St Mary Magdalene, Banns, the circle of life and the incident in the Vestry!

Over 24 years ago, the lovely Lucy * was christened at St Mary Magdalene Parish Church in Prudhoe. Yesterday, the first set of Lucy and Mark’s wedding banns were read out in the very same Church. The circle of life eh?

Lucy with Godfather Kevin

Lucy with Godmothers Janet and Sharon, and Godfather Iain

So now it is for real, the first legal part of compliance with UK Civil and Church law is complete.

My friend Google tells me,

“Banns are an announcement in the local parish church of your intention to marry and a chance for anyone to put forward a reason why the marriage may not lawfully take place. Banns are read in the parish where each of the couple lives, as well as the parish church in which you are to be married. Banns are read out in church for three Sundays during the three months before the wedding.”

Lucy and Mark’s banns are being read again in Prudhoe on the 22^nd and 29^th September; and then at Hexham Abbey on the 12^th, 19^th and 26^th October

Lucy and Mark had a recent meeting with the Clergyman who will perform their wedding ceremony. Mark took an instant like to the Revd. Phil Mellor-Smith when he suggested that they meet in Weatherspoons for a pint. And even better Phil turned up in his dog collar. Needless to say they had a very productive meeting and everything is in hand regards wedding ceremony planning.

*I say the lovely Lucy, in fact Lucy’s actual Christening service in St Mary Magdalene was a bit of a nightmare for MOTB. Lucy was about 5 months old. We had dressed her in my Christening gown which had been made from material sent from Canada where my Mum’s parents had emigrated to. In those days, early 1960’s, the material was thought to be luxurious, it was all man made and had really pretty colourful pattern of pastel coloured stars.

The dress!

 The dress was altered by my Mum for Lucy to wear. Sadly, the man made fibre caused the somewhat restless babe in my arms to overheat , and resort mid service to howling like a very hungry wild animal. The Revd in Prudhoe at that time tried to continue through the service but in the end he had to ask us to leave the church, as no one could hear him. It appeared that my job was to try and get Lucy to stop screaming. I ended up in the vestry on my own with a very hot and hungry child.

I had no other option but to feed her! I had borrowed a very pretty and quite formal dress from my friend Chris, a dress which was certainly not designed for breast feeding! I ended up having to strip Lucy out of her boiling (but beautiful) outer robe, whilst stripping down halfway to the waist

myself ! As soon as she was being fed of course the noise died down, but I had to juggle - trying to keep myself half decent in case the Revd. came back into the Vestry, but without disturbing her feeding. So Lucy and I missed most of the service, but of course once home for the family and friends party, she was a delightful gurgling bundle of joy. 

Do me a favour...

There is a hint of Autumn , a beautiful time of year.  After a very long and hot summer, finally there is a coolness in the air and the children have gone back to school. That means after this half term, then the “Blackberry week” (October half term school holiday) the big day will be here. Yikes. Suddenly there are things to finalise, and the spreadsheet has been put on the desktop to speed up access..

So as I sat, sitting the other night, unusually I didn’t have much to do. I had drawn the curtains now it’s turning darker after 8pm – just a quick sketch....or “battened down the hatches”  as my Dad would say,  and decided a good job to get done was the wedding favours.

A quick google search tells me that

Wedding favours are small gifts given to guests as a token of appreciation from the Bride and Groom on their Wedding Day – they are usually given out at the Wedding Reception, and often form part of the table decorations.

The tradition of giving wedding favours goes back many years: it is thought the first wedding favour was the ‘Bomboniere’- a small trinket box made of porcelain or crystal and often decorated with precious stones. These were limited to the European Aristocracy and Upper Classes, and usually contained sugar or confectionery which symbolised wealth and royalty. At the time, sugar was an expensive delicacy which was only affordable by the wealthy (it was also thought to have medicinal qualities), but as it became more widely available to those of lesser means the tradition of giving Bombonieres became more widespread.

Over time, bombonieres were replaced with almonds – given to guests to signify good wishes for the couple’s new life together: 5 almonds to signify Health, Wealth, Happiness, Fertility and Long Life. In the 13th Century sugar coated almonds, or Confetti, were introduced, which are still popular today.

These days, the gifts given to Wedding guests are known as Wedding Favours, and the tradition is popular among a wide variety of cultures worldwide. The huge range of options now available means that although many couples may choose the traditional almond favour, those who are looking for more unusual wedding favours are sure to find something suitable.

 I don’t want to spoil the surprise for the day, so can only say Lucy and Mark have chosen a lovely alternative to traditional sugared almonds, so I was able to create the 85 or so favours in one sitting. I did draw blood out of my fingers a little but hopefully  this won’t be too noticeable on the day....

Wedding cake – part 1

Granny was getting concerned; the fruit cake layer of the cake should be made and maturing by now.

So last week, Gran and Richard set about it....

The kitchen at Number 10 was filled with the whiff of sherry (Granny didn’t have any brandy in the house) and a few pounds in weight of currents, sultanas, ground almonds, apricots and spices.

The main ingredient though was love. 

Granny has very sore and painful legs and knees at the moment, and Richard had been suffering with a cold all week. However, they both put their health issues to one side and with lots of hand washing, they set about making layer one of the three for the wedding cake of the year. 

While they were baking, I was working in a room nearby so went in from time to time to see how they were progressing. 

It was so lovely to see my Mum and Richard who have been baking together since Richard was old enough to hold a wooden spoon, keeping each other right about the traditional Bero recipe. 

Richard had a relapse when the dishes needed doing, but the end result was very successful.

The next task is to make the Victoria sponge layer, and a chocolate sponge layer – these will be made much nearer the time. Although as my daughter, the Bride reminds me it’s not long now.

A chariot awaits?

One area of the colour coded spreadsheet which hasn’t seen much action has been transport to and from the Abbey. This is because it has been sorted out since before the spreadsheet was born.

Lucy and Mark didn’t want a horse drawn carriage or a vintage classic car they wanted Mel, Chief Bridesmaid to Princess Lucy, Rachel’s Dad .  

“Daddy Mel” as Lucy affectionately calls Mel has driven his Jaguar and Volvo as a taxi in Tynedale for many a year,  and on numerous occasions when Lucy and Rachel needed a lift home, Mel was always there.

So almost as soon as they had set the date, the happy couple asked Mel if he would drive them.

Mel answered the phone (as Lucy's number comes up on his phone!) “Hiya Juicy” his affectionate name for the Bride. The main question was – would Mark ( given his height) and Lucy ( given her princess dress) fit in? So they went for a test ride and good news – they fit.

https://sites.google.com/site/melstaxis/home

Home Sweet Home – part 2 known as part empty nest syndrome!

I found this poem on the “interweb”. It pretty much sums the last week or so.

Although she is moving out

She'll never be far away

She'll always live here with me
In my heart each day

Hopefully I taught her
The right things along the way
To help her make the right decisions
Each and every day

It's so very hard to let her go
But I know that I must
I have so much faith in her
And a world of trust

I know she's smart enough
To make it on her own (with Mark)
It's hard to admit
My little girl has finally grown

I hope she knows in her heart
Just how much I care
Because every time she needed me
I always tried to be there

I hope she knows if life gets tough
And she should need a friend
That she can always count on me
Until the very end

It's never very easy
Watching someone you love leave
I know that I must be strong
But silently I'll grieve

Someone who's been around
Morning, noon and night
No longer having her here
Just will not seem right

But she knows I love her
With all of my heart
And it's that love
That will never let us part

And so we packed up ALL of Lucy’s belongings last Friday , it took a whole day – all for one room. 

We laughed a lot, sometimes uncontrollably – and then sometimes we both cried - uncontrollably.  We both know that she wants to go, and we know that she will be so happy in her new house with Mark. So as MOTB, I salute  my beautiful daughter and her husband to be, as they start the next phase of their lives together. 

Lucy did warn Richard that once she’d gone, he should prepare to be smothered for a while! As if....

The move weekend was spent with various family members helping both Lucy and Mark out – from electrical jobs to gardening, to washing pots and pans and putting curtains up. There was a time on Sunday when I looked around – Mark was assembling a wooden table, John – Mark’s dad was tackling the overgrown garden, my Neil was hanging pictures (with his trusty spirit level ) Avril, Mark’s Mum was washing china before putting it away in kitchen cupboards, Lucy and I were threading curtain hooks in to the freshly washed curtains ( mended by Granny) – and I felt a real sense of family. Neil’s Mum and Dad had offered to host a buffet tea so we could all get on and look forward later to tea waiting for us. Everyone supporting the “young ones” to set up their first home together. 

Mind you, I have to say while I had thought in my head while moving Lucy’s stuff out on Friday, and them emptying it out again that I for one will NEVER move house ( god willing) 

Mark actually said out loud “ I am never moving AGAIN”. And we all paused and agreed, the moments silence only broken by the temporary clothes rail upstairs crumpling under the weight of Lucy’s clothes collection.....Such fun.

Home Sweet Home - part 1

After months of keeping things under wraps, Lucy and Mark finally got the keys to their new home. A lovely house in the glorious Tyne Valley in Prudhoe (meaning Proud Heights) .

Mark has really shown his skills in all the negotiation to ensure it all went through smoothly. Lucy read the mortgage documents commenting that there were no pictures! Then she dutifully signed the dull contractual papers.

They have a few weeks now of decoration and cleaning and will move in the next week or so. They came back from Ikea last weekend with the beginnings of accessorising their new home including items such as doormats, tea and coffee canisters, 4 mugs and 2 beer glasses. Sounds like they have all they need. It is such an exciting time for them. And nice to do this now before the wedding flurry of activity starts in earnest. 

My Mum and Dad gave Lucy and Mark an excellent house warming gift. Two potatoes and a tin of beans. As Mam explained, if you have that you can always have a meal. They also gave them a sign to hang somewhere special. You will see it is perfect for Lucy.

It’s been all hands on deck, as all the immediate family have been to have a look at the new place, and then started to help them in the decoration/cleaning and odd jobs. Very exciting times.

Every house where love abides
And friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home sweet home
For there the heart can rest.
~Henry Van Dyke

THE dress is in!

Loud shrieks apparently were heard in the Newburn area transmitted via the telephone line  , when A and J rang Lucy to tell her that THE dress had arrived.

So “we” tootled down to their original shop on the main street in Newburn ( if you remember when we first visited them they were temporarily housed in the former Warmseal unit) So we oh’d and ah’d as we progressed through their real home base. It’s a very good set up and every bit as welcoming as our first visit.

Lucy then asked if I wanted to see her in THE dress – or did I want the full reveal on THE day. I think/know there’s going to be so much emotion on THE day that it was best for me to have an idea of what my beautiful daughter is going to look like. That said there are some alterations to be made so I would not be seeing the final version until THE day.

Alison and Julie were just a delightful as we remembered, and quickly took Lucy behind the lush curtain screen to begin undressing/dressing her.  As MOTB,  I waited patiently on the quiet side of the screen. I was entertained by the usual comments about pop up on the step, tucking Lucy’s boobs in and tying her up tight! I heard Julie saying, “Lucy it is so pretty, no it’s not just pretty it’s amazing! And not just the dress – YOU are so pretty.” I admit I had a tear.

The Bride peeped through a narrow gap in the curtains with a very wide smile.

And then the silver curtains parted and there she was. A sparkling vision. I was blown away. I could remember the dress from January but this was the real deal. This is the one she will actually walk down Hexham Abbey aisle in, the one she will say I do in...the one she will boogie on down in. I had another quick emotional wobble and then went for a tour around the dress. It is so beautiful. I won’t say any more best not to give anything away.

One of the conversations, once Lucy was into the dress, was about the use of a framed petticoat. Apparently it stops your legs getting tangled in the layers of the dress so Brides don’t have to kick the material forward to walk, and it stops the layers riding up generally making it much easier to walk/glide in. So Lucy was fitted with such a petticoat and sure enough, she found it much easier to glide. As Alison told us, for the big day - no one goes out of here kicking and hitching!

So what’s next? The dress goes to a local dressmaker for the few alterations. The Bridesmaids have to learn how to fasten Lucy into it. And then about a week THE big day, we need to collect it.

A by product of this very exciting visit, was that I turned into Cinderella. Hard to believe but hold that thought. As previous blog I mentioned my funny feet, and how finding my shoes could be an issue. Both my daughter and honest advisor Jeanette have told me in no uncertain terms, “you don’t want to look like a frump”. Thanks!

Well, beautifully displayed in A&J Bridalwear is a section of shoes, bags , tiaras and other wedding day accessories. I was encouraged to try on some of the “most comfortable, best sellers” . A proper shoe (!) with a little heel that has MOTB comfort built in. The shoes can be dyed any colour to match and compliment the outfit. While I was testing them around the shop floor, I spied some handbags which were the same i.e you can have them dyed. So there you have it – what a successful morning. Lucy’s dress is here, and I got my shoes and bag sorted. Where is that spreadsheet? What’s next!