The festival wedding weekend

My Personalised flower garland...

May Bank Holiday weekend 2013

This is the newest addition to my memory box, fresh from the rolling hills of Cilgerran in West Wales last weekend.  I was invited to the wedding of Darren and Zoe, which involved staying on site at an eco camp, and being involved in a "festival wedding", and honored to have done a reading for the happy couple.  

I first met Darren when I moved to America in 1998, as part of my placement year for my BSc Hons degree course at Sheffield Hallam University. I moved out to Stamford, Connecticut to work at Woodway Country Club in the summer. Although I felt I was quite independent at the grand ol' age of 21, moving myself to the USA was quite a big step for me. 

I think I got my independent streak from my Nanna Ward, and I thank her for it, as it has taken me to some amazing places. (Yes, it has also taken me to some risky places too!)  

My flight landed, my pick up was late and I sat on my ruck sack with my closest possessions and wondered if I would make it through the year. My pick up eventually arrived very flustered and took me to the main club and the first thing I was offered was a tour of the grounds.  The club was a lovely place and the golf grounds were expertly kept, and this made the initial fear of being alone fade a bit, surely somewhere so beautiful will be surrounded by nice people!  I turn around and am faced with a (very) blond haired young chap, in his blue shorts, smart top and deck shoes (oh how we all eventually laughed at the deck shoes) and was told that "Darren" would take me out and about. Great stuff. I wont tell them that I am absolutely shattered from travelling, and that I feel rather scared of being here not knowing anyone. Instead, I hop in the golf cart that appears from no where, pull on my sunglasses and wait for my tour.  My poor eyes were so sore from crying when I left my friends and family at home, and red from lack of sleep, I thought putting on my sunglasses would hide that.  Combined with my "aloofness" (my shyness, that once you get to know me you will be surprised to know I experience) apparently Darren thought I was a pretty cool chick... 

From that moment we got on. 

The life in the USA with Darren and the rest of the Woodway gang involved working hard and playing harder, at a very influential time in our lives.  Sure, we were all away from home at University, but we could go home whenever we wanted to. Now we were over 8 hours flight away from a London airport and in it together. The gang became a very important part of my world, and continue to be so.

Apart from Darren (well, it was his wedding after all!) there were 5 of us from Woodway, all burning down sharing a threepi tent for the festival wedding weekend, with no partners. This meant we really got to catch up with each other and relive so many fond and quite frankly, bloody hilarious, memories...
The wedding was over the whole weekend, making sure that Darren and Zoe got to spend quality time with the people they wanted to share this experience with. It was great to get there and end up paddling a canoe for an afternoon with Sarah and Darren McKay, sharing an open oven baked pizza with the rest of the gang when they arrived, Duncan and Mikey. It was great to see the couple so relaxed in their surroundings and embracing the love being showered their way.   As you can see the wedding day was full on, but WHAT a day, we made so many friends and had so much fun. 

An amazing weekend where I spent time making more memories with some fabulous people