English Wedding

My dear friend Hayley married her man Dan and I was so pleased to  be at their celebration! I left Switzerland on Friday night to travel to England and we spent Friday night at Nikki's family who generously hosted us. On Saturday morning we started bright and early with our trip to Battle (the town where the reception was and where we slept on Saturday night). After leaving early to avoid the traffic, we had some time to spare so we stopped to do some shopping :) I ended up buying a dress which I decided to wear the wedding later that day. The ceremony was in a beautiful church in the town of Brede, and although the rain kept coming and going, nothing could take away from the joy and beauty of the moment! Hayley was a gorgeous bride, and her creative eye was evidenced by all the beautiful details during the ceremony and reception. We made our way to the Battle Abbey for the reception - such a stately and grand location for a wonderful celebration. We spent the afternoon eating delicious snacks and taking pictures, before enjoying the "wedding breakfast" (the traditional name given to the dinner in the UK). We feasted on a delicious butternut soup, roast duck, and the most amazing minty chocolate mousse in between listening to heartfelt speeches. There were a good number of us from Switzerland (about one fifth of the wedding guests) and some of the Swiss crew imported some Swiss wedding traditions to add to the reception! I didn't know this, but apparently it is quite common at Swiss weddings to play games or do sketches during the reception, and so two different activities were added to the reception which definitely added to the enjoyment and fun of the evening. Dancing and more eating followed, and I climbed into bed one happy girl! On Sunday morning, we joined Nikki's family for a traditional Sunday roast (so delicious) before making our way back to Lausanne.

It was truly special to witness the union of Dan & Hayley, two exceptional people who I know will have a rich and happy life together!