My Busy Week

On Saturday 13th April, a dazzling bride walked down the aisle of the church. She was preceded by her gorgeous flower girl goddaughters and three beautiful bridesmaids in pink. It was a lovely service and, as always at weddings, there was a tear in my eye.

The weather was not the best unfortunately. What was a medium wind when we entered the church turned into a gale force wind by the time we exited. The rain was also coming down in torrents. The church itself is situated on top of a small hill on the coast. It is also where Beth was christened in 2010 and I had my First Holy Communion in 1988. We had a great view of the white horses thrashing the beach as we ran to the car. Of course, my hair was ruined!

After a brief stop for sandwiches in a friend's house, we made our way out to Cabra Castle in Kingscourt, Co. Cavan. Beth and I checked in, ooh-ed and aah-ed at our room (and massive bathroom), and then went to the reception. The food, atmosphere, speeches were all very enjoyable. I even spent most of the time partaking in adult conversation! Beth and the flower girls had great fun together.

We left the party at around 10.30pm. Beth doesn't like loud music and, wow, the band were loud! We were up early the next day, checking in with the bride and having a big breakfast. Beth and I wandered around the grounds a bit after breakfast before heading off at 11am. Thankfully, my friend Anthony was very good to drop us (and collected!) to the airport. 

The turbulence out of Dublin was terrifying. I did my best not to show how scared I was in front of Beth. She was loving it and squealed every time the plane jumped. Luckily, the landing in Blackpool was nice and smooth.

My Dad collected us from the airport and we went to the hotel, after a brief stop in with his new wife's family. There I met with her daughters and their children. The youngest granddaughter was a little jealous of Beth but that's perfectly normal at her age (3).

We stayed at The Melville Hotel (click here to see my review). It was perfectly fine and typical of the type of accommodation you would find in a UK seaside resort. We were treated very well by the staff, well, apart from waiting forever for breakfast on the last two mornings!

On the morning of the wedding, Beth, Dad and I walked the twenty minutes to the Methodist Church. We had a quick coffee while waiting for the church to open (we were quite early). Beth explored the church until Imelda showed up five minutes early. Beth held the eldest granddaughters hand and walked down the aisle. I was so proud of her. All the ladies were in white, with Beth and the bride holding bouquets of green, yellow and white.

The service was different to the one in Ireland but no less special. The female minister was very friendly. The eldest granddaughter and I did two readings, the same readings that were read at Deborah's wedding on the Saturday. Rings were exchanged, blessings given and then it was time to eat.

We went to The Zen Restaurant in St. Anne's. Food was fantastic and the wedding cake was divine.

On the Tuesday, Beth and I went to Nickelodeon Land at Pleasure Beach. It was so much fun!! I won a huge Spongebob Squarepants for her (delighted with myself). 

It was tough squeezing him into the suitcase!

We relaxed on the Tuesday night before we had to say our farewells on the Wednesday. The flight out of Blackpool was nice and easy but Dublin, again, was a nightmare. There were only a few people on the plane. It was one of those small propeller yokes that need a push down the runway. Out of about twenty passengers, six were children, including Beth. The delighted shouts and weeeeees with the turbulence almost made it bearable.

And that was the end of our wedding adventures!

The big news I have is that we are getting a house visit from the Dundalk Dog Rescue this evening. We are getting a dog!! I'll have photos and more details when we get one but for now we just have to be checked out and sign some forms. We're so excited!