This weekend I’ve been up in North Yorkshire – specifically Selby and Thorne near Doncaster – for Dave Bateman’s wedding to Abbie – hence the hashtag #batemantakethiswoman!
Me and Jimmy drove up first thing yesterday morning, grabbing a quick McDonalds breakfast nearby because we were a bit early, and then arrived at the church in Selby where we sat with Rob & Jenny, Chris & Debbie, Tom, Ralph & Laura, and Penny. Of course, John Roberts was there too, but since he was best man, he got to sit down the front with Mr Bateman!
Abbie and Dave.
It was a really nice service, and afterwards the rain stopped just long enough to take some photos in the churchyard, and by the yellow VW camper that was taking Dave and Abbie to their reception!
The reception was a bit of a drive away – it was just north east of Doncaster, so I checked into my hotel in Thorne, and went downstairs to try and sort out a taxi to take me to the reception, and also to get me home afterwards. There were a few other wedding guests there too, and we soon discovered that it’s a lot harder to arrange taxis in a small town than a major city! We were able to book a taxi to take us all there, but to book one to get us back was a lot more difficult. In the end, after quite a bit of phoning around by the lady behind the bar, we managed to arrange for a couple of taxis to pick us all up at the end of the night – but the earliest they could do was 1am!
Abbie and Dave.
It was a really fun reception – all the Manchester lot were on a table together, to share in a great meal, and it was nice being with everyone. Classic wedding speeches followed, and then a first dance to OneRepublic’s ‘Feel Again’. There was then a performance of Irish dancing, which slightly trashed the dancefloor with their intense footwork! And once the full-on dancing with everyone else was underway, pork and crackling rolls were then served… and I may have had a few too many of those!!
Abbie and Dave.
Later on, everyone went outside to play with sparklers! It had been raining quite a bit all afternoon, but it pretty much cleared up in the evening, although it meant it was quite muddy around the marquee. The reception actually wound down around 11.30pm, so we were facing the prospect of having to wait an hour and a half for our taxi back to the hotel, but then someone offered to cram us into a car to give us a lift back which we jumped at – they had to do it in 2 trips, which was so good of them, but it would have been a long wait sitting outside otherwise!
Dave and Abbie.
John, me, Dave and Rob.