Last weekend I attended my first wedding of the year. A good friend was marrying a partner who she had met at university. Despite the fact that they had been together for nearly 8 years, I had never actually met her fiancé/now husband. It was nice be able to finally put a face to the name; even if you only ever get a few minutes to speak to the bride and groom at their wedding.

The wedding took place in a small village church close to where my friend grew up. Although my friend isn’t especially religious, not enough to go to church every Sunday at least, her husband is very religious and wanted to get married in a religious space. He had actually visited this particular church when he was younger, as part of a church choir, so he felt like he had a pre-existing connection to the area. I am not that religious myself, but the ceremony was lovely. They chose some very upbeat hymns which were representative of their love. At some church weddings it can be difficult to get people to sing along with hymns that they do not know, but there were no problems at this wedding.

Their reception was held in an old theatre in the West Midlands. It was a gorgeous space which is now used as a community area. The town apparently holds performances, exhibitions and public forums in this building. After each event, the building is returned to a blank canvas state so that each user can put their own spin on it for each event. My friend has always been design minded, so the décor was absolutely wonderful.

They had been permitted to hang up a mesh of fairy lights across the ceiling of the premises, so that it looked like a sky full of stars. This was a very subtle touch, because the theatre had such a high ceiling.  My friend is a literary editor, so the venue contained a lot of literary references. She had even managed to borrow a few fun props from the theatre’s old costume and staging department.

The food was really good at the venue too. The couple had hired in an external caterer who attempts to use local and seasonal produce wherever possible. We had some of the first lamb of the season for the main course (apologies if you’re not a meat eater), served with some well-prepared veg. The dessert was a posh version of a rhubarb crumble. I have literally never enjoyed rhubarb before, so I was a little worried when I saw it on the menu card. However, when I tried it I thought that it was really nice! The chef had managed to take away some of the tartness that rhubarb can sometimes have.

Instead of having a baked wedding cake, the bride and groom had chosen to have a cheese cake. It contained 4 wheels of cheese, including a huge wheel of quartzy cheddar for the base. I must have eaten more cheese than I have ever had before in my life! So good, and such a wonderful day.