Other people's weddings this time
Jul. 4th, 2011 04:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livThank you all for your comments to my previous post. Seriously, I've had the most amazingly generous offers from unexpected quarters, and I'm really touched by that. I have lots of things to talk about that are not the wedding, mainly book reviews that I'm really behind on. Anyway I know I'm hardly the only person ever to get married! Indeed my dear friend angelofthenorth has invited me to her wedding in September, and this weekend was her hen party, which was entirely wonderful.
I was a bit nervous when I first saw the title "hen party" on the invitation, because I generally don't like gender-segregated events and I don't like events based on drunkenness or being loud and silly in public. But of course I should have known better;angelofthenorth and her friends have impeccable taste, and this hen party consisted of afternoon tea at The Pump Room in Bath. So I had a lovely journey across the West Country (once past Birmingham, at least), and stepped off the train into a city so ridiculously elegant that it looks more like a film set than a real place.
There's really nothing more appropriate to do in a city like that than to spend several hours enjoying high-grade teas and seriously high-grade conversation in an amazing 18th century Neoclassical ballroom. The Pump Room is a total tourist trap, but it also actually is that nice. Everything from the tall glass vases of gladioli which are both relevant to the city and matched the scale of the room was just perfect. There was a string quartet with a repertoire beyond the obvious Classic FM favourites. The scones were perfect (and believe me, I'm picky about scones), and the cakes were so rich that we didn't even manage to finish them. The service was very good too, friendly without being obsequious, and the waitress' clotted cream accent was an added bonus. As well as tea the meal was accompanied by a taster selection of Pommerey champagne, which unfortunately none of us could really drink due to medication. I reckoned one small glass while I'm taking antibiotics wouldn't kill me, but I'd hoped for more fellow-drinkers to share the rest with.
Alsoangelofthenorth's friends are lovely; she'd brought together people from various parts of her life but all of them, including me who didn't know anyone but the hostess before, got on really well. Once we really couldn't manage another crumb, we went for a walk round the city, and enjoyed the river and a labyrinth and a snatch of sung Evensong at the Abbey. Just perfect! I was home by 10 to, because the train was 3 minutes early and the bus driver was kind, so I didn't miss the half-hourly bus by 2 minutes as I usually do.
I can't wait for the actual wedding, based on what I heard of the plans being discussed. Seems it's going to be quite an experience! I've also managed to book a holiday in Pembrokeshire for the week afterwards, at the family place that where we spent every summer of my childhood.
In spite of that, and visits from MK andhatam_soferet later in the summer, I think I'm going to end up with surplus vacation time. Does anyone want to get together any time between 23rd July and 21st August? I'm probably not going to be bothered to go abroad again this year, but anywhere in Britain is fair game. I am happy to make social arrangements for weekends if you're more restricted in time off work than I am; being able to use Fridays and Mondays for travel just makes dealing with geography that bit more, well, civilized.
angelofthenorth has invited me to her wedding in September, and this weekend was her hen party, which was entirely wonderful.I was a bit nervous when I first saw the title "hen party" on the invitation, because I generally don't like gender-segregated events and I don't like events based on drunkenness or being loud and silly in public. But of course I should have known better;
angelofthenorth and her friends have impeccable taste, and this hen party consisted of afternoon tea at The Pump Room in Bath. So I had a lovely journey across the West Country (once past Birmingham, at least), and stepped off the train into a city so ridiculously elegant that it looks more like a film set than a real place. There's really nothing more appropriate to do in a city like that than to spend several hours enjoying high-grade teas and seriously high-grade conversation in an amazing 18th century Neoclassical ballroom. The Pump Room is a total tourist trap, but it also actually is that nice. Everything from the tall glass vases of gladioli which are both relevant to the city and matched the scale of the room was just perfect. There was a string quartet with a repertoire beyond the obvious Classic FM favourites. The scones were perfect (and believe me, I'm picky about scones), and the cakes were so rich that we didn't even manage to finish them. The service was very good too, friendly without being obsequious, and the waitress' clotted cream accent was an added bonus. As well as tea the meal was accompanied by a taster selection of Pommerey champagne, which unfortunately none of us could really drink due to medication. I reckoned one small glass while I'm taking antibiotics wouldn't kill me, but I'd hoped for more fellow-drinkers to share the rest with.
Also
angelofthenorth's friends are lovely; she'd brought together people from various parts of her life but all of them, including me who didn't know anyone but the hostess before, got on really well. Once we really couldn't manage another crumb, we went for a walk round the city, and enjoyed the river and a labyrinth and a snatch of sung Evensong at the Abbey. Just perfect! I was home by 10 to, because the train was 3 minutes early and the bus driver was kind, so I didn't miss the half-hourly bus by 2 minutes as I usually do. I can't wait for the actual wedding, based on what I heard of the plans being discussed. Seems it's going to be quite an experience! I've also managed to book a holiday in Pembrokeshire for the week afterwards, at the family place that where we spent every summer of my childhood.
In spite of that, and visits from MK and
hatam_soferet later in the summer, I think I'm going to end up with surplus vacation time. Does anyone want to get together any time between 23rd July and 21st August? I'm probably not going to be bothered to go abroad again this year, but anywhere in Britain is fair game. I am happy to make social arrangements for weekends if you're more restricted in time off work than I am; being able to use Fridays and Mondays for travel just makes dealing with geography that bit more, well, civilized.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-05 01:18 pm (UTC)