Saturday August 1st – When we woke up on Saturday it was a lovely sunny day, slightly breezy, but warmer than we’ve experienced so far. Jenn Robbins posted on her facebook “a lovely day for a wedding” and it certainly looked that way. We had quite a bit of time before we had to get ready so decided to walk through town, do a bit of shopping, and have a bite of lunch before returning to the hotel. As we sat down for lunch it started raining and didn’t let up until just as the ceremony finished. It then continued with a slight drizzle of and on until later in the evening.

Weddings are done differently in England but this one was a nice mix of tradition, English customs and Canadian customs. The groom and his father were there to greet us when we walked into the church. Hats and fascinators are definitely normal wedding attire here and there were some beauties! Jenn’s sister, Laura, was the Matron of Honour and James’ brother-in-law was the best man. The flower girl, three-year-old niece of the groom, was absolutely darling as she ‘threw’ the rose petals in the aisle.

It was an Anglican service and Jenn chose three of the four hymns sung at Will and Kate’s wedding. Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer and Loves Divine all Loves Excelling were fine, but Jerusalem seemed a bit strange to me. Singing wasn’t great but we figured the bride’s side, with many young people, weren’t really church people. We noticed that the attendants don’t have much to do at an English ceremony as they both sat in a front pew until it was time for the ring ceremony. Jenn was quite excited that, since there is no confetti rules at home, she got to have confetti here. Fortunately, it had stopped raining and we were able to oblige!

 

 

The reception was also a nice mix of cultures and traditions.  There were canapes and Pims in the downstairs hall while pictures were taken upstairs and then we all moved upstairs to the dining room. The bride’s mother having removed her hat at this point, allowed all the other ladies to remove theirs. The main course was served British-style (meat & potatoes plated and veggies shared from a cast iron pan). The hotel surprised Jenn by putting a stenciled maple leaf on the creme brûlée – nice touch.

After the speeches, George and I left to travel to Windermere. The trip was uneventful and we arrived about 11pm. Fortunately, I travel with a flashlight because we had to extract our key from a lock-box on a very dark street. We were happy though to have a ‘drive-in’ parking spot rather than struggle with parallel parking that late at night.

Windermere Cottage is very old, having been built in 1847, but was completely modernized in 2012. It’s in the upper section of Windermere, away from the busyness of the lake and all the tourists. I think we will enjoy our week here.