pepper | (no subject)

I had a really lovely weekend – starting Friday evening. On Friday, after work, I went to something called 'Taste of London', which is a foodie gathering in Regent's Park (I got tickets for the bf and I through work). It's an open-air sort of thing, fortunately with marquees because it rained quite a lot. There were various top restaurants, and top chefs - I saw Anthony Worrell Thompson – urg – and Marcus Waring, and failed to see a whole bunch of others who were apparently there somewhere. The restaurants each had a little stall, from which they served three of their best dishes, and we wandered around and tried lots of different food. There were also lots of other stalls, selling food things, giving away freebies, and giving talks and demonstrations. I missed the lesson on how to make proper Italian pasta, unfortunately, but I had wonderful food and drink from lots of different places, bought some cherry and strawberry juice, cheese, and a bulb of elephant garlic, and staggered home stuffed to the gills.

Then, Saturday, was my friend's wedding. It was really beautiful. I got quite sniffly, which isn't like me (not at weddings, anyhow). The bride and groom had put so much care, attention and love into their day, and it really showed. There was a theme of flowers and plants, because they share an interest in gardening. The bride wore little cream-coloured roses in her hair (and a gorgeous orange silk dress). They'd written their own vows, and they weren't cheesy, but very sincere, and simple, and beautiful. She's Finnish, and he's English, so they exchanged languages, too, with the bride giving her vows in English, and the groom giving his in Finnish.

One of the loveliest things was, after they'd recited their vows, they exchanged roses, as their first gift to one another, and were asked to create a place for roses in their home, wherever they lived, and to visit that place every anniversary. And if they argued, or whatever, they could put a rose in this place, and it would remind them of their wedding day, and of all the reasons they love one another.

Then we had a lovely party, and champagne, and Finnish wedding cake (OMGlovely – sponge and cream and fruit, oh my), and silver birch wine, and purple aliums everywhere, and we met some really nice people and had a good chat about life, the universe, and everything, and watched the kids playing on the bouncy castle, and decided to hold an annual recreation of the hen weekend in Brighton, and danced to the Scissor Sisters, and... *happy sigh*

It was so romantic, and thoughtful, and loving, and just how a wedding day should be. Really beautiful.

And on Sunday I slept a lot, ate the elephant garlic (roasted and mashed into potatoes), watched Doctor Who (which confused me), Sharpe (which didn't), and customized my lj a bit. Like the pic? It's by Whistler. If I could own one painting, that would be it.

I have nothing fannish to say. *g* Oh, except that I've made a post that will stay on the top of the page, with links to all my fic. I've seen this done on several journals, and it seemed like a good idea. I think I've got all the links correct...

edit: Just remembered! I've put links in the above-mentioned post to the Christmas party reel comment fic by

crazedturkey,

holdouttrout,

sjfan,

linnet_101, and

niamaea - I hope that's okay with you guys? If it's a problem, let me know (

crazedturkey in particular, 'cause I linked to the fic you posted in your journal).

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sounds truly wonderful!

One of the loveliest things was, after they'd recited their vows, they exchanged roses, as their first gift to one another, and were asked to create a place for roses in their home, wherever they lived, and to visit that place every anniversary. And if they argued, or whatever, they could put a rose in this place, and it would remind them of their wedding day, and of all the reasons they love one another.

My college roommate did that at her wedding! (okay, my college roommate and her now-husband did that at their wedding).

Yay to good weddings that are meaningful and yay to Taste of London and yay to lazy Sundays.

My college roommate did that at her wedding!

It's beautiful, isn't it? If I'd been told about it without seeing it, I might have thought it was terribly cheesy - but it really didn't feel cheesy. Meaningful, yes, that's the word.

I feel so chilled out after this weekend. I feel like next weekend is going to be a distinct come-down, though. *g* Oh, except, of course, I'll be posting my remix, and reading everyone else's. Yes. *looks shifty*

...romantic, and thoughtful, and loving, and just how a wedding day should be.

See...that sounds really thoughtful and filled with things that make them...them.

And of *course* you can link to the comment fic. *shakes head in an amused manner*. And that is truly a gorgeous painting.

filled with things that make them...them

It really was. There was a whole load of garden-related things, too many for me to remember but including the silver birch wine (silver birches are the Finnish national tree, too). It was just obvious how much they'd both put into it. It was lovely to see.

And, thanks! *g* I felt asking was only polite.

fine with me! I be an attention-whore :D

Awww...what a lovely wedding :). Wedding's always make me teary.

Oh, cool. I didn't want to just assume that was okay, but I pretty much thought no one would have a problem with it.

I'm so polite. *g*

Weddings don't usually make me teary, but this was one of my oldest friends, and it seemed like such a happy ending... *gets teary again*