Mark's Blog: Sam & Tom's Wedding

Gill and I caught the train to Farnham from Dorset the day before the wedding and checked in to the Farnham Bush Hotel; we had a relaxing three course lunch at Cote Brasserie in Lion and Lamb Yard in the centre of town (£10 for 3 courses! Great food too) and a bottle of wine, before sampling the beer at The William Cobbett. In the evening we met up with Sam, my Mum and the bridesmaids (minus Emily who was looking after Austyn), before I happened to bump in to Matt; so obviously he and I had to go for a beer.

Lunch at Cote, Lion and Lamb Yard

On the morning of the Big Day I headed over to Sam and Tom's house, to meet up with Tom and the other groomsmen. After getting our morning dress on we headed back to the hotel for a drink and then made the short drive to the Catholic church nearby.

It was a beautiful service and Sam looked stunning. My mum and Emily also looked amazing. My dad looked kind of amazing too, but in a slightly different sense of the word. It was certainly strange that the first I saw of him since arriving in England five days earlier was when he came and stood next to me in the church, having deposited Sam at the altar.

I thought the priest was excellent, delivering a perfectly judged homily. As the rain began to fall during the photos after the service, we moved quickly to the reception venue where the rain held off enough to finish the photos. The reception - the food, decorations and the surprise band - indeed the whole atmosphere of the occasion - was fantastic.

I don't have many photos of the Big Day (that's what the photographer is for!), but here's a few....