deperate to pull out and browse. Especially as their friend Alex read 'A red red rose' by Robert Burns, I'm sure I would've been able to read along.



 

    We passed the rings down through the guests with each one being asked to bless them as they came by. How lovely for Matt and Gilly to know that each of these special people in their lives had held their rings and asked blessings over them before placing them on each others' fingers.

    We sang a very up beat version of 'Amazing grace' and 'Make me a channel of your piece' and as the couple held hands to partake of a handfasting , they asked each person in the room to hold the hand of the person next to them as a symbol of their joining together. ( Slightly awkward as I was a wedding crasher..but hey, you have to go with the flow!)

      The new Mr and Mrs Rinaldi kissed and walked down the aisle to the cheers of their loved ones and a trumpeter playing the wedding march.

         We followed outside to the spectacular front of the house where champagne was on constant refills and various Scottish canapes on offer.

    Matt had been practicing uncorking a champagne bottle by slicing the top with a sword. Apparently he managed first time with all his attempts at home, but after the 4th or was it 5th attempt, he managed and even took a swig out of the broken bottle! 

     Not happy with this amazing feat, the owls appeared! The  folks from the falconary centre had brought along two of their happiest owls, who were very calm and transferred from trainer to Bride and Groom with only a small amount of wing flapping. We were right up the back, so I couldn't snap this amazing sight, but I did manage to get the grand fountain in the middle of the grounds that they filled with rubber ducks, so the kids could fish them out...good enough?

      The photographer was catching all the family groups, so we decided to head inside the house and relax while listening to Hazel the pianist on her keyboard . Gradually everyone came in to escape the chill and enjoy sitting in the splendid sitting room  and all that the house has to offer

                                                                          

Matt's Mum, Jacquie, came over to chat and told us that the day had been one of bizarre coincidences.

     Introducing  Matt's Godfather to Gilly's Godmother for the first time, they realised that their gardens back on to each other in the same town! She also told us of the first time that Matt went to visit Gilly's parents in London. He had never been there before, but his parents had before they had children. The hairs stood up on the back of his neck as he approached their house and he called his Mum to tell her. On describing the road, she was able to tell him that Gilly's parents lived opposite the place where she and Matt's Dad, Sean, had first met!!

          We followed the piper down to the hall where everything was set up beautifully for the meal. Matt's Aunt, Kate, had made the cake(s) and they looked beautiful with all the flowers placed around.

 

 We had a fabulous meal of Cullen Skink tartlets and chicken in a pink peppercorn and champagne sauce, followed by Cranachen shots and a delicious cheese board. Wine, white or red was continually refilled and so thankfully was the water and the delicious elderflower cordial that kept me hydrated.

   Matt and Gilly had taken instamatic pictures of themselves with a chalk board bearing the name of each guest for the place names. They propped these up with clothes pegs, such a great way to mark each place..

 

    The speeches were after the meal, which is unusual these days, but worked really well. Matt's friends had a sweepstake on how long the best man, Gwyn's speech would take and despite the story of Matt having stripped down to a leopardskin thong from George, when he was 15, for a laugh in the boy's changing rooms, it only took 12 mins 45 secs, pefectly guessed by Jacquie!

         Despite the lack of alcohol I was pretty shattered and as Robin had a funeral to conduct the next day we decide to head for home before the ceilidh could start. We said our farewells to Matt and Gilly and they promised to catch up when they got back for honeymoon.

 

We trundled back up the avenue to more warnings of squirrel danger, hoping that the total hadn't increased since we had driven down earlier. To our relief all was good in squirrel world.

      Robin has another wedding to do in Haddo house this summer, so we are now fantastically equipped to lead the way and show the guests how to get there.

    Thanks to Matt and Gilly for allowing us to join in their day and to become much better aquainted with places like 'Gight' and 'Cowbog' and of course the beauty of Haddo house. I hope that their Satnav skills as husband and wife develop continually as they start this wonderful stage of their journey together.

        

     

 

 

No.14

   One of the girls that I work with, Anika, is away on holiday this week with her partner Shaun and to be frank I'm really jealous.
     People often share what wonderful locations they have been to on holiday and it is a common question that we get at weddings,
  " So, are you guys going on holiday this year?"
   We did have a family holiday almost 12 years ago, but generally what happens is that I take some or all of the kids off somewhere and Robin stays at home to look after the dog and any remaining offspring (as long as they can be entertained with screens and live off pizza or chips!).
   He has been known to go off on a wee adventure without us all. The most recent was a pilgimage to Linsdisfarne a few years back, but he did go off to India with a group when James ( now 18) was just 3 weeks old and Cuba just before the twins came on the scene, which generally put a dampner on any travel arrangements for quite a long time!
     Our favourite holiday was to get a caravan at the Banff Links at the same time as my friend Ruth who came up from Edinburgh with her lot. We had the best of times playing rounders on the beach, building fires, occasionally sunbathing ( yes, it can happen) and relaxing with a gin and tonic or a glass of wine after the kids had gone to bed or were at least contained in their pyjamas watching a film. Robin would still stay at home, but came and visited us each day after his work as a postie, so it worked really well.
    So we try to explain this to people and they generally look at us as though we are a bit disfunctional, and do you know, I think we may be.
        The reason I am jealous of Anika and Shaun is that they are in Austria watching the Eurovsion song contest one of my all time favourite competitions.
    As and avid fan from childhood, having watched Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton John, Linsey De Paul, Brotherhood of man, Bucks Fizz, Dana, Johnny Logan and the rest, it's a night I hate to miss.
    I can only assume that any couple who get married on the day of the Eurovision final must be massive fans, so as the morning dawned with gorgeous sunshine, I was imagining the fabulous theme. ......All the tables named after the various countries and having corresponding flags The groom wearing his diamonte embossed kilt while the bride flies in on a wire to the most amazing light show, with her dress that tranforms into a mini skirt ,with a pull of her outer layers.
      With this in mind I decided to got 'my bling thing on'. I painted my nails with glittery nail varnish and donned my super sequinned 'Eurovision' dress that I'm sure even Conchita would be jealous of...

And off we go....

      It was pretty clear when I walked in to the Springs for Alexander ( Sandy, known as Spanky to his friends!) and Katrina's wedding, that I had been very mistaken...this was going to be a totally tasteful wedding,....how on earth would I blend in?

                Katrina and Sandy live in Macduff and so there were many 'well kent' faces there, in fact quite a few who have been to weddings Robin has done this year. This is often a common occurance where a group of friends who have grown up together all start the ball rolling by getting engaged around the same time and then have a massive glut of hennys, staggers and weddings all within a few years of each other...one long party...hey, just like Eurovison!!

              The chairbacks were ties with beautiful taupe ribbons covered in cream lace to match Katrina's beautiful bridesmaids. Even Robin was easily persuaded that it wasn't 'camel'...camel, really?

              

     Walking in to Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking out loud', Katrina looked stunning in her white strapless fishtail dress and was supported by her Dad, Dennis. He gave her way to Sandy and they laughed as Robin quoted Norma, Katrina's Mum by saying that Sandy fitted in so well to their family that he was her 'number one son', much to the disgust of Katrina's brothers who objected vocally! This was a standing joke for the rest of the day and even as we were getting in to the taxi at the end of the night we could hear a voice shouting

  " Number one son...I don't think so!"

   When it came to their vows, Robin started to ask Sandy if he would take Katrina to be his wife...before was even half way through, Sandy intterupted with a lovely "I do", so keen to have Katrina as his Mrs. After the false start, he managed to wait patiently and soon they were man and wife.

     Katrina finally gave up the fight she was having with her veil and like Jill a few weeks ago, handed it off to her Mum, so she could get on and enjoy kissing her new husband.

   So, as we sang 'One more step along the way I go', the quiaches were passed around and we toasted the new Mr and Mrs Stuart..

      Lots of friends had been involved in making this day special, as is the way with many weddings. Someone had made the most beautiful photo montage of them both during various stages of their lives, for us all to enjoy. It was pointed out to me that one of the pictures was of Sandy without anything on his bottom half, but on closer examination I realised that it was when he was just a few days old at the most, so we'll let them off!





 

 We went through for a drink  catching up with Shaun and Faye, Robin's 149th wedding, who were looking as though married life was treating them very well. They even had a new addition to the family...a  little kitten. who Faye said was getting her in to practice for when they decided to have family...I'm sure it's pretty much the same thing eh?
      The day, that had started off so beautifully, had started to dull over slightly, which in photography terms is wonderful, I've been told. The wedding party disappeared for the perfect photo shoot and we sat down to catch up with each other.
    Robin has been wearing more black ties this week than usual, if you know what I mean, and when he is particularly busy, it can be great to have a local wedding to go to at the end of the week, a kind of date night for the disfunctional couple!
     As we were chatting we noticed a couple of likely lads who on my count definitely weren't at the service and were mouching around with the other guests. Could they be 'real' wedding crashers?? We knew Robert as he lives just round the corner from us, so we accosted him on his way to the bar and asked for an explanation...

It turns out that two of the guests weren't able to come as one was being very sick in early pregnancy and Katrina had called Robert and Steven, his partner, asking if they wanted to fill the gap and enjoy the poor couple's meal! Never ones to turn down a free meal, they accepted gladly and I still don't know how they found out where to sit, but it all seemed to work out really well. In fact I noticed Robert shouting the waitress over to get more gravy, so he was well into his part by the end of the meal.

       Cake cutting came first and as we were sitting at the top table, I was perfectly placed to take a few pictures of all five tiers getting the chop.

 



 

We were sitting next to Norma and Dennis and enjoyed hearing how Norma had been brought up on a farm. When Dennis first asked her out on dates she had to make sure that she had picked enough 'neeps fae the park' for the cows before she would be able to go out courting. Dennis suffered a brain aneurism a few years back and you could see how much it meant to him to be be able to walk Katrina down the aisle and enjoy the day to it's fullest with all their friends and family.

     There was planty of banter from the boys during the speeches with Dennis reciting a witty poem about his daughter and new son-in-law and giving Sandy a gift of a new pair of Crocs as he obviously eyes Dennis' up every time he goes up to visit. As I write this Robin is standing in front of me with his faithful Crocs on, so he's in great company now!!

 

    Jordan, Sandy's best man, told us how he was amazed at how brave Sandy was to ask for Katrina's hand as Dennis had enough shotguns to 'invade North Korea...and probably in  his digger'...a brilliant mental picture!

          He gave us all a laugh as he brought out a life size cut out of Sandy in a dress, with a very fetching  headband on, that he donned during his stag do. I'm sure just having a picture of this passed around would've been bad enough!

          After a lovely meal where we served by the fantastic Louise and Jocelyn, who told me I had bigged Jillian up far too much in my previous blogs and needed to give them a mention, I managed to get a picture of the new Mrs Stuart with her new man....Mandy!

We got up to stretch our legs after a lovely cup of tea and opened the door to the foyer. It was hooching full of the bride and groom's friends who had turned up for the evening celebration. We caught up with a few glammed up guests and decided to bow out.

         So here I sit in my pyjamas watching Conchita singing her new song and waiting for the scores on the doors to be announced ,while getting constant whatsapp notifications form my fellow Eurovision fanatic friend Kirsteen, who hopes to be there next year.

   Katrina and Sandy will be partying just as hard, if not harder with all their loved ones, to Pepperpot a popular Aberdeen band, who certainly get everyone up and moving from the first to the last.

     A huge thanks to Katrina and Sandy for making me feel so welcome and allowing me to post the picture of Sandy in a dress on the internet ( I'm sure they said that was ok?).

    Even though they didn't go for the Eurovision theme ( does that mean my career as a wedding planner is a over?), Katrina still made plenty of waves(!) and I know that Sandy will save all his kisses for her (!)

   I, for one, give them a wholehearted 'Douze pointes' for a fabulous day and a wonderful life together as Mr and Mrs Stuart ......and Mandy of course!

            

 

 

No.13

    "My spots aren't as bad as they were yesterday". Caleb is standing in front of my bedroom mirror examining his skin, while I, having just returned from a brilliant day and night at the Norwood Hall hotel in Aberdeen, am sorting out clothes on the bed.
    I had left him in the capable (!) hands of his big brothers, James and Jake, for the first time instead of our usual plan, when we stay overnight somewhere, leaving them in the very capable hands of Robin's Mum, Evelyn.
   I looked at his face and realised that he wasn't talking about a few spots, his face was covered in a very nasty rash. He pulled down his pyjama top and showed me that it had spread to his chest. He confessed it had developed some time after we headed off for Aberdeen the day before, but James had reassured him that it was just adolescence and with a shrug, he accepted Dr Wiseman's diagnosis and got on with his day.
   So the contacting home and asking 'is everything ok?' wasn't specific enough. I really should've texted 'is everything ok and has your little brother developed any nasty rashes???'
      This lack of information reminds me of the time that I, against my better judgement, gave in to Caleb and Phoebe's begging to be allowed to camp out in the garden on a balmy July evening a few years back. I agreed, only on the terms that they would keep their walkie talkie by them and would contact me immediately, on my corresponding set beside the bed, if they were worried about anything.
     We found out from our neighbour Yvonne, the next day, that there had been a drive by shooting by some nutter with a rifle. They stopped beside our garden, fired a few shots and then headed off. The police were called out and were searching the area. Phoebe had heard the shots, but decided not to wake us as she didn't want to bother us!!
      I would've been pretty miffed if I had to turn tail from Aberdeen and come back to Macduff as I had been looking forward to this wedding for a long time.
    Hilary and I work together on reception at the health centre in Macuff, every Thursday I come in to release her from her morning shift. We always have a wee catchup about what's been going on, especially any family news. So when she asked me to check if Robin was free, to do her daughter Colleen and fiance Dave's wedding on May 16th 2015, I excitedly called Robin to check. Yes, all good, the date went in the diary..
   So a few years later here we were at the Norwood House Hotel, waiting to check in to our room that we had decided to book for the night.
  

As we stepped in to the Hotel ,the warmth  and the wonderful smell of the wood fires in the reception area hit us. We waited to book in and took in the amazingly ornate wood panelled walls and fantastic age old tapestries.
     We had stayed here once before at the wedding of Laura and Craig Park back in 2011  and had the most wonderful day with them and their family, so we were really looking forward to another treat.
      We were shown through the Pitfodels function suite, where the celebration would be, to our luxurious room, just along the corridor. And what a lovely room it was, really spacious, with a sofa and arm chair, a huge bathroom with double shower and bath and my favourite toiletries from Arran aromatics, I can tell you they would be coming home with me, every last mini bottle!
   Robin headed out after changing, to find the groom and set up his 'stuff'. I enjoyed a cuppa and put on my dress for the day....yes, it had a zip, but really I must get over that phobia...just to be on the safe side I brought another dress with me!
     The dress is an M&Co one that I have had for a few years and like my floral one, that I wore to Jill and Mark's wedding a few weeks ago, is a tried and tested favourite.

 

I've never told you this before, but since Michael and Jill's big day back in January, I have used the same handbag for every wedding I have been at since and the plan was to try and take it to every wedding this year.....

 

....Though I brought it along to Colleen and Dave's, I just felt that it really wasn't necessary as I store all my emergency kit items in it and didn't really need to carry them about as we were staying just up the corridor form all the action.

      So the bag stayed in the room and I went off to enjoy myself.

 

       Robin was mucking about with the furniture when I came into the beautifully laid out function suite and I helped him secure the candles, that the bride and groom were lighting, to their bases ( I have my uses) . Soon it was time for the guests to come through and I soon had company as Lynsey and her husband Michael came and sat beside me. We had seen each other last year at Lynsey's friend Lorna's wedding, to John ,which they had in a Marquee in front of their house. A fantastic day where they had a hog roast and enough meat to feed an army. Lynsey made me promise not to mention her in my blog, so I'd better get back to the wedding.....

   The best men ( yes, there were three) and groom were piped in, with Robin announcing their names. "Dave, Francis, Andy and Frodo"...Lynsey ( Oh, no I've done it again) and I looked at each other, puzzled and wondering if Frodo was a dog or a pet hamster? It turned out that Frodo was Kevin.. 'the ring bearer'....such is the sense of humour of these lads.

          Colleen's bridesmaids Claire, her sister and Victoria looked simply stunning in their 'Sea green' dresses ( not Duck egg blue Robin!). They walked down the aisle with Freya and Fletcher, Claire and Mark's beautiful children.

    We all stood and Colleen came in looking quite stunning on her dad, Leslie's arm. In fact I think he was so keen to get rid of her he ran her down the aisle, it was like , blink and you'll miss them! We found out later that nerves had got the better of him just before the ceremony and he was just glad that his legs were working at all!

       The ceremony was lovely with advice from their dog Sophie, who Robin claimed to have had a chat with, earlier in the week. Questioning Leslie, asking if he really was happy to let Dave, a Manchester United fan, in to his family as he is an Arsenal supporter!

           They said their I dos, even to the extreme promises of allowing Colleen to watch her 'Made in Chelsea' programmes and for Dave to be allowed to splash out on his designer outfits. We all toasted the new Mr and Mrs Masson with some whiskey from the quiache and watched as they beamed their way down the aisle.

       I caught up with Hilary and Leslie outside to offer my congratulations, and though the weather was a bit changeable, they all managed to get their photographs taken outside as planned. Here's the proud Mum and Dad with their beautiful daughter.

 

We all enjoyed a glass of bucks fizz with some canapes. Robin's eyes lit up when he saw there were haggis balls on the plate. Now let me tell you that a haggis ball can be a very dangerous thing, they smell delightful and come in a very handy, 'just the right size to pop in your mouth'. But woe and betide if they have just come out of the oven, for those little beggers could do some damage. Once at the Springs Robin took one and popped the whole thing in his mouth, only to realise too late that it was 200C in the middle. It was really amusing and I'm only sorry I didn't have my camera at the time to show you his facial expressions as he tried to keep it in his mouth!

         We popped back to our room for another cuppa and for Robin to catch up on whatever sport it is that he likes to watch ( so, not interested!). We had been told there was going to be a line up just after four, so we headed back out and were eventually told that the bride and groom were ready to greet us with their parents.

     We went through first so kissed, hugged and thanked all the 'lineupees' and went to our seats at the top table. We sat down and were accosted by the maitre de who told us that as we were at the top table, we needed to be piped in with the rest. So we (again!) had to leave our seats and  take a detour round the hotel so we could do a grand entrance with everyone else. Thankfully at this stage I got a really good look at the bridesmaids dresses and the girl's kindly posed for me to give you a front and back view. You can't see Victoria's face, but i can assure you she is in every way as beautiful as Claire, take my word for it!

We finally were piped in and took our seats, us sitting next to Leslie and Hilary and the speeches began. Leslie had chosen not to do a speech, so Dave kicked off the proceedings , telling us about Colleen's great love of darts that she inherited from her Mum. Not long after they moved in together he found her on Face time with Hilary singing the theme tune together with great vigour!

    The best men carried a third of a speech each and had a slide show for us all to see. After giving Leslie the fright of his life by announcing that he had indeed decided to speak, the real fun began! They had managed to interview few 'local celebrities' with best wishes for the happy couple. One was the owner of the kebab shop in Banff, where Dave is obviously known as a near family member. Eddie's touching words of wisdom were very moving to hear as he carved the donner!

    This was followed, much to Colleen's horror, with pictures of both her and Dave from birth to the present day...a lovely touching tribute that saved the trio of best men from being completely in the dog house after their initial comments about Dave!

         We had a fabulous meal and really enjoyed sitting with Leslie and Hilary, especially hearing how Leslie had left his bank card at a petrol station on their way in to the hotel the night before. He only realised it was missing when he went to pay for their meal on the Friday night! Thankfully he got it back and the wedding was able to go ahead!

        After the meal I got a whirlwind tour of the hotel and Colleen and Dave kindly let me have a peak at their fantastic four poster bed in the bridal suite. I watched as Victoria professionally managed to tie Colleen's train up for the evening ( very impressed ) and headed back to our room to put my feet up before the evening fun began.

     The band for the evening were Mustang, a  great four piece band from Aberdeen. We had missed them at Lauren and Jimmy's wedding last Sunday after the second awful zip incident. Then on Saturday evening at Ross and Eilidh's wedding they were setting up as we were leaving, so I was looking forward to hearing them and I was in the mood for a dance!

     We met the girls from my work in the bar as we waited to go in for the dance. After we had discussed the difference between the price of a pint in an Aberdeen hotel ( £6!) and one in the golf club in Macduff , we headed through to grab a table.

                    We grand marched and watched as Dave and Colleen danced their first dance to 'Thinking out loud' by Ed Sheeran.

        

   Well the next song wasn't 'Brown eyed girl' by Van Morrison, it wasn't 'Walk of life' by Dire straits and it certainly wasn't 'Dance the night away' by the Mavericks! No, it was Paulo Nautini's 'Pencil full of lead' followed hot on it's heels by.....wait for it.....only one of my all time favourites...'Ship called Dignity' by Deacon Blue...I was in dance heaven!

    And what a great evening...up dancing to nearly every song and enjoying the great company.

 

After bacon baps and wedding cake, Robin decided that his four a.m. start had caught up with him and we decided to back out gracefully.

     We said our farewells, just in case we wouldn't see folks in the morning, thanking Dave, Colleen and all the family for making us feel so much a part of their day. We headed for bed leaving the party in full swing.

   In the morning we had a full English breakfast in the tapestry walled dining room and thought that as we checked out we would miss everyone. But no, Hilary and Leslie were around, having been up till 3am having coffee and wedding cake in their room.

       Well after all the planning and the decision making, the emotion and the celebrating, the laughter and the love that goes with a wedding. I wish Dave and Colleen all the best for this new chapter in their lives....and even though the fans would've liked something different I think that the Man Utd v Arsenal score of 1-1 was a great result for today...just like Dave and Colleen...a  well balanced and perfect match x