Wedding at Wasdale

The day of the wedding began damp and drizzly, the clouds only lifting as our minibus climbed up to the Low Wood Hall Hotel in Wasdale, a charmingly restored Victorian residence, where the LGH reunion (see yesterday) swelled to seven (including a prospective groom) and where we were immediately issued with an orchid buttonhole, a bag of pot-pourri confetti, and an itinerary for the day which duly unfolded in a relaxed informal way to include: welcoming snacks of sandwiches and cake served with a glass of Prosecco laced with hibiscus flower; live music from a string quartet and then a harpist; the two-groom ceremony itself followed confetti showers, bubbles, the release of white dove balloons, and photographs (now thankfully on a bright, sunny, late afternoon with stunning views from the terrace over the rhododendrons to Scafell peak); more Prosecco, this time accompanied by cake, scones and helpings from a bespoke three-tier (chocolate mint, jelly baby, chocolate orange) ice-cream tower; a buffet meal of sides of salmon and noisettes of lamb followed by strawberries and cream, or cheese from another tiered stack; and finally, much later, fireworks which coincided with the arrival of our return taxi at the conclusion of a wonderful wedding that wore its ten hour duration lightly while providing a delightful setting for the latest LGH get-together.