What happens in the Lakes.....

Well, what a fabulous weekend. I have just about recovered! The venue sourced by Rachel was amazing.

http://theoldhomestead.co.uk/

The first cars to travel over were Rachel and her Mum Ruth and Catriona – and then MOTB, Jo, Sarah and Granny. After a few adventures en route, my car following Rachel with her Sat Nav - Rachel stopped  for diesel  and we didn’t realise so a few texts and phone calls and we were back in convoy again. Then actually finding the secluded venue – but when we arrived and were greeted by the hosts Jane and Zen – the 7 of us having the introductory tour oohing and ahhing all the way round. It was perfect.

We then had team unloading of the cars, Rachel’s being filled with all manner of foods and drink! Once unpacked and the special wine chiller fridge fully stocked, we set about putting up decorations. Hen party balloons, the purple bunting, photos of Lucy over the years, and some of Lucy and Mark along with Granny’s sage quotations about love and marriage. It looked really great. And then there were Sarah's cup cakes 

The Hen and remainder of the Friday group were all en route, so it wasn’t long before we got a call to go out into the car park to greet the bride. Julie had kindly volunteered to transport the Bride to be, along with Amy. Julie had pimped her Audi, and so made sure everyone on the A69 and A595 knew there was an important passenger on board.

“Aunty” Clare, Jodie and Kate arrived soon after and we were complete. We had a nice easy tea pizza, salad and a few drinkies! Most of the conversation ended up with raucous laughter, and a fine evening was had by all. If not a little squiffy.

Saturday morning was cosy and comfy, most hens wandering around in PJ’s or “onesies”  enjoying a leisurely late breakfast . Plans were hatched to meet in Cockermouth for lunch, and people went to get ready, or head off to enjoy the surroundings.

The peace and tranquillity of the Vale of Lorton was momentarily broken by the arrival of the Splitz ladies. Judith, Eleri, Suzanne and Maureen were equally as impressed with the tour of the whole place as we were the night previously. Their journey from the east made them parched, so they were all ready for a liquid refreshment.

So we all met for liquid (and food) refreshment over long lunch at The Trout , a charming Hotel in Cockermouth, which just happened to have room  for an ever expanding group now at 20 strong including Avril,Vicky and Janet. We all headed back to the Old Homestead later afternoon, and everyone enjoyed the garden with a stunning view.

Ruth was head chef with Rachel assisting, MOTB with Kate, and Amy on veggies preparing other dishes. Rachel’s only instruction being everything had to be Lucy’s favourites. So on the menu there was “Wynyard chicken”, lasagne, chicken pie, broccoli, sweetcorn, garlic bread  - enough to feed the 5000. The plan was to start the in house entertainment, then eat, then resume the entertainment. All the hens were asked to wear or accessorise with something sparkly, and the beauty of the Old Homestead meant that everyone was able to get ready quickly, appear in sparkles, and then slip in to slippers.

Granny’s was keen to bring a bit of our family connections with North American to the event, so together with Rachel organised a bridal shower. An upturned umbrella ( shower the bride with gifts!!) was home to all the hens little gifts for Lucy and Mark’s new home – either kitchen or bathroom. Lucy LOVED this – she loved Christmas growing up, and she loves opening gifts. So a good time was had by all when Lucy opened each one and tried to guess who had donated it. Rachel then organised the hens into two teams and set them on making a wedding dress in 10 minutes. Hilarious antics, and a good way for everyone to get to know each other.

Meanwhile the heat in the kitchen was on full power, poor Ruth almost melting . Not only had Ruth made most of the dinner she’d brought delicious puddings too. So dinner was served, and enjoyed by all. Rachel prepared party bags for everyone, which included things you need for a hen party including a hair tie, paracetamol, toothbrush, Love Hearts sweets and a willie straw (!)  Such fun....

Everyone helped to clear up, and then we all settled in the lounge for a Mr and Mrs quiz; another game where everyone had given answers to Rachel to the following questions,

Your first memory of Lucy

One tip for marriage

The only recipe you'll ever need

One thing no one tells you about marriage

One item that you will need during married life

And then Lucy randomly pulled out the answers and had to guess who had said what. Even more fun!

And just when you think your chuckle muscles cant take anymore....Granny Pam and Julie appeared dressed as nuns getting everyone to sing “Oh happy day”. (This wasn’t as weird as it sounds, as Lucy had expressed a desire to have a gospel choir at the wedding ceremony. It was a bit too much for the Abbey to cope with so this was their way of giving that experience to Lucy!!)

Once recovered from the gospel session, the Splitz ladies set about an impromptu dance routine. It was all go. On both nights one of the very popular and messy challenges was the "After Eight" game. Who'd have thought you could have so much fun waiting for an After Eight chocolate to melt balanced on your forehead, to catch it in your mouth. MOTB abstained from this game but got some brilliant photos.

There were many other moments which I won’t recount on a public blog, but it was all good! 

As MOTB it was a lovely experience, at times very emotional caught up in the joy of it all. Then suddenly realised it was my baby girl...this is a right of passage.

Lucy has such a lovely group of friends, and family. The delight of wherever you went in the Old Homestead, there was generally laughter. Often real deep belly laughter – the kind that makes your belly and jaws ache. Even the hens who didn’t know each other soon got on well, and they were united by the fun and games, and their affection for the Bride to be.

And so as the sun rose over Catbells, the Sunday morning meant we all cleaned up, packed up and headed home.

All credit went to Rachel and Ruth for the preparation, and then organisation of the perfect weekend. 

As I mentioned in the last blog, I am not experienced in hen parties . BUT I have to say I loved every minute of this one. So much so, I am thinking I could do it all again!