April 27 was time for another Morris wedding – this time it was the delightful Sarah, one of the finest ceramic artists ever to ply their trade in the Home Counties, marrying BB’s very own John, one of the biggest **** artists ever to come out of Australia. The event was held in the impressive surroundings of Great Fosters, near Egham, where John and Sarah had laid on a great day for their guests.
The ceremony took place in the large windowed conservatory where all the guests were able to see Sarah and bridesmaid Kate proceed up the aisle towards the waiting John, who looked as though he couldn’t quite believe his luck at marrying Sarah after such a short (ten years) courtship. Once the ceremony was over, the guests proceeded outside for photographs while the Morris teams got going, with Sarah performing with Windsor, John with BB, and both with Rockhopper. While John was doing Fairies Sarah was persuaded to join the BB big band on shaky egg, and what a fine souffle she made of it too. After the photos it was time for an excellent buffet meal, including a to die for chocolate fudge cake-y thing with truffles. And then the traditional speeches and thanks, with John managing to keep his speech down to around the 2 hour mark though obviously with such a short amount of time available it was difficult for him to get going properly.
By now the evening was approaching, with more guests arriving, and it was time for the ceilidh with Chalktown, and Nick Walden calling. This went very well, although about halfway through it was time for a spot, and John had selected The Swans as being a suitable way of bemusing his new relatives. As BB got changed beforehand it was very noticeable how much the Swan costumes had shrunk since last worn, especially round the waist area. Nevertheless, once again accompanied by the expanding Jane on fiddle and Gareth on keyboard, the side strutted, preened and flocked in approximate time to the music, and almost inevitably were called back to do it again (largely due to some terribly enthusiastic Windsors in the audience – thanks girls). And then it was time for more ceilidh, and then later still time for the newly weds to disperse towards Italy while the rest of BB dispersed towards their next date with destiny, the Oyster weekend.