Armidale Wedding

But first, here's a picture of Patrick and a cow. I think it's fair to say that Patrick was far more excited about this meeting than was the cow.

It was the beautiful wedding of Gill's cousin Anna, and Matt (there have been a good number of photos of them on the blog over the last couple of years).

The afternoon before the wedding, we took a drive out to the reception venue to check out final preparations and catch up with Lyn and David, Anna's mum and step-dad. And have a beer, obviously. The location was a barn; not a 'once was a barn but is now an events venue' type of barn, but an actual, real, Aussie barn! Converted just for the occasion.

The photos below hint at the beautiful landscape and big skies of the Armidale area, which is the capital of the 'New England' region in NSW; its position at about 1000m above sea level mean it is one of the few areas of the country that has four very distinct seasons, and it often doesn't get quite as hot as surrounding regions. That said, there was a concern that, if the heat kept up, 100 people in the barn could feel like being in a mircowave. Fortunately, the weather broke on the evening of the weather.  A huge electrical storm - or rather, several electrical storms - hit during the reception, which was perfect timing as it brought the temperature down and provided an amazing night-time backdrop as the surrounding land was lit up by lightening strikes and the rain rattled against the roof.

"The bar"

Dinner the night before: pizza picnic and a bottle or two of Hunter Valley wine....

On the day we caught a chartered bus to the church - which, running a little late on a rather hot day (ok, it was seriously bloody hot) meant that some people didn't cope quite so well...

Some of the other guests were a little concerned, until they realised I'm English

The church

Which is which?

The tall one and the, er, other one

The Asbury girls

Anna

Anna, with her brother Dylan and Mel, his partner

Gill, Anna and Megan

Ok, time for me to crap on (again) about how bloody hot it was (which was around 37/38 degrees). My shirt was so wet with sweat, and the church so hot, that it absorbed the lacquer on the pew.

Still not convinced? Read Ethan's face:

.... not a happy buba

Simon (Gill's second cousin) with Gill

After that I was too busy doing what I usually do at weddings to take anymore photos. At least this time there were no faceplants or press-ups.

And now, a short clip of Patrick, Bryce and Ethan in various stages of mobility:

And finally, the road to the cemetery in Armidale - helpfully explained....