The making of Isaac and Rebekah Pain

St. Peter's Church, Woking. 4th July 2009

Well I can't believe it, Isaac and Becky are now married! I got back (eventually) from Woking yesterday and so now I can tell you all about it!

I took the train, changed at Clapham Junction (trains that is) and then changed at Woking (clothes this time!). To be honest, if I'd changed clothes at Clapham, I wouldn't've looked out of place because the train was full of race-goers who thankfully got off at Esher and those of us left on the train could actually breath (and if we were lucky, sit down!)

So in wedding attire, I left the station and who should I bump straight in to? None other than Lois and her boyfriend Jon, who were waiting to pick up Tom and Chloe! So I cadged a lift and we got to the Church with a while to spare! There were plenty of Uni people there: me, Lois, Tom & Chloe, Rob Smith, Shadrach & Naomi, Stu & Sarah, Sarah Grimm, Becca & Brian, Emma & James, Izzy & Chris, Rachel & Neil, Nikki, Hannah, Andrew Gibson and his wife and of course the bridesmaids: Rachel, Beckah, Jo, Kate and Fay. They looked lovely in their claret dresses and their hair (done by Bekah) was awesome! John-Paul, Trevor Pickup and Andrew Page (ABC) were all there too.

At some point before the ceremony, Lois managed to put her foot through the floor of the lovely 15thC church - almost up to the knee - which sparked a great deal of curiosity mixed with disdain from the elderly Verger! So that was a little bit of excitement and hilarity before the actual wedding...

The ceremony was lovely. Andrew did the address from Colossians. Shadrach read. There were some good hymns and the recessional was the theme from Star Wars!! Good taste! Whilst the registers were being signed etc, were watched a slideshow of Isaac and Becky through the years which was very sweet! For the departure of the bride and groom from the church, we lined the path and threw the confetti over them!

Photos after the ceremony took around an hour, but the photographer was very thorough and I reckon they'll be really nice! Apres ca, we all piled in to numerous small cars. Some people went to the reception (by invitation only) and the rest of us went to get some food! We ended up in Zizzi's for pizza. There were 11 of us in the end: me, Hannah, Nikki, Rach & Neil, Emma & James, Chris & Izzy, John-Paul and Trevor.

Having stuffed ourselves with pizza, we headed straight to the ceilidh - with the help of the almighty sat-nav! Well, I have to say on the subject of ceilidhs, that I am now an official fan! It was a really great way to get every single person involved and not feeling self-concious! Each new dance was explained and then walked through and then danced with the help of the leaders who had microphones. There was live music from the band and it was a riot!! Some people obviously have hidden ceilidh skills: Bekah and Kate definately! I certainly learned a few dancing terms.

Isaac and Becky left at around 9.30pm, having had their car extravagantly decorated by Rachel and Jo whilst we carried on dancing. The buffet was bought out a little before then and so we had a few snacks while we recovered from dancing. We finished at 11pm after the last dance which included everyone (caterers as well)!

Rachel & Neil gave Nikki and I a lift to the station and we got the train to Godalming where I overnighted with Nikki in her really lovely house. She drove me to the station after breakfast and I got a train straight to Clapham Junction. The the problems began!

My train to Hastings was late; delayed once, twice, three times... It was meant to leave Clapham at 11.53am and still hadn't got in at 12.20pm. So I went to a phone box to call Mum (as I still haven't got a sim card, so my new phone is still useless!). When I got back to my platform, they announced my train, but the train that pulled in said it was going to Victoria not Hastings. I asked a member of staff, but they didn't answer me and the train left. I later asked another person and they seemed to think it was fine and unremarkable that the train was displayed wrong.

Hmph. So I waited for the 12.53pm train which then whisked me away back to home. Arriving there I went to a call box, found that they don't accept 5p pieces and it being 3pm on a Sunday, there was nowhere for me to get change! I tried to place a collect call to my Mum but the MINIMUM CHARGE IS £3.90!!!. Finally I went to the self-service ticket machine, bought a £1 ticket to get some change, called Mum and got home around 4.30pm.

Here endeth the tale. I have a good mind to complain about the confusion, especially since the journey cost me nearly £30 for advance fairs! Oh well, it was a lovely weekend and great to see everyone again. Roll on August and Emma & James' big day.

Until next time: ciao!