We were very delighted to be invited to the wedding of James and Adrienne Bridgman in Ely Cathedral.. James is the eldest son of our old and dear friends Sheena and Dave and we have watched with interest as he has grown up into an outstanding young man .
They – and we as guests – were greatly privileged to be able to be married in the Cathedral, James and his brother, Matthew, both went to the King’s School which is attached to the Cathedral, Adrienne’s mother teaches at the school and Sheena has worked at a senior level for the bishopric and diocese for years. So, it was not only the service in the Cathedral but also the reception and celebrations in the school gardens and theatre. Just lovely.
We drove up from our overnight in Kings Langley and got to our accommodation at The Royal Standard just after midday. Ely was incredibly busy due to a market and we went round the system a couple of times before finding the car park behind the hotel. They were kind enough to let us check in early and we got changed into our finery including some towering high sandals for me and a fascinator! I can’t remember the last time I was in anything other than flats so this was an experiment.
It was only about 8 minutes walk to the Cathedral where we found Sheena and Dave outside looking fabulous in their wedding finery There were lots of onlookers. It felt very special. The wedding service was in the choir area of the Cathedral, in front of the high altar, a lovely setting. Ely is a beautiful old church. I once climbed its tower with my friend Jan. It was miles up but we did it. The next day my legs certainly knew it. Ely itself is a very beautiful and atmospheric with lots of ancient golden stone buildings, a lovely riverside, old pubs…. well worth a weekend.
Lovely ceremony with some rousing singing lead by Georgia, the maid of honour and Adrienne’s sister. She has a superb voice and sang Ave Maria whilst the register was being signed. Adrienne and James looked so happy – they met at school – and have always been devoted to each other.
After the ceremony we walked across to Kings School and enjoyed champagne and delicious canapes on the lawns there whilst photos were taken. After that we went into the theatre and had more champagne and the speeches. Both James and Matthew made excellent speeches as did the Bride’s dad and Sheena. Our meal was a wonderful hog roast which suited my diet well.
After dinner we took part in a barn dance. This was huge fun and a great all-generation ice breaker. The band were very good and called all the moves for us. It was no fault of theirs that some of us – loll – were utterly hopeless and blundered about cluelessly throughout. Bob and I are up to easy things like the Gay Gordons but complicated reels are quite beyond us it would seem. We spent several Christmas times years ago at the Crieff Hydro in Scotland where every night a ceilidh would be held and we had lessons every afternoon so we could take part. No matter….. we would be reduced to literally crying with laughter as we blundered about like bewildered bears. I can still see the looks of horror on the more knowledgeable Scottish faces as they progressed around and realised that we would be their next partners in the reel…… anyway, our performance this time was no different. Luckily others were better and kindly steered us around. I don’t think champagne had anything to do with our performance. It was fantastic fun anyway. Obviously I was back in flat shoes by then!!
Later on, the barn dance changed to a disco and we took to the floor for energetic renditions of old favourites like Abba and the Killers. Huge fun was had by all. It was a great wedding