The Big Day

We took it easy in the morning, woke up slowly and just enjoyed relaxing a bit. Took a shower and around 11am started dressing and putting make up on. The Wedding started at 2pm so we went to Chows on Byres Road first for lunch and then headed to the church. The weather was really nice, although it was a bit windy, which is quite unusual in Glasgow, but as long as it isn't raining everyone is happy. We arrived at the church, a beautiful church, and stood around not knowing what to do with ourselves, I didn't know anyone. I had seen his parents once three years ago, and they were dressed decidedly different then than now. So it wasn't until Lewis showed up that I actually felt relieved, we said our hellos and I introduced him to Hrafnhildur. It was obvious that he had been practising with her name and it was quite impressive to hear him say it, he got it in the first attempt. The ceremony was nice, although way different from back home. The priest didn't allow any pictures to be taken during the ceremony, which was not very nice, because, even though the guests didn't take photos he might have allowed the hired photographer to snap some pictures but NO. We felt the priest was a bit creepy. The hymns sung and the passages read were really weird and I am sure there were a few things gone awry in translation because some of the verses really made no sense. Also it was all a bit chauvinistic, where she should obey and sit in his shadow and all that kind of stuff, and the priest actually stated that this was the right kind of wedding ... a heterosexual union. All very really religious stuff and all, something that we as Icelanders (unless we belong to the Krossinn) kind of shy away from. Not very up our alley so to speak. But it was nice and probably something that they are used to. I managed to take a few pictures of the bride and groom .. or Mr. and Mrs. Meek outside the church in the wedding car (Brúðarbíl), really cool, car and the Bridesmaid and Best man also had their car. Then Hrabba and I grabbed the first taxi we could hail and went home to collect the presents and Hrabbas camera before going to the reception and dinner. The reception was held in the Hunter Halls at Glasgow University, which for more than just strange for some of us because we were used to sitting there during our exams and this was something new. We sat at the Crocus table, every table was named after some flowers. We sat eight at our table, Hrabba and me, and Jo (a girl) from Australia, Alaine (pronounced Alan), ? (can not for the life of me remember his name), Naomi (called Nimh), Monzie Olaf Ragnar (half Irish, other half both Norwegian and Swedish) and then there was Fraser who sat on my right at the table. The first course was a starter course of Salmon paste and salad, with oat bisquit, bread and butter. The main course was chicken wrapped in bacon and cheese filling wiht mustard sauce, also potatoes and vegetables. The dessert was just heaven, it was a chocolate dessert in a wee cup, not quite a mousee because it was much more smoother than that and with bit of whipped cream as well. Lovely. You would think that this was enough, but no, there was also coffee, tea and after dinner mints. After that the fun started. It was a bit daunting to watch, but after the first two dances, I hurried out onto the dancefloor, because I wanted to try it, and Alaine was nice enough to draft Ewan into service as my dancing partner. I got to dance the Highland Fling dance, called "The Gay Garden" (translated as Glaði Garðurinn and not the other way). It was incredibly fun, but darn it, I was not exhausted after it, I was dead. I felt a few times like my legs would cave from under me, this dance lasted like five or six minutes, but it felt like it was never ending. I really wanted to dance more, but decided not to because I felt me knee go wonky, also a few minutes after my dance I started to get bruises on my knee, not too good. Hrabba got to try as well, her partner was Fraser and she got to dance the "Spin the Barrell" which was one of the first dances I got to try a few years ago. It was fun watching her being twirled away like I had been then. Then there was a small break where they served the wedding cake and sandwiches. The bar had also opened, so people could by cokes, wines and spirits, not to mention water. This is probably the only wedding I have ever been to where water was the most popular beverage. 2 litre bottles were just flying off the shelfs by the dozens. Then we said goodbye to the newly weds and then started dancing again, or watching the dancing at least. The ceilidh lasted until 11:30pm and then we said goodbye to both sets of parents and headed home to pack for our journey back in the morning.