As promised I'd better let you know how the wedding of the year went in St Andrews. Well, to keep you in suspense a little longer by telling you all about the hen party first! So I arrived in St Andrews early on the thursday morning to make sure the bride-to-be was alive and kicking and ready to take on my day of fun. Surprisingly, Danielle was both awake and dressed! That's not to say there was plenty of dithering to be done before the festivities began though. First stop was to Danielle's parents so that she could try on her wedding dress for the last time before the big day and Aunty Yvonne could make any last-minute adjustments. After having faffed for a wee bit, we dashed back to Danielle's flat to collect two other hen-party-goers and headed on into town. It was a really nice girlie reunion in Starbucks from where proceedings commenced. Isn't it magic that all of a sudden so many people from such far-away places congregate in the same place? Activity one was a town treasure hunt. It was never meant to be taken too seriously, but the weather was very kind and it was a good wee jaunt to spend the morning partaking in. The twist to the treasure hunt was when the girls made it to the final straight to be met with a gazebo of champagne and relatives. For the first time I've ever known, there was not a breath of wind on West Sands and it was a lovely treat.
Activity two was a surprise trip to The Old Course Hotel for some afternoon tea. The tea list was vast, the sandwich crusts were off and the cakes were delicious! It had been pretty jammy when I booked this as the lady at the hotel kindly offered us the fourth floor bar lounge with the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Old Course - you couldn't beat it!
Activity three was another surprise to Danielle - we took her to the aquarium to feed the seals. Sadly the seals decided they weren't too hungry when we got there but nevertheless we girlies made the most of our aquarium entry ticket and spent ages admiring the fish. That's what happens when you take biologists to a 'fish museum'! As an afternoon treat we walked across town to Jannettas for some yummy ice cream.
The final activity of the day was evening dinner and drinks. We went for dinner at Nahm Jim, the best Thai restaurant I know! Incredibly, the Harris sisters managed to be a massive 45 minutes late - always heartening when it's their responsibility to get Danielle to the church in time for her wedding! Plenty of wine and food was consumed and slowly Danielle's 4 inch heels felt a bit comfier. On a full tank, we headed over to The Rule (better known as the Gin House to most of us) where we lounged around the upstairs area like we owned the place. The table where I was sitting quickly went through the pitcher list like we were drinking juice, I think I have a liver made of steel. It was really nice to finally meet Ben's mum who eventually turned up to the hen soiree, she was so friendly it felt as if we'd met already from what we knew about each other. At closing time, contrary to all hen party rules we all headed over to The Russell where the stags were all hiding out. In fairness we were all itching to get over there to see who had all arrived over the course of the day. We didn't stay too long though. Eventually we four amigos (ali, helen, danielle and myself) found ourselves crashed out in Danielle's lounge reminiscing and discussing the finer points of wedding etiquette for the big day! In true Greenside Court style we revitalised our slightly tired bodies and hazy minds the next day with Eggy Bread.
And now to the wedding day! While the weatherman (it couldn't have been Rob McElwee) didn't quite match the wedding day weather with the hen day weather, all in all the rain stayed off for the most important parts of the day. It was so grown-up seeing all of us in our glad rags arriving at the wedding. It was a far cry from our uni days! The service was really lovely, despite a couple of microphone hiccups and a blip from the priest which led to me touching his robe (is that illegal or something?! I'm not sure but at least I gained the respect of Mr Harris who said he wouldn't have dared do what I did!). The meal and the reception were also great (although it was taking place in a hall many of us had previously taken exams in) and the ceilidh was fab! It was a pleasant surprise to see Ben Murray rock up late, albeit looking a tad underdressed, and it meant that we could keep our Strip the Willow battle. Not content with the evening we'd already enjoyed many of us then moved on to The Greyfriars (better known as The Tudor) for a nightcap or two. We even managed to kidnap the happy couple for a wee while. Finally, Helen and I made it back to our hotel room where we chatted into the even weer small hours.
It was a really great long weekend in St Andrews. It was fab to meet up with close friends and slightly more distant friends. I'm so lucky to have so many friendships in which, after having not seen each other for ages, we can pick off from where we left off and immedately feel so comfortable around each other. Maybe that's the result of going to such a cosy uni like St Andrews or maybe it's because I'm picky with friends :-)
