October was very exciting for me because I got invited to a wedding and I’d never even met the bride or the groom. I got the invite from Dan’s best friend Chrissy and the wedding was right at the beginning of the month.
I took Friday off of work for the wedding and flew to England on Thursday before, right after my last class. All morning flights to Durham had been cancelled due to weather conditions so I was pretty nervous about whether or not my flight would even happen. In the end there weren’t even delays and I was on my way to a weekend of dressing up and celebrating.
Dan picked me up on his way home from work so we could have a few hours together before he had to set off to do best man duties. From what he understood he was meant to help Chrissy through his last night of singledom and, as the joke went, make sure he got to the altar the next day in relatively good shape. We cuddled up in bed and Dan was very reluctant to leave. I would be spending the night in his bed, without him, and driving up to the wedding with his mom the next day. It was going to be weird for both of us for me to be in his room without him. As it got later and later, Chrissy sent more and more messages asking where he was. Dan did a few more dramatic sighs, dragged his feet some more but eventually got out the door and on his way for the hour drive to get to the venue. I spent some time hanging out with his mom before heading to bed and once Dan got there he messaged to let me know there were loads of other guys there and they weren’t even expecting him to show up anymore.
I should probably mention here that Dan is not a fan of weddings. Or wearing suits. Or wearing suits at weddings. Or giving speeches. In a suit. Basically the next day was his version of waking hell and he was grumpy about it. I, on the other hand, was delighted. I love dressing up and seeing other people all dressed up and Dan in a three piece suit was pretty much my hotness ideal (I was not wrong). I was also going to be hanging out with his friends and meeting all the ones I hadn’t met yet. I am not interested in tying the knot myself but I am more than happy to watch other people do it.
The next day Dan’s mom went to get her hair done and I did battle with mine. Spent nearly an hour straightening it and the wave was already fighting back before we even got in the car. I did manage to work a fascinator into the look, though, so I was quite pleased.
Some pesky road works meant that we went off in the wrong direction and arrived later than we meant to. We still got there in plenty of time due to the sheer brilliance of asking people to show up over an hour before anything got started. We went round to the groom’s little guest house and I met Chrissy who was never in any danger of not showing up for his own wedding. He looked nervous but happy. Dan’s brother and friend Ste had also arrived by that time and we headed to the main building where the other guests were. That’s where I met Jonny and Vicky just as they were walking in. And not long after that I met Bainsey’s wife Gosia.
We got called into the hall for the ceremony and found ourselves some seats together in the middle. Dan looked like he was the one with his head on the chopping block and his mom and I both had a little giggle about that. Sarah, the bride, looked gorgeous in a 1950s style dress and the bridesmaids all wore black, floor length gowns. The ceremony itself was non-denominational and short and well punctuated by a well-timed “Oh no!!” from one of the kids present (who was watching a cartoon at the time). Made everyone smile and relax a bit more and it’s a story we’ll probably all be telling forever now.
After the ceremony we went outside for a group photo and then spent some time chatting while they turned the hall we’d just had the ceremony in into the hall we would be eating in. We took lots of pictures in the sunshine and had a drink while we waited.
The meal and speeches were lovely and Dan did very well for someone who would have rather cut off a finger. The tables had shots of Jäger for the guys and perfumey gel stuff for the ladies. I got both because Dan doesn’t drink. In the end Dan kept the nice smelly stuff for his room. The Jäger is still in my freezer.
After the food Ste, Bainsey and I went to the hotel we’d be staying at to check us in while the rest stayed behind and waited for the cake and disco to get set up. Apparently Dan’s remaining friends let him know he found himself a good match right after I left. He looked dead pleased when he told me about it when I got back. So score for me with a full-friend approval rating!
There was a fun photo booth and a candy bar at the party after and we found ourselves a table at the back and waited for the songs the guys had sent in for their disco to get played. Chrissy had asked everyone to send in some song requests and the guys all chose pretty obscure ones. In the end the only one that got played was one of Dan’s: Love Shack by the B52’s. Which the other ladies and I danced to. The guys aren’t big dancers.
As the evening wore on we got silly in the photo booth and took prom-themed pictures in front of one of the white curtains. The guys got a pretty decent group shot, too. Vicky and I hit it off really well and she said it would be lovely if I could make it to her and Jonny’s wedding in November. I said I’d love to and would definitely see if I could make it.
I faded pretty fast waiting for more food, though, and Dan and I called it a night fairly early. We went back to the hotel where I finally got my hands on the handsome guy in the three piece suit. 😉 Which was a lot of fun.
The following morning we decided to go to brunch with the others staying at our hotel: Bainsey, Gosia, Ste and Nicky. We went to the Conservatory at the Hartlepool marina and I got my favourite: a full English breakfast. It was nice to hang out with them again and to get to know Gosia better. It really made me want to make an effort to be at Jonny and Vicky’s wedding to hang out with them again.
After brunch Dan and I went back to his place and watched Moonlight. It wasn’t a great stream and kept getting stuck which made Dan grump and sulk until I made it a game to kiss until it came back. Which ended up making him grump and huff if it sorted itself out too quickly.
Since we had the house to ourselves we also decided to have a bubble bath together just like they do in the movies. We both pretty much figured it would be a big, messy disaster, largely uncomfortable and not sexy at all. We were pleasantly surprised. We got candles and nice smelling bubble gunk and managed to squish ourselves in, only slopping a little water over the side. I think it’s the longest I have ever spent in a bath because I absolutely do not have the patience for that crap normally. This was very fun, though, and it was a whole new kind of intimate.
Sadly I had to fly home again the next day and I had an early flight as that was all that was left when I booked for the wedding. After breakfast together we headed to the airport and, deflated, I went home. This good bye wasn’t too awful, though, because I was coming back to see Dan in my fall break in just under three weeks.
I decided not to go for my entire break because I had been leaving my dogs behind with a good friend of mine a lot this year and felt like I was neglecting them a bit. Add to that the fact that Dan wasn’t getting any time off from work and it meant I would have been spending most of my time waiting for him to come home. So I booked my flight from Wednesday to Sunday and would be arriving at our favourite time slot which meant Dan could pick me up on the way home from work.
It was a bit of a mixed bag visit when I went over. Lots of familiar hanging around, making myself at home while the rest were at work, walking to Asda to buy “stuff and things” and eating all of my favourite comfort foods. By Friday, though, it seemed I had caught the cold Dan had been fighting off earlier in the week and it hit me pretty hard. I had a runny nose and was sneezing all the time. Slept quite badly and couldn’t get comfortable in any measurable way. We had a date night on Friday and my intention was to make it really sexy and fun when we got home but snot and sexy do not make a great team so it turned into an early night and me trying desperately to breathe through my terribly raw nose.
The next morning I was feeling quite a bit more human and Dan made me breakfast. We decided to venture out to Verrill’s for the best fish and chips in the area but, sadly, it didn’t seem to be open so we went for the second best fish and chips. I also got my picture taken with Andy Capp. Once we got home we did some pumpkin carving. I scooped the guts and Dan did the artistic part. The turned out pretty darn cute.
After a full day I was pretty wiped out again so we crawled back into bed and watched Stranger Things 2. If memory serves, I had a good sleep that night and my cold seemed to be dying down.
Sunday was a lovely, lazy day with lots of cuddles and food. Dan’s brother came over and it was all very familiar, emphasis on the family part of familiar. As with every visit, though, the flight home rolled around far too quickly and before I knew it I was waiting for a plane again and this time it was late. Which meant I got home late.
I went to work the next day with a cold that had come back with a vengeance. I managed Tuesday (Halloween) as well but don’t ask me how. Dan and I watched the last few episodes of Stranger Things 2 “together” that night and our trusty “watch Netflix together” app let us down so we had to “press play at the same time” just like in the early days. Which had it’s own charm.
Our visits were spaced out at the beginning and end of the month which made it feel like we were together for most of it, even though we weren’t. I think, after August, October was my favourite month this year.
Until November …
(… to be continued …) xJI
Also in this series: January // February // March // April // May // June // July // August // September
crafting witch 