me = Loony BoB
Danielle = smittenkitten
Paul = Psychotic
Lev = Levian
Josh = Loony JosH
Sarah = Shorty
Pontus/Rantz = Rantzien
Bubba = Bubba
DC = Drift
Ashley = Faris
Shauna = Shauna
Matt = Mr. Shauna
Marion = Raine
Jordan = chronos
Mum = Mum
Nikki = Tweety_Ch1ck
Prelogue
At the moment I type this first sentence out, it's just hit 1pm on Saturday 21st September 2013. In something like an hour, it'll be a week since I got married. I'm really tired. I'm physically and mentally drained and emotionally exhausted. The past two weeks have completely overwhelmed me, I feel like I've been thrown into a whirlpool... but it's also probably been the best week or two of my life. Ever.
Not only did I meet my family for the first time in eleven years, not only did I meet so many friends for the first time in years if not ever, not only did I meet my closest and best friend for the first time, not only did I get all of these people together in once place as a result of endless planning... but I married the love of my life and I couldn't have hoped for a better wedding day. It was amazing. For any of you who got involved in any way, be it as a guest, best man, groomsman, livestreamer, therapist, speechmaker or even well-wisher - thank you so much, from every part of my heart. I love you guys.
Now. On to the story, I suppose. This will probably be written over many hours, perhaps even days, so forgive me if it doesn't flow perfectly. Also, note that it's told from my perspective and therefore skips a lot of things that happened when I wasn't around, and the images for the most part focus on what I remember.
It all started when...
Going back as far as the 5th September, eleven days before the wedding, Thursday and Friday at work were a nightmare and Thursday night was spent cleaning at home and preparing for the next day. Why? Because as soon as I finished work I was getting picked up and whisked off to a B&B north of Glasgow for a wedding of Danielle's work colleague. Stu & Lou put on a mega-wedding of amazing proportions, something Danielle and I found interesting and educational. It was a wonderful time, though, and I'm really glad we got to attend, and it was a pleasure to see them at our wedding the next week.
We returned on Sunday and Monday was supposed to be for cleaning our flat, but in the end it was a day of non-stop running around to get last minute stuff sorted out before my family arrived the next day. We kept hoping to tidy up again later, but it just never happened. Who knew the week before a wedding could be busy!? The place has had a few rush-
tidies, including today as we got back after taking Rantz to the airport, but the place is still a tip. Oh well. We can deal with that later.
Familiar Faces
Mum and Murray, my stepdad, met Danielle and I at the airport where we were waiting for my family. I was excited to say the least and refused to sit down. I watched eagerly as dozens - no, hundreds of people popped through the gates, but my family were nowhere to be seen. After a while I was leaning on the barrier and just grumbled to my Mum, excited puppy syndrome out the window, "They're taking their sweet arse time about this. Should we just text them and tell them we'll meet them in town!?" Luckily, they eventually arrived. Murray whisked off with their bags to drop them off at their respective accommodations while Dad, Josh, Steph, Nikki, Danielle, Mum and myself all piled into the AirLink bus to the city.
Stephanie was full of excitement every time we passed a stone building, let alone how amazed she was at the cathedrals and so forth. It was a joy to see everyone. We roamed around for a little while, with Josh and I heading to the Lothian Buses depot to get his bus card while Dad and co went off to sort out phones before catching up with Josh and myself. We spent the next two days hanging around town and off to my place for dinner if I recall correctly. It was just like hanging out with my family years ago, as if nothing had changed. It was wonderful.
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The next day we went to Edinburgh Dungeons... I got called to the stand in 'court' by the 'judge'. The people before myself were very quiet and intimidated but I was... less so. xD I got into character pretty quickly telling the booing crowd where they could go before making cheeky comments at the judge, who quickly accused me of crossdressing and then told me I could get out of my punishment by buying him a pint that evening. Flirty bugger. ;) Either way, it was hilarious. Shame we couldn't take photos as Danielle got thrown in a small cage in the torturer's chamber, too, after they found out she was my wife-to-be. Perhaps less of a shame they couldn't take photos when the torturer picked out me (I must stand out like a light bulb on these tours) as the person to demonstrate various torture methods on. A great day all in all. After that climbed Scott Monument, which was pretty awesome, I must concede (I'd never bothered before because I thought it'd be boring).
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Eyes on Arrivals
With my two family days sorted, the next day I was looking forward to in equal measure and it was expected to be the busiest day of the two weeks outside of the wedding. Rantz, Sarah and Lev were all arriving and needless to say I was excited. All three of them are just such wonderful friends to me and have helped me through all kinds of times over the past months and years, but it almost goes without saying that Sarah is special in my life.
Pontus arrived first of all (first EoFFer in, last out!), a mere hour before Sarah, so we hung around in the waiting area for that period and just chatted about whatever came to mind. You might notice I interchange his username Rantz and real name Pontus in this lengthy post - people were amused about how I called him Rantz and I made a slight effort to change to calling him Pontus, but it was tough for me. I find it hard to switch away from usernames after knowing people for so long! I'm halfway there. xD I'll probably remain that way for a while, though, it's just a force of habit.
Anyway, Sarah eventually got through the gate and after some long-overdue hugs, we all hopped onto a bus (Sarah's first ever bus ride in her life, what the smurf) and chatted out merry way through to town. Rantz dropped his stuff off at his flat before we headed to my place where Sarah was staying the night. We then headed straight to Vittoria on the Walk, the favourite restaurant of Danielle & myself, where our two families were eating. We were a touch late, but we got there in the end to a large cheer from the 19-strong contingent who had already been wining and dining on starters while waiting for us. Many hellos were had and many photos were taken, it was a proper feast and very enjoyable!
After a really nice dinner and a bit of confusion regarding who was doing what that evening, Danielle headed to our flat with her Dad to move out for the two nights before the wedding (not to mention dropping off the suits) while Murray took Pontus, Sarah and myself to pick up Lev and return him to my now vacant home. The four of us had an enjoyable evening before I took Pontus back to his place and returned at midnight to a dark flat with two snoozing travellers in the lounge half asleep, bless 'em.
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The Pre-Wedding Panic
Friday was intended as a fairly relaxing, de-stress day before the wedding. It was anything but! Sarah, Lev and I went to see Pontus before we nipped out to collect Paul and Ashley from their bus they had grabbed from the airport. They were a little later than expected, but that allowed my three current companions to grab their one-week bus cards over the road. We crossed the road, waited a few minutes and then zipped over to the shared apartment. We got the keys, dropped everyone off at the (very nice) place we booked and then Sarah and I left for what is seemingly referred to around EoFF as our "Special Lunch" (once again at Vittoria on the Walk). It was very much an instantly relaxing moment when we sat down on the bus already somewhat exhausted from all the goings on.
Sadly, the intended therapy session where I relax myself didn't quite work out much further than the bus journey. While eating lunch, I commented that I hadn't heard from Rory in quite some time. It was about a few seconds after saying that when I checked my phone and - hey presto! - a message from Rory. Sadly, family emergency was amongst the words in the message and he wouldn't make it. With roughly 24 hours to go, I messaged Bubba who, along with his friend Chris, was an evening guest. I also discovered shortly afterwards from Danielle (via phone, don't worry, I'm not seeing the bride before the wedding) that another person had not pulled through as a backup from a previous cancelled guest so I had two spots. Luckily, Bubba and Chris were both able to grab suits and fill the seats for the very expensive and very much already-paid-for meals the next day! Life savers. :)
Also mentioned during the phonecall to Danielle were various other things that I suddenly had to do because Danielle had "had enough". Therefore, along with the organising of guests, I had to reorganise the table plan, get the new plan to the Scotsman, confirm changes to dietary requirements, move photos to a USB stick and print them off, tweak the playlists, do my speech, email the pre-vow readings to our celebrant, fold up the order of service things and... and... I forget what else. Oh, yeah, cufflinks and whatnot. Sarah napped on the couch while I slaved away on mobile phone, landline and internet for the next hour or three sorting everything out in time to pick up Marion at close to 5pm. Sarah and I arrived to see Marion just getting off her bus. Phew! Still with a lot to do, we whisked her off via taxi to her B&B and, as Sarah was staying there later in the week, I let them both check it out and also walked them to the extremely close by venue where Danielle and I would be wed within 24 hours.
Promising to collect Marion personally the day of the wedding, Sarah and I took flight to the shared apartment where I offloaded my PS2 and some games. I got to meet DC at this point, who is fantastic, and while we wanted to hang around for Shauna and Matt, we ran out of time as I had to do various things. By this point I had nipped across the road to an internet café and printed off the various things that were required (we don't have a printer. Those of us not staying overnight jumped into a taxi and fled for the city, dropping off Pontus, Sarah, Paul and finally myself and Lev at my flat. Danielle's Dad was summoned and we traded papers - the pictures we'd printed to him and the orders of service to myself. It wasn't long before I was sitting at the PC, doing everything I could to not just stay awake but also to keep myself sane, typing out my speech while IRC'ing with Rantz to educate him on how to stream the wedding on his laptop. Lev, thank God, was eager to help and took on the folding up of the 60 order of service papers while we chewed on pizza and chicken strips ordered in from Dominoes. Swiftly emailing the very lately written speech to our celebrant for last-minute printing, we went to bed.
The Big Day
I got Lev up the next morning and we ate crumpets for breakfast. While I was stressed the day before, I was freaking out in the morning of the big day. Lev got ready so he could let in those arriving at the flat (Paul, Sarah, Dad, Josh, Stephanie) while I was out getting my hair cut. I quickly changed the songs on the playlist, hooray for remembering at the last minute, before I nipped out.
I distinctly remember the rather surreal moment. If I wasn't feeling so rushed by the bus being due I would have taken the time to type into Facebook saying something like "In a t-shirt, hoodie and jeans waiting for the bus for my haircut. Can't help but think I'm supposed to be doing something else later today..." Off I went, and the hairdresser we go to had done Danielle's hair the Friday beforehand in preparation for the wedding one week earlier. I'd say she helped calm my nerves but those nerves are not so easily calmed. I twice had to get her to cut it shorter - I wanted it just right. She was great, though, and got it perfect in the end.
I headed back by bus and as I got off, noticed a taxi across the road. I spotted Paul and Sarah buzzing themselves in thanks to Lev and got across the road just in time to stop the door from shutting in my face! I casually hopped up the steps behind them and they didn't pay me any attention until I stared them in the eye as they rounded at the top of the first flight of stairs. Lev was equally surprised as I was first in through the door. :)
I grabbed the suits and we all got sorting ourselves out. Lev and myself got set (many thanks to Sarah for taking care of our last minute ironing!) and then Josh and Paul got suited up... however, as Paul mentioned, his was one button short! Frantic calls and Paul & Sarah were sent on a taxi run through to Slaters to get fixed up and, as my family, Lev and myself rode a second taxi moments later to the venue, it was remembered (I think by Lev or myself) that we had to pick up Pontus so we could set up the live stream! Thankfully Paul and Sarah had not yet caught their taxi from Slaters and were able to be advised to detour to Rantz's place and collect him as our taxi was full.
We arrived at the venue and laid out the various things such as rings, wedding schedule, orders of service, speakers and so forth in the designated bag/cloak room. It was beautiful weather and the Abden House staff had thankfully taken it upon themselves to pre-empt my decision to move everything outdoors, which saved us a small hassle and also acted as something of an instant relief to myself. The arrival at Abden House was a departure from my nerves for pretty much the entire rest of the day, with small exceptions for the more terrifying moments such as readings, speeches and dances. It was a dramatic switch for me and I can't stress just how much changed there - I was suddenly at ease, relaxed, calm, zen. I just felt that everything was going to be okay. Dad, Josh and Steph opted to head for lunch but Lev and I stuck around in case people arrived early and because I wanted to test the outdoor power. With iPod and speakers tested successfully and Marion still battling with her hair curler, Lev and I suddenly felt hungry after all.
We headed over to Dad, Steph and Josh using their instructions and quickly realised they were not at a sandwich place but at a pub, which Lev and I didn't have time for. We eventually got a bite to eat from the local swimming centre. The staff there were lovely, noticing our suits and trading banter about weddings. As we ate our sandwiches on the way back to the venue, I remember a lady looking at us and just exclaiming "For God's sake, don't get your food on your suits!" Lev quickly commented that people in Edinburgh are really social, and I quickly noted that it seems to only really happen when you walk around looking as dapper as we clearly did!
When we got back, it wasn't long before some more familiar faces arrived in the form of Ben and Jordan, Danielle's brothers, and Steve, the maid of honour's boyfriend (the maid of honour is also Danielle's sister) - not to be confused with Iceglow! Steve mentioned it was really frantic so they had headed in early. Alarm bells went off in my head but I got on with things... My memory is slightly hazy with all that happened from this point. More greetings were quickly made when Pontus arrived with Paul and Sarah, and that's about the point that the flow of guests grew steady, including our absolutely perfect wedding photographer, Claire Tennant. Any alarm bells were muted when she noted how incredibly calm Danielle was while getting ready. Also arriving was the celebrant Catherine Wright, with speeches all beautifully printed. By this point Pontus and I had set up the livestream and posted it onto Facebook and EoFF, so all was going well. I understand the number of people watching the stream was in the 30's which I was delighted with, particularly due to my cousin, Sus (ms_devli at EoFF) being able to watch from New Zealand. This included people from EoFF, FFXIV and other friends and family from around the world.
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I think it was Pontus, Sarah and myself that walked down to meet Marion just as she left her B&B and helped her to the EoFF crowd which had now gathered, and it was also great to see Shauna and Matt there who I consider good friends offline as much as online nowadays. I also remember my workmates arriving and counting everyone off to notice they were one short - Stu (not the one that got married the week earlier, but a friend of mine from work) looked stunned as he thought Kat was only coming to the evening! This was news to me! Calls were made by Stu and in the end it was established that her childcare arrangement had been cancelled last minute. D'oh! I opted to deal with it after the ceremony as naturally I had priorities...
Claire Tennant then wrangled myself, Paul, Lev and Josh together for some groomsmen photos which involved a fair bit of abuse between Paul and myself, a fair bit of catalogue poses and at one point Paul pointed out that I smelled really nice, which provided me with a little amusement as I pointed out that it was the cologne Danielle bought for me a while back - the David Beckham one. Paul thinks Manchester United smells nice. :D
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The Ceremony
While everyone mingled, at some point I got Steve (maid of honour's boyfriend, if you're not keeping up) to 'stand guard' and let us know when the bridesmaid car was arriving so Pontus could flick the iPod to the designated song that would naturally catch everyone's attention and get them seated... Europe - The Final Countdown! So this happened and I basically got pretty excited. Paul casually asks for the rings.
<Psychotic> Remember those rings I asked you and you kept saying "not yet?"
<Loony BoB> *_*
<Psychotic> ¬_¬
<Loony BoB> ...Josh, you know where we left the yellow bag in the bag room and how it had the rings in it?
<Loony JosH> Yeah...
<Loony BoB> GET THE RINGS. RUN!
* Loony JosH (Quadratic@abdenhouselawn.com) Quit (Quit: Legging it)
* Loony JosH has joined #groomsmen
* Loony JosH hands Psychotic the rings
* Psychotic receives rings
<Loony BoB> ^_^;;;;; ty
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The guests gathered and Ben (Danielle's brother, again for those not keeping up) stood in the building ready to let us all know when to start the music. He gave the thumbs up and ran to his seat as Pontus flicked on Christina Perri - A Thousand Years, and seconds later bridesmaids Lee-Anne (Danielle's sister), Claire (friend through Danielle's old work, not to be confused with the photographer) and Michelle (maid of honour / Danielle's sister) walked their way down through the aisle.
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At this point, just as Danielle exited the building far enough away from me to not allow me a great view, the guests were requested to stand and any sighting was lost. It seemed like forever at the time! Danielle and her father, Daniel (seriously, ha!) made their way down the aisle and never in my days could I have imagined her to be so beautiful. To describe her by the dress or the tiara or whatever seems silly. You can see the pictures if you want to know what that looked like... but as she walked down towards me I just don't think anyone could really describe accurately just how amazing she looked. I love this girl with all my heart and with her smile and her eyes and... a;ihsga;igha; she's my wife now and I'm giddy about it. Anyways. xD Sorry. Back to it.
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Amongst the various things said by the celebrant and a blessing from my Dad, we read our readings to each other (we had no instruction from each other aside from length - we had no idea what each other would say). Here's the stuff I have in writing thanks to the celebrant...
Daniel, I love you in more ways than I could say. I remember when we first met after pestering you for a year online to meet up until you finally agreed, even though you were hesitant. I didn't know what to expect and I was so excited I thought I was going to burst, but always made sure it was in Central Station so if I didn't fancy you I could make a quick getaway! Luckily, however, I didn't and I stayed and here we are today.
After getting lost that day in Glasgow like two silly kids laughing at nothing, I look at you now and still see that kid in me and you, but we have both grown up together. You have loved me through my ups and downs, supporting me in every way possible and help picking me up when I fall. I love you greatly for everything you have done for me and I hope I can return the support you have given me by respecting and standing by you in the good or the bad times we might share.
I think you're awesomesauce! You are always there to find solutions to any of my problems whether they be emotional or financial - but they usually tend to be the latter! I love that I can be myself around you and you understand me completely which is probably more than I understand myself.
I want to marry you because I love and care for you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.
When I first laid eyes on you, I was taken by surprise - I never expected you to be so beautiful. Like I am right now, you were nervous that day. You always laugh when you're nervous. Because you laughed, you smiled your incredible, infectious smile... because you smiled, your eyes lit up, and they have continued to light up my world ever since.
You are bubbly, charismatic, hilarious, highly creative - such a fantastic imagination - fiercely protective, brutally honest, razor sharp-tongued and very quick to put me in my place when I state entirely accurate comments about the many great things about myself. Many people also often add the word 'special' to that list, but it couldn't be more true to me. There is nobody in this world that I love more than you, there is nobody more important in my life. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, without question.
You bring the best out in me, you always drive me to improve myself and you push to make me a better man. Which I like to think is a huge success and that, let's face it, I'm pretty bloody awesome... because of you. You are the best thing about me. I love you.
I love how you laugh and cry at Disney films you've seen a thousand times. I love how you happily sing along to foreign music despite not understanding the language... or, indeed, knowing the lyrics. I love how you clap your hands when you get excited and I love how you hug me when I'm doing the dishes. I love you for all the small things that make up who you are.
You are too good to be true. I love you, every day, for everything you do, everything you are, everything I am because of you and everything we are together. I was captured from the moment I met you, and in so many ways I feel I'm living in that very same moment today.
Do you, Daniel, take Danielle to be your wife? Giving her your love and care, encouraging her growth and freedom as your own, cherishing and respecting her, embracing her in times of joy and in times of adversity for the rest of your life?
Daniel: I do
Do you, Danielle, take Daniel to be your husband? Giving him your love and care, encouraging his growth and freedom as your own, cherishing and respecting him, embracing him in times of joy and in times of adversity for the rest of your life?
Danielle: I do
Vows
Daniel/Danielle, I love you. You are my best friend and my soul mate. I'm a better person for having you in my life. I promise to support and understand you, in good times and bad. I will be faithful to you in my words, thoughts and actions. I promise to love and respect you for the rest of our lives.
Ring Exchange
I give you this ring as a sign of my love, I ask you to wear it as a sign of your love for me. And with all that I am and all that I have, I honour you as my wife/husband.
We knew what would happen next, because I'd tried on my ring before. It takes some work, but it eventually got there after a good half a minute of twisting the ring around my knuckle. xD
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And at that point, we were announced as husband and wife. :) As for the next bit, I'll leave that to the wonderful Marion (aka Raine, remember) to elaborate on...
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<Loony Bob> Just got to the part where we're supposed to kiss >=]
<Loony Bob> So... still a lot to be said >_>
<Mitchla Mitchness> Jesus, how long did you kiss for?
<Loony Bob> xD
<Raine Zenyphael> they kissed quite long
<Loony Bob> I can barely remember. But I hear it was a little while. >_>;
<Raine Zenyphael> IT WAS!
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What can I say? First kiss with my wife, I'm gonna make it a good'un, thanks! The Celebrant then said a few more readings and noted something specifically for us...
Daniel and Danielle, I have loved meeting you. Your connection with each other is so strong, and the appreciation you have for each other is very evident. I have great faith in your love for one another. Danielle is so beautiful, inside and out. And I have a hunch that that lovely laid back smile of Daniel's will see you through many a long year.
...which I thought was quite nice. :)
Husband and Wife!
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With that, we walked up into Abden House and the guests were allowed to mingle with us. As with every other moment that I start talking to a large number of people, I kind of forget the order things happened here, but I distinctly remember talking to Danielle about the missing guest for the meal, Kat. Instead of inviting Gordon Tennant (work colleague) to replace Kat, I talked to her about something Claire Tennant (husband of Gordon & our wedding photographer) had mentioned to me - she normally, during the wedding meal, eats a sandwich in the other room. Danielle and I simply wouldn't have it - she was already a guest to the evening as she was Gordon's wife and he was invited to the evening, but as far as we were concerned she was everything we could ask for not just in a photographer but also in a calming influence and even a friend on that day, if not also on previous days we'd met her (a few times to sort things out). We requested she join us for dinner and she was gobsmacked and repeatedly asked if we were sure, and we insisted. She was delighted and it felt great to make her feel so involved because as far as we were concerned, Pontus was doing the livestream and was eating a meal with us, Jordan was doing the video and he was eating with us... sure, we knew them as friends and family before the wedding but we'd known Claire since meeting her and we were both more than happy to have her with us, and she knew some of the guys from work through Gordon anyway. I know this is a lot to say about some trivial thing but I can't stress just how good it made me feel to see how happy she was. Packed sandwich... or Ł80 dinner with wine included? I understand she may have missed out on the wine because she was worried about how much it might affect her photos, but yeah.
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Speaking of Claire, it was around this point that Danielle, myself, the bridesmaids and groomsmen were whisked up (much thanks to Jim the driver of our car, less so the apparently quite rude taxi driver for the groomsmen and bridesmaids) to St. Leonard's Bank to get some wedding photos against the rather striking backdrop of Arthur's Seat. Bridesmaids got photos with Danielle, the groomsmen with myself and we all got some shots as a full bridal party before a (different) taxi was sorted for our party so that Claire could get some shots of just the two of us. It was loads of fun and I really think it went well - I can't wait to see how the photos turn out! :excited:
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Five Star Meal at a Five Star Hotel
Eventually Jim drove Claire, Danielle and myself to the venue where we snuck in a few more photos and then jumped up to the Penthouse (our overnight stay - the top two floors of The Scotsman, woohoo! :D) so Michelle could fix up Danielle's dress... apparently it's a bit like a transformer and you can hook up the long trail so that she can easily sit down and/or move about in it for the rest of the day, which I must admit the practical brain of mine really appreciated. It wasn't long before we headed back down and sat in The Scotsman's Vermillion Lounge, a favourite room of Danielle and myself within the building where we arranged many a meet up with various people while preparing during the months prior to the wedding.
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We waited a bit longer than we had thought we would. There was a slight issue with the sound on the projector which was a requirement for a pre-recorded speech by the most long-term friend in my life, Nicky (Calliope here at EoFF). This was more amusing than annoying, to be honest, because one by one guests would pop out of the room and see us waiting and, with very embarrassed looks on their faces, note that they really need to run to the toilet. xD Danielle spent our time having a drink, practicing a dance for about five seconds (this is the total amount of practice we had, as our lessons regrettably never came about with all the frantic goings-on the week prior) and joking about with various people. Eventually between the skills of Pontus and The Scotsman's staff and the ever-helpful mere presence of Paul (hi, I read your post ;)) things got sorted out and we were able to walk into the room to a standing crowd of friends and family, which I have to say was pretty great. I know I saw them all beforehand but there's something about seeing everyone at the tables that is pretty damned cool.
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I'll note at this point what it was that I was printing out for extortionate amounts of money at an internet café the evening before the wedding - two different things. Firstly, each of the tables (bridal table excepted) had 5-6 pictures laid out on them to suit the table. While for the family it wasn't as huge a deal as they just got pictures of family members and Danielle/myself, Danielle and I got a lot of feedback from the other tables. EoFF's table was the Fat Chocobos, which included various pictures of... fat chocobos (and one fat irl bird). Danielle's work got pictures of Charlie the Unicorn stuff, which Danielle loves and as a result many of her workmates have been shown and now also love. My work table got artwork of Birldo, a character created by Terence Simms (an ex-work colleague invited to the wedding and seated at that table) that provides many of us with amusement. Finally, there was the Smitzy table, which was for the friends that wouldn't fit into the other tables but also people we knew would get along. One of them is Harriet, an ex-colleague of Danielle's that owns the mother of our cat, Smitzy. She was delighted and I'm told she kept all the pictures of Smitzy we left there!
As for the other things I printed off, they were pictures of people who couldn't make it to the wedding, many of which you may know. There were also pics of people who could make it but that's mostly down to a bit of confusion as the people who put together the boards didn't know which pictures were for the tables and which weren't. xD Either way, here they are!
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Dude, Where's My Speech?
The speeches at this point were due. Now, I don't have time to transcribe Daniel (Danielle's Dad, that is) McClymont's speech nor Paul's (and Nicky's is on video and I'm sure it'll be shown sometime soon and will be greatly appreciated by people around here in particular...), but I do have the script for mine which was for the most part what I went with. But firstly, I know Paul has touched on some things, but I want to elaborate my point of view of it all. The last time I saw my speech it was with the wedding schedule. However, at some point they got separated, unknown to myself. I had been told that the wedding schedule was with Paul and he quite rightly knew it was basically what proves we got married and was therefore of massive importance. He put it in his hotel room across the road, the smart lad. I didn't know about that either. I casually sent someone into the room as I waited in order to ask him to pass them the speech so they could pass it on to me. I forget if it was Vitor (a most wonderful master of ceremonies for the day, courtesy of The Scotsman) or if it was Pontus or... someone else, I don't know. They came back out and the conversation went something like this.
<Person> >_>; He doesn't have the speech.
<Me> What.
End result is a bit of a panic between Paul and myself and upon realising that the wedding schedule is in his hotel, he does a runner for it while we walk into the room and the father of the bride carries out his speech. Thankfully Paul got back in time to do his one, let alone me doing mine! He also handed me the stuff with the wedding schedule, and as you all know by now, my speech script wasn't there. The entire time I was listening to the father of the bride speech, I was basically troutting myself. It was then that I got called to do my speech, and quickly announced the slight hiccup. "WING IT! WING IT! WING IT!" cried my supposedly loving family and friends, but I basically stated that I've been married for about an hour or two and I was going to not wing it, but leg it. To the next room, where all the bags were. And found the speech looking all pretty. "Yes!" I think. "smurf you, you smurfing bastard wanker!" is probably something along the lines of what Paul was thinking as I walked back in holding the speech high in the air. Of course, it wasn't supposed to be easy, right?
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For the past few years I've wanted to be Projects Manager. After the final 24 hours before the wedding, sorting out last minute cancellations, missing items, missing people, forgotten birdcages, dodgy USB sticks, not to mention this speech being written at 10pm last night... I changed my mind. It's been emotional! This entire past week has been really, really, emotional. Family reunited, endless hugs from endless loved ones, I couldn't be surrounded by better people right now. I can't stress just how amazing this past week has been and I hope the next week will be equally amazing as I'm not finished yet! I don't think I could ever be finished with this. Thank you.
I'd like to quickly - well, uh, give me a few minutes - give thanks to a few people who have made this day possible for everyone here. Our Celebrant, Catherine Wright, who allowed us to make every choice regarding our ceremony without question, guiding us through everything we never knew we needed to know.
The staff of Abden House, notably former and current events co-ordinators Helen Tweedie and Carla Cumming. The Scotsman staff, in particular former and current events co-ordinators Kirsty Hunter and Nicole Hunter and the manager of the restaurant, Ian, who have all done us every favour for every aspect of this wedding, notably bumping us up to the Penthouse this evening. *cough* Two floors, just saying...
Our wonderful wedding photographer, Claire Tennant, who not only has captured our evening but has done it as part of a more than generous package that Danielle and I are both grateful for. Also, on that note, Laura Cramb who isn't here just yet but will be later tonight, for passing by my desk as I ranted about a photographer cancelling on us at the last minute and mentioning Claire does wedding photography.
My good friend, Pontus, for streaming this wedding around the world so that those unable to make it could watch, and of course thanks to anyone who did pay attention to the stream. I promised it, but Pontus delivered it!
My new brother-in-law, Jordan, for spending far more money than I can understand being sensible on a video camera and recording everything... I'm sure it'll be nice to actually watch how many times I buggered up on various things throughout the day. But seriously, thanks man.
Vittoria on the Walk restaurant, for providing us with delicious food this week, and Gum Gum, who's incredible generosity has not only financed such delicious food but also allowed me peace of mind throughout my wedding week - she could not make the journey, but without her I can comfortably say I would be looking a much more fatigued, much more tired, much more bankrupt man than you see before you.
Danielle's parents, Christine and Daniel, for helping us at absolutely every turn regardless of cost be it in time, effort, finances or anything else. I couldn't ask for more caring and more giving parents-in-law and I may not phone as often as Danielle does, but I will always love you for everything you have done particularly this week. I've been stunned by how far out of your way you've gone for Danielle and myself.
My parents, for paying more than anyone to be here - not just for themselves but also for my wonderful siblings. For those not aware, I haven't been home to New Zealand since I arrived so this Tuesday just past was actually the first time I'd seen my Dad, Nikki, Josh and Stephanie for over eleven years. There is no less love in my heart for them over the years - it's felt so right having everyone around and I treasure every second you are with me, I really do.
That also goes for Mum and Murray as well, of course, who have made multiple journeys back to Scotland since they departed for New Zealand and long may that continue as I always get excited to see them again. Murray in particular on this occasion has gone above and beyond the call of duty, making late night trips to the airport to pick up my friends and cancelling his entire day plans in order to play courier service for Danielle and myself. I thank you very much for this, I owe you more than one.
I'd also like to make a special mention to Anneke and Danielle who are still back in New Zealand, I love you both with all my heart, I wish you could be here and I can't wait to see you both again someday. Another special mention of absence goes to the late Jim McClymont, who treated me like I was his own grandson from day one and gave me the biggest smiles every time I entered the room. You're in our hearts forever and you're a true grandfather to me now, I consider myself just as much a part of your clan as Danielle is of my own.
Some more people did make the journey, however, and I'd like to thank everyone who has come from overseas, it really astonishes me that we have people here that a week ago I had never met in person in my life but they have made the costly journey from as far afield as America, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, New Zealand of course and even those that have traveled up from England are without doubt appreciated. In particular I'd like to thank my closest friend outside of Danielle - Sarah Cobb, a friend of twelve years and I met you on Thursday, it's insane. But you in particular kept me sane throughout yesterday just as you have done over many years now. Without your help, I imagine I'd have buggered things up with Danielle a long time ago!
I thank the people of Eyes on Final Fantasy for being so wonderful that people like Danielle and I can both enjoy it enough to stick around and meet each other. Sean Robinson, the founder, has always been one of the best people I've known online and I have endless respect for him. Rory, who sadly couldn't make it today, introduced Danielle to the site which I'm naturally more than grateful for. The last specific person from Eyes on Final Fantasy I'll mention is Shauna Mitchell, who didn't make it to the little meet up we organised back in 2006. Because you cancelled on the day, Danielle and I were thrust into a meeting with just each other for company. It wasn't a date, but it was definitely dinner and a movie and that day changed my world forever. I've never been so thankful for someone flaking on me in all my life.
Finally - yes, don't worry, I know long thank you speeches are awful - I would like to thank my groomsmen and Danielle's bridesmaids. You all look amazing, you've supported us and been there for us over the years and we love you. Michelle, Claire, Lee-Anne, you all look beautiful. Paul, Josh, Lev, you all look dashing. Lev, you could probably tone it down a bit, you make me look bad... these are six of the nicest people I know, the ones that will stick by us through thick and
Now, this is about how far I got before I got into a slight panic (which I've been repeatedly assured I winged my way through pretty well). I don't know how this happened, because I checked a good few times and thought "Oh crap, the remainder of the speech is GONE. She only printed two pages." I say I don't know how this happened because I have the full three page speech in front of me. The pages must have been perfectly slotted together and I just didn't notice. Either way, everyone and their uncle knew what my next word was but me. "THIN!" cried my loved ones. "THIN!"
I winged it. This is what was supposed to be said, and in some kind of order or another, I've highlighted in green the parts that I definitely got included in some way or another.
thin and take care of us when we're in need. These are our family, our friends, and we love you guys. And Paul - I'd say you have to be nice to me in your speech because I've been nice to you over the years, but that's a filthy lie and I will do my best to take whatever you dish out on the chin. And then deny everything.
Well. Now that that's out of the way... I suppose I should talk about Danielle!
Danielle, you're just too good to be true. From the day we first met, I couldn't take my eyes off of you. You feel like Heaven to touch and I just want to hold you so much. From the day your train arrived, your voice has kept me alive. You really are too good to be true. I can't take my eyes off of you.
[singing, loudly!] I love you, Danielle, and if it's quite alright, I can't wait to kiss you, again, and call you my wife.
[kiss]
She's my wife. [smugface]
And I know that's not how our song goes, but even after it being our song for over seven years and you singing our song all through those seven years, you never could get the lyrics right so I feel entirely justified.
Danielle is the most wonderful person in my world. She's a lot like me in many ways - we both believe in honesty before anything, we're both cheeky and give as good as we get, we're both obviously gorgeous... well, okay, maybe she has me beat in that area. She makes me look good. I love you, honey. Oh, and one more thing about Danielle that very few people know is that Danielle likes the odd drink. With that in mind, if you can all celebrate this beautiful lady with me in the most appropriate way, here's to my wife, Mrs. Danielle Towns!
So yeah I ballsed it up for the most part but I managed and luckily got a huge round of applause and cheers for shouting/singing to Danielle at the top of my lungs (much to her dismay!).
And then Paul and Nicky basically tore me to shreds. To be fair to them, they didn't do it nearly as viciously as I knew they were capable of so I'm eternally thankful to them both for that. I'll let them post their respective speeches whenever they wish to. =]
Nom Nom Nom
Dinner followed. It was awesome! Of course, we'd had it before, but that didn't stop us adoring it all over again, and I'm told most people really loved it, so yay. For Ł80 a head you'd bloody well hope so. Kat turned up after the starter and she was really apologetic but I calmed her down very quickly - I did however explain that her meal was handed to someone else, which she didn't mind at all about, and said she'd go upstairs to the bar. Again, I quickly waved away such suggestions and spoke to the waitress, Anna, advising her that I don't like wine and since there was free wine with the meal, Kat was to have my glasses. The more the merrier! Kat was delighted and that was good enough for me. I can't feed everyone but I'll be damned if I can't get them all drunk!
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I can't remember things as well from this point onwards, to be honest. xD It was a mass of mingling, cake cutting, dancing - and more dancing, and more dancing... weird, I was assured I'd have to do three dances total (one with Danielle, one with my Mum, one at the end) yet I kept getting dragged to the dance floor. I think I did about six dances in total and they were really wanting more, but when they called me out for the fifth of the six dances I completed I turned on my ankle (the bad one) and felt it immediately. I told Danielle, and I swear she said "Oh, okay" and I assume I misinterpreted that as "I can't hear you, what did you say?" because she got more and more ankle-abusive as it went on, at one point insisting I rock back and forth from foot to foot, putting loads of pressure on my bad ankle which I winced my way through. Having done it, I rapidly sat down on some chairs and put my feet up on other chairs... and then the DJ, Danielle's cousin, immediately started another song "for the bride and groom". Fed up and in pain, I refused and Danielle apparently got annoyed at one point as she was quite drunk enough to not remember what I said to her just five minutes ago. In the end, though, she was laughing as multiple people danced with her. Her Aunt came over and I tried to explain and her Aunt, a 'larger than life' lady, promptly whacked my ankle! As I cried out in pain, her face came to realise that by pointing to my ankle I wasn't saying "Nah, I have my feet up, I'm too lazy" but "My ankle is sore!" and quickly apologised, bless her - hey, at least it gave me something to talk about, I guess? I did, however, save my ankle for one last dance at the very end before we retired to the penthouse.
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I'll not say what happened from there, but it was a beautiful red rose petal heart shaped display left on the bed by the staff. We finally got to sleep at around 2am. Getting that wedding dress off her was a pain in the arse!
This Show Ain't Over
Sadly, we only had a couple of hours in the morning before we had to get our butts out of the hotel, and that meant getting not only ourselves but also the speakers (my PC speakers mad the full wedding journey), the gifts, other people's crap they left, our 'missing person' boards, our well-wisher tree (we had a tree where people could peg post-it notes to and permanent markers so they could draw or write something, because guestbooks are boring obviously), the wedding dress, the works... Danielle's Dad got it all shipped for us and then we were off to have lunch with the family at Howie's Restaurant. It was really nice and I got a "YEAH NAH BRO" hoodie from my folks, which the few NZ'ers here will appreciate.
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Danielle and I talked around this point about what we were going to do. The intention was originally to spend that day on our own and recuperate (which perhaps would have benefited the final days of the meetup from our end, but I have no regrets) but we also knew that Marion was leaving for Switzerland the next morning and we wouldn't see her again anytime soon as she lives in Switzerland. We decided to go and see her instead! So we found out that everyone was just around the corner from us and headed over to see them spelling out names in fries and whatnot.
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Marion wanted to go up a hill and while we didn't have the power to go up Arthur's Seat, we did have the power to go up Calton Hill which has just as good a view! Onwards we marched, and the weather was beautiful. People commented on the wonderful weather and I jokingly said "And it'll start raining.... now."
>_>
Who knew I could predict the weather with such accuracy? Within five to ten seconds of me saying that, we felt the first drops. It got windy. It got wet. It happened very, very fast. We managed to get a few photos regardless and the view was still spectacular! But yeah, we got properly wet. DC's umbrella was blown inside out a few times, many a pun was made about Marion's online username, and we finally got to a spot where we could have the wind blocked from us and I turned around to see Ashley say "Come here!" and held her arms out as if to hug me. So, it turns out that wasn't her intention, but hey, I got a hug all the same! And then everyone got hugs! And eventually, finally, Ashley managed to zip up my backpack like she originally intended. xD
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After Matt got a quick few pics of his gigantic cannon, we headed back down in time for the rain to clear up. I suggested heading back up but they weren't interested for some reason... after dropping Shauna & Matt off at the train station, we inevitably returned to the shared flat to spend our evening amongst good friends. Lots of fun was had, including Loser Stays On Tekken Tag Tournament, Shrek singalongs and much drinking goodness. Danielle and I really enjoyed ourselves, but tiredness took it's toll eventually and people headed home to their various accommodations. In the end, it was Danielle and I in a taxi with Marion as we talked about travel and differences between countries and other random things, and I have to say now that Danielle and I are in agreement on something (and this specific part is from both of us). Marion is the most adorable person we have ever met in the world. When we left her at her B&B for the evening it genuinely broke our hearts to say goodbye. She is just such a beautiful person inside and out, and yes, Marion, we saw those tears welling in your eyes and if I was capable of doing the same thing I'm sure I would've. You're a genuine sweetie and we both hope we see you again.
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Danielle and I slept in our own bed that night and to be honest it was really great to do so. xD
Sleeping Around
On Monday night we did not sleep in our own bed (or even in the same bed!). A few things happened on the Monday - Marion, Ashley and Paul all sadly departed. DC had his flight out but he was enjoying it so much that he opted to buy a new ticket for the following day. xD I'm pretty sure it was on Monday that Ashley & Paul sadly departed (I miss both of you guys :( seriously hope you come up again sometime in the next 12 months), DC and I went into town to grab a fourth controller for the PS2 and met Michelle & Steve in town and then bought KFC for lunch (Rantz's first ever KFC, it should be noted) my brother Loony JosH moved in, and played a fair bit of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy... well, some of us - DC, myself, Josh, Lev and Danielle, because we're the cool kids after all. Oh, and Dominoes pizza for the third night in four nights for Lev and myself. I'm pretty sure it was for a few others, actually, because I think everyone had it on Friday night at the apartment, too. xD I'll also note now that DC is an awesome host, because he basically was our host at the apartment. He organised us all extremely well, ordered all the food, kept the drinks and games interesting, so :up: to him for that.
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Was it also that night we played "Never Have I Ever"? I think it was, yeah, because DC was still there. Good times! Interesting revelations. I can't talk about them because #tot rules applied. ;) We finally spent the evening watching Hot Fuzz and then... some kind of trash TV until we fell asleep. Yes, everyone fell asleep at the shared apartment because Sarah, Josh, Danielle, Rantz and myself are too cool for our own respective living places / accommodation. We created a gigantic bed and Sarah, Josh, Rantz and myself all slept there while DC, Lev and Danielle had their own bedrooms because apparently we're not good enough for them. Danielle did, however, give us the pleasure of a little routine to make up for it.
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The next day we all woke up and dined on leftover KFC and pizza for breakfast. I think everyone was particularly tired this day, and it was amusing as Josh, Sarah, Rantz and myself repeatedly woke up and looked at each other. Never were all four of us awake, and nobody wanted to wake anyone else, so we kept meerkatting about and eventually DC crept in and we turned on the TV to watch some (really bad) kid's TV shows. Lev was last to rise, but Sarah's insanely loud cackling did the trick. xD "Sssshhhh, you'll wake Lev!" "Oh, God, sorry!" Seconds later, Lev walks in, we all laugh. :D Sarah is a walking alarm clock. Jeremy Kyle followed that up. Trash TV for the win... right?
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Inevitably those of us not technically living there - so, everyone but DC & Lev - had to go to get clothes and whatnot after the completely unintended overnight stay. Lev also still had stuff at our place (he still does, actually, oops - we'll ship it to you when we tidy the place up, Lev! xD) so he came over with us, leaving DC on his lonesome. While we were away, DC converted what I refer to as the ManyBed into what I refer to as the MegaBed, and it was pretty freakin' awesome.
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We all made it back in time to say our farewells to "basically the host" DC and then after that I think we went to Indigo Yard where Sarah discovered her love of sausage and mash and everyone discovered their love for my fries. On the way back we bought a stash of crumpets which we would consume the next morning (a first for Sarah and Rantz). We slept pretty solidly after an evening of cleaning, drinking and relaxing. Oh, and epic Thai food. :) Nom nom nom. I admittedly really struggled to stay awake that night and I think I was the first out. This is probably around the point that the tiredness was really getting to me, but certainly not to a huge degree - just noticeable. The same bed organisation was on this night, with Danielle & Lev on their lonesome in their own rooms while the other four of us slept in or next to the MegaBed (which naturally had to be reverted to the ManyBed to accommodate us).
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BoBBye, Apartyment
The next day we had to evacuate the apartment because it was game over on that front. :( We were out by 11am and went off to our respective places to freshen up or whatever. It was Lev's last day and he was super keen to clime Arthur's Seat, so he and Rantz had that agenda on that day while Sarah was in recovery mode and catching up on her lost sleep. I left her with my phone so we could catch up later on and guide her into town. Danielle and I met up with Josh and the rest of my family for a trip around the Edinburgh Museum, which was pretty neat, but more than anything it was probably the best time for getting to know my family a little better. Everyone was really chatty and it was just a load of fun. At 4pm my family had to go do a Mary King's Close tour, so Sarah met up with us before we headed to Rantz's place. We saw Lev off to the airport bus and had our goodbyes. Lev gets bonus love from me as he's travelled overseas three times to hang out with Danielle and I now, and we both love him to bits. He's also the only person from the initial line-up of groomsmen that actually remained a groomsman so gets even more bonus points for that. xD
It was around this point that things started getting a bit hairy about how much time we could spend with family and friends, and we were down to just two friends over outside of the family. I was also really, really struggling with tiredness and the groups were tricky for me. For this reason, I spoke to Danielle and we agreed we'd spend that night with my family eating Indian food at my flat while Sarah and Rantz did their own thing - I believe they watched some movies at Pontus' place. Steph wasn't well that evening so she actually sat outside our flat in the stairwell for a little while and she even ate outside, too. She was still in good spirits despite it all, though, and we set up a homeless person situation around her and dropped coins in her mug. ;) In the end she got inside to spend most of the rest of the evening with us before she slept on our bed until everyone went home. Perhaps she was struggling with the stress of it all as much as I was, but either way she was still her smiling, cuddly self - just not well.
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I had it agreed that the next day was fairly well arranged so that I could spend time with everyone as a group, so first of all the family, including Murray and Mum on this occasion, went to Holyrood Palace for an interesting (although very expensive) tour. We saw some pretty amazing stuff, got told off by a tour guide who later apologised as he thought we were in his group and people in the group tours have to not talk. I laughed it off and Danielle, pouting at me, walked off saying (to me, out of earshot) "I hold a grudge! I hold a grudge!" Don't double cross that girl, everyone!
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Murray headed back home to catch 40 winks and the rest of us had to find out where Sarah & Rantz were. Josh and I steamed off ahead in the rain and we eventually found them, called everyone else up and they were here in a flash. We had a very small amount of time to look around Forbidden Planet before we grabbed some lunch and headed off to the Butterfly & Insect World which I'm delighted to say was really fun - well, it was for me, anyway! We got to hold millipedes, snakes, butterflies (if we could get them to land on us!) and a tarantula. The snakes are so awesome, when you feel the power in their muscles as they move around it's really cool. We had some ice cream and before you know it, we were on our way. My family headed off to do their own thing that night while Rantz, Danielle, Sarah and myself went to Wetherspoons for the authentic British meals.
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We grabbed some tonics and headed back to Rantz's place for a round of drinks, popcorn and a bit of Jersey Shore (oh that trash TV!). After the drinks, we split up so that Sarah and I headed back to my place while Rantz and Danielle hung out at his place. I'd basically been needing to get away from groups and was keen on spending some time with Sarah since she'd spent more than anyone to get here (given that the Friday before the wedding was a total disaster). It was genuinely nice to finally spend some time just talking about life, love and whatever with her - while I do have friends in Edinburgh, I don't have anyone outside of Danielle that I can be that kind of close with as they're all workmates and I prefer not to mix work and real life. We basically talked like old pals (which we are, but... well, you know what I mean) non-stop for a couple of hours. Outside of romances, I'm pretty sure I've never been as close to anyone as I am to Sarah (arguments could be made for Sus back when I was in NZ, if anyone)... and as I prefer good company to basically anything, this was exactly what I needed after being so stressed from all the never-ending group sessions over the past week or so. Eventually Danielle arrived, we had a few more laughs before Sarah departed to hang out with Pontus before heading home while Danielle and I went pretty much straight to bed. xD
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The Last Days
Friday... well, yesterday was really rough for everyone, I think, at least for the most part. I was completely shattered from the start which didn't really help. We met up at Rantz's place then headed out for breakfast, which was expensive but really nice. There was some Mr. Organic Italian tomato sauce bottle there which had a disturbing message on the side of it... :erm: We took Sarah to the airport, sat around the café there taking photos before saying our byes, then headed back into town. For the most of this time, though, I was basically sleepwalking... it was just so hard to do anything. Danielle and I went back and Pontus wasn't feeling too hot so he went to his place. My family were nagging me to head out because for some reason they thought because we were tired we wouldn't join them for dinner, which was a weird assumption as we were telling them we needed our nap so that we could actually head out for the dinner. Either way, we got there in the end and it was a great evening at the place they were staying. Josh and his old pal from NZ who lived in Edinburgh, Katie, joined us for dinner as did a German Werder Bremen fan and a bubbly Texan. It was a delightful evening but we did head out at around 9:30pm or so in order to get back home for our much needed sleep. Many byes were had as we weren't sure if we'd see them again the next day when they departed at 7:30am from the train station.
We made it, though. So many hellos and byes in the space of about 20 minutes were had, so many hugs. It's hard watching your family take the train and just slowly float away... but yeah, we got it sorted. I'll perhaps feel it more when I'm not so exhausted! I just love them all to bits, they're so important to me despite me not being around them often. They're family. Danielle and I headed up the train station steps to McDonalds where we had some breakfast and Rantz met us there shortly afterwards and had his, too. We then headed to the airport while messing around with predictables and whatnot. Our lovely gentle giant was chatty that day after recuperating somewhat, and I hope you get well soon, man. You stayed longer than any EoFFer (sans family), you helped at every turn during the wedding and you are as ever a great friend to me and to everyone. For those who don't know it, Rantz is one of the few people who actually helped me through a really rough patch earlier this year when I had some serious wedding jitters, so kudos to him for that, too, now that I'm actually married and can mention it. xD
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And... after that it was basically more hugs goodbye and then that weird feeling that everyone has now gone... it's a little weird. We really need time to ourselves right now, time to rest, time to not talk. Danielle and I haven't talked much at all today and anyone who knows us will know that's just weird, because we're both hugely talkative. I've spent the entire day writing out this, or at last the past uh... seven hours or so. Danielle has mostly slept and played FFXIV. It's a recuperation stage, and I understand other people around the world who were here for a long time are doing the same... I'm dreading work on Monday.
Proface
I can't say how much I've enjoyed these past two weeks regardless of the tiredness at the end. I wouldn't change a thing, everyone was just so wonderful to us and everyone who was in the EoFF Wedding Crew were just... perfect. We all gelled so well, we all got along, there was never a bad word said as far as I know. So much laughing, so much singing, so much randomness and a good few inside jokes have kicked in. I've met people I've never met before, some I only really knew through FFXIV until recently, some I'd known for years without being hugely close to such as DC and in both cases I feel like we're just such good friends now that I could hang out with you any day of the week, and I really want to do so. There were people I'd met once (hi Paul) or twice (hi Lev) or a handful of times (Shauna!) before and I would happily meet a dozen times over again because you guys were great the first time I met you and you were great just now, too. And, of course, there was Sarah who I'd never met despite being... just... so indescribably close to over the years that I could tell her absolutely anything, and to meet her and be exactly like that in person was just a perfect dream.
And, of course, there was the person I live with, the person I love more than anyone, more than life itself, Danielle Towns. Nobody in this world could make me so happy as her. She is the best. Someone very recently asked me how it is to be a husband. I replied "basically just like not being a husband, only with a heavy ring on my finger." And in some sense that's true - Danielle and I are just like we always were, absolutely. We're happy, we're in love, our attitude towards each other and towards life hasn't changed. But I will make special mention of that ring. I feel it all the time. If you look carefully through all the photos, you might just find one where I'm touching my ring... I'm constantly spinning it around. While that's just the weight, I do know what the ring stands for. When I notice myself touching my ring, I think about Danielle, I think about what the ring stands for. It makes me happy when I do that.
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