Country Mouse Claire

Our Wedding: Some Guest Shots!

Claire Monday, August 25, 2014

Well hello there!

I am now happily one week into this whole married thing, and really could not be happier. I am getting a very silly but nonetheless delightful kick out of saying 'my husband', and Matthew is enjoying tutting whenever I say the incorrect surname. I counter that as it's going to take about eleventy million years to do all the name changing, I can enjoy my maiden name for a little longer!

Our day was absolutely beautiful, truly everything we had hoped, wished, and planned for. To be so surrounded by love and support on a wedding day was a huge blessing, and really started our married life off in style! Today I'll post a few of the lovely shots taken by friends and family on social media, and there will be a landslide of pro shots once we have them! I know a fair few people who couldn't make it, so here seemed the ideal place to share.

Plus, who doesn't love a good nose at a wedding! Thank you to Siobhan, Jenna, Martin, Vixie, Sam, Christy and Emily for using the hashtag and taking such sweet pictures!

Emily made her beautiful bridesmaid dress (the girl is seriously talented!) - I love this wee snap she shot between service and reception!

Converse up! I was going to wear Converse with my dress until I realised I couldn't bend down to tie the laces. Kaz and Vixie represented instead.

Our gorgeous array of cakes, all handmade by the delightful Kaz! Such a huge gift and such delicious goodies. Everyone was raving about her cakes!

Kaz and Shona at my house before we all headed into town!

A quick snap with Christy towards the end of the party.

Table decor. My mother-in-law loved the occasional owls we had dotted around so much she took them home, and they now adorn a bookcase or similar up north. Love that!

Badgers, clearly.

Christy snapped this selfie while waiting to come and help me into my dress. Isn't she beautiful!

Adam loved our ice cream van!

A first dance snap!

Lou + bubbles = joy!

Yep, cake.

Vixie and Kaz rocking those shoes!

I tried to put little details here, there and everywhere - I'm glad people enjoyed them!

It was so lovely to hang out with all of bridal squad before the service :)

Pretty sky! We were so lucky with the weather!

Badgers and bouquets!

So grateful to school for letting us use the grounds! Perfect setting for a reception.

I hope you've enjoyed this little sneak peek. More to follow once the pro pics arrive!

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#100 happy days: Days 16 - 20

Claire Thursday, June 12, 2014

More fun :) This also arched over our two-weddings-in-a-weekend bonanza, so there are BUNDLES of shots!

Day 16 was a rough, tough, exhausting day. Kittens and gin and Matthew in the evening cheered me up no end.

Day 17 was grooming central, and then my untypically kempt hair and I headed north on the train.

Day 18 was a good morning's rest, and a bubble bath.

Because then we had a wedding to get to!

Adam and Emily are SO stylish and creative. Their entire venue was done out to this level of detail. It must have taken so much time and effort and really made for a stunning reception!

We had great fun chatting with Dan and Brigitte.

I love a good photobooth! Eileen and I had a whale of a time....

...before piling back in with Siobhán, Vixie, Lou and Shelley. Just great fun!

So. Many. Cute. Little. Details.

A quick shot of Matthew and I.

Then alarms set, because Day 19 held....

...another wedding! Matthew is ready - are you?

Love a good piper!

Don't they love marvellous? Jo made a stunning bride!

Fantastic views from atop the Glass House Hotel.

Another shot with my favourite!

There was even a rainbow.

So very pleased for a very dear friend. And the dancing was brilliant.

Day 20: 500 ml cans of Irn Bru. Amazing.

We popped over to Laura's to have a cup of tea and see her new pad. Glorious fun.

Then it was off to Nando's....

...for a lovely supper with Matthew and Siobhán. Always so great to see them.

And Day 20 finishes with a shot over Edinburgh as the sun sets. I love that city; I hope we get to live there one day.

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Project Life: Edinburgh Edition

Claire Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Linking up with Jessica, as ever! This post actually fills four pages of my digi-book - alternating words and photos.

One of the highlights of my year has to be the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I've been six times and I always have the best time, watching comedy and music, catching up with folk, and generally having a ball. The past couple of years I've gone with the lovely Matthew and we've had a great time, but this year was a little different. Matthew couldn't take time off work this month, so instead my friend Lou and I decided to stage an EDINBUREUNION!

Lou and I went to Edinburgh together last in 2008, where we had a great little time romping around and watching tonnes of things. It's also the place where Lou first introduced me to her friend from the football, Matthew. Who is now my Matthew. So both the festival and Lou, both of which hold already pretty darn groovy places in my heart, are even more special for being the reason I met my wonderful boy. :-)

Right, soppiness over.

So Lou and I conspired to head off to the festival together once more. We could only schedule a weekend away, but we crammed an awful lot into it. Friday afternoon we met at Kings Cross and had a very jolly journey up to Edinburgh. We had tea and crudités and lots of fun. Then we were up the hill to our hostel (bunk beds ahoy!) and off to our first two shows, after a quick drink with Sarah, a lovely girl I went to high school with (we hadn't seen each other in person in about thirteen years!). We went to see Marcus Ryan, an Aussie comic, doing a stand up gig called Home and Away, and then popped off to see Sound and Fury, an American comedy troupe. By 1 am it was time for bed.

Saturday we awoke and fortified ourselves with a proper Scottish fry-up. We then embarked on a day of shows and fun. We saw both the acts we saw Friday again, in different shows. we saw the brilliant Sammy J, who made me weep with laughter. We had a drink with Lou's brother Rich, and bumped into Rachel, a nanny of one of my students, and Jude, a Joinee we both know. We saw The Blanks (a.k.a. Ted's band from Scrubs) and finished our day with a performance by Showstopper and some pizza eaten while sitting on a wall. Ah, Edinburgh.

Sunday dawned and we headed once more for greasy fortification. Then we decided to take an open-topped bus tour around the city, and as well as seeing lots of different sights, we also spotted Danny Wallace, the leader of the group (Join Me) that first threw Lou and I together! Random, but brilliant - we'd actually spotted him in 2008 together too, but not from the top of a double decker bus! We then popped along to meet our friend Tim and to catch a performance of Austentatious (they improvise Austen. I was in heaven!). Then it was off to the station for our first class seats home (so. much. tea.).

Such a brilliant weekend. Thank you Lou. Thank you Edinburgh!

We found Chris Hoy's golden post box!

Grand hotel.

A tiny portion of the tickets and flyers haul!

Castle.

Monument.

Gallery.

Lou always makes us awesome timetables. Awesome laminated timetables. Which of course we then dip into beverages as a trick of wonder. Here, it withstands tea!