Bonus anniversary edition

My Mother-in-law walked into the kitchen with a huge bunch of flowers and a card in her hand, looking expectantly at me as she held them out.
"It's not our wedding anniversary is it?" I asked
She rolled her eyeballs in disgust and handed over the flowers, though I think she might've been tempted to hit me over the head with them.

Yes, yet another year that Robin and I have totally forgotten our anniversary. We actually thought it was the 17th of July for a few years until someone told us we were wrong and for some reason the correct date of the 16th doesn't seem to stick in either of our brains...Thank goodness for Grandma ( words that are said frequently in our house I can tell you!)
  It certainly doesn't feel like 23 years since that day. I remember being so relaxed and happy that it had finally arrived and we could get on with being Mr and Mrs Wiseman

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     I was living with a wonderful couple, John and Mary Kerr, in Barrhead near Glasgow, at the time. Robin stayed in a caravan in their back garden and I moved into the house for the year we were engaged as we did everything together and travelling from my flat across town got a bit tedious.
         It rained constantly that morning  and I don't remember being worried at all about my hair or my dress or my mascara running. I decided after a morning of watching my Mum arrange the flowers in the church that I really should have a bath and do my hair, so 2 hours before I was to walk down the aisle I was lying the bath while everyone else was having a bite of lunch.
        I remember eventually walking down the stairs in the house to see everyone dressed up and ready to roll. Eventually they all headed off to the hall where the ceremony was taking place and I was left with my Dad in the living room, waiting for Simon, John and Mary's son-in-law to come and pick us up in his role as chauffeur for the day.
       I arrived pretty much on time and remember walking up the aisle past our friends and family and to Robin, dressed in tails. Yes, this was in the days before he had ventured to wear a kilt, now he's never out of one!
     John was marrying us and as I've mentioned before we have had the joy of staying in touch as after all these years his grandson, Conor, met our daughter Ellie and thought it would be a great idea to marry her so, two years ago we had the pleasure of John taking part in their wedding ceremony, 20 years after he did ours.
         We had a perfect day, the rain stopped, the ground dried up ( in fact there was steam rising up it was so hot). We had a small number for the wedding and the meal and then 150 for the ceilidh at night. I don't think I stopped dancing the whole night.
    The next day we headed off to London on the bus where we had booked a few nights at the Gatwick Hilton using Kellogg's crunchy nut cornflakes vouchers. We flummoxed the receptionist when we arrived and went to pay in cash...she had to go and get the manager as they weren't sure what to do with  the strange Scottish couple that didn't have a credit card!
   It's not often we actually get invited to a wedding that Robin isn't officiating at, so I was really looking forward to a fun night out with a kiltless Robin when we got an evening invitation to Meghan and Greg's wedding dance. Kirsteen, Meghan's Mum and I have worked together on and off for the last 15 years and it had been lovely to hear about all the preparations and excitement in the build up to this special day.
      I can't give Meghan and Greg a blog number, but thought I would blend them in with this special anniversary bonus edition.
   I don't know if you would remember buying magazines when we were younger. I used to get the 'Jackie' magazine as a teenager, every week. I also have memories of the Twinkle as well as the Dandy and Beano. Getting our pocket money and going off to  Frank Long's Supermarket ( only folks from Londonderry would remember that) and buying a Frostie ice pop and a magazine. During the summer holidays the publishers would bring out a summer special, extra reading for those days when you might just get bored over the school break.
    So this is a bit like a summer special in blog land!
We arrived at the Springs with Robin in the driving seat...yes folks, you heard right, Robin drove all the way from Macduff to Banff and actually volunteered! I think knowing he had to get up and write up a service early the next morning was the reason but I was quite happy to enjoy being driven about and have a glass of wine...what's not to like?
           The morning had started off just like our wedding day, constant rain, followed by heavier rain and then a small break for some more. I am an avid follower of the Met office and had seen that it was meant to dry up in the afternoon, but when I looked out the window at work, thinking of Kirsteen  and Meghan getting ready, I was wondered if the weather folks were actually going to be right.
    Well as usual they were and just like our day 23 years before, the rain stopped bang on 2pm when they were all going into the church and brightened up from there on in.
                As we walked up the steps towards the front door of the Springs we saw Kirsteen and Sean her husband out enjoying the evening sunshine with their friends and family. Kirsteen grabbed me to take a photo of her and her aunt  and despite the glut of photo bombers I managed to get one of her and Sean in all their finery.
                   

     We stayed outside for a while chatting and then decided to move inside to buy a drink. One of our top tips, if you are a wine drinker, is to buy a bottle of wine, when out at a hotel, as it is a lot cheaper than buying it by the glass and if you don't finish it you can always take it home at the end of the night. So we perused the wine list and settled on a nice Temapanillo which Beth kindly offered to keep behind the bar for me. All I would need to do was come back and get a top up whenever I liked and they would keep it safe for me. I was tempted to draw a line on the wine level, but had forgotten my Sharpie so just had to trust her! When I went back later in the evening for a refill, it was a different waitress, but she knew with just a nod from me which bottle to go for with barely a blink...professionals those girls!
                We enjoyed a seat in the foyer and had a chance to get to speak to Kirsteen's Dad, Stan, who had come up from Laurencekirk for the day with his wife, Morag. It was lovely to meet them after hearing Kirsteen speak about them over the years.
      Soon all the girl's from the practice came in and we moved through to the function suite where despite the huge numbers of guests, everyone seemed to get a seat. We all admired each other's outfits, always lovely to see folks you work with done up for an evening out and to meet their other halfs too.
         Hayley the piper piped Meghan and Greg in for the Grand march and we had a chance to see how beautiful she looked in her dress.

Soon all the guests took to the floor and with Jillian's careful guidance the hoards of dancers managed to complete the full Grand march in just under 10 minutes. Robin claims to have seen one that took 22 minutes, where the piper nearly passed out and had to be rescued by the band!

        For their first dance  Meghan  and Greg choose Photograph by Ed Sheeran and despite the crowds I managed to get a shot of them looking so happy and relaxed, as they had been all day according to the guests I spoke to.

We caught up with loads of friends and had a great evening, despite not dancing because we were talking so much!

    We left with our bottle of wine that had been guarded so carefully and Robin drove home with amazing talent.

      Well, I wish the new Mr and Mrs Hutcheon all the best for their life together, that they have the 23 years and more of wonderful married life as Robin and I have had, also that they remember their anniversary at least every couple of years...I know I probably will!