Valima Day

The hotel was poo and I didn't really get a very good sleep. But I made it to breakfast this morning and it was nice to meet the new couple The Day After under more normal conditions. None of the IC crew had actually met the new bride before, so before that point we only really had a possibly biased opinion from what was her fiance.

Now I won't sing her praises too much, but she is great. And I will say that it takes a particular... "quality"... to be able to feel comfortable and involved with the IC Crew (a mixture of patience and humour I think) and from what I got from her, she has it in spades.

But then we had to get ready for the valima. As was the case yesterday family was beginning to trickle in, but since this was the valima and so the groom's responsibility some were already at the hall setting up. I'm not sure what happened but we were ultra late arriving with most of the guests there when we finally got there.

The best thing about this day was how many ICers were present. Unlike the day before when there were only four, at least fifteen people from our uni had been invited (and some even with their own wives and kids). Not only that but a few other non-IC mutual acquaintances were there too.

My family were also invited. Idris and Haroon were in tow, and I made sure I exploi... erm introduced them to all my mates and of course they played the part well. But seriously, this was a rare opportunity to introduce them to my IC mates; I'm not sure the same crowd will ever be together on the same day, wedding or not.

What else? Oh, well the food was even better than the day before and the bride was wearing purple. And I just have to mention the Continental GT too. Oh my.

But then of course the day and weekend had to end. Sigh. We had all planned to leave from the hall and were ready to do so but it still seemed a bit abrupt. Saying our final farewells to the new husband and wife, and their family and friends that we had grown relatively close to we got to our cars (some of us choosing to change in the car park rather than the toilet. Ahem). We then formed the three piece convoy that would take us all the way to the Watford Gap Services after which we finally parted ways. Honestly, it was like the fellowship splitting up. So sad.

And that was it. The event we had all been anticipating and looking forward to for the past three months was over. It was only one weekend it seemed like much longer although I wish we all had more time to give the occassion - there seemed to have been very little beginning and ending to the whole thing. Bar a couple of minor things the weekend was wonderful and unique and is totally up there with the best. And if any of my friends' future weddings are anything like this one, I honestly can't wait to attend them.