robs blog: Paddy and Emma's Wedding

Well we had a great time at Paddy and Emma,s wedding, cost an arm and a leg but was worth it to be my best friends best man.

The wedding was in Ealing Church in the New Forest near Southampton. Really nice area and we had good weather.

It was not a huge wedding guest numbers wise as most of their friends are Aussies and also Paddies family are down under, but Emma,s Dad went the whole hog with the day and it was perfect.

The photos here are ones I took so they are candid shots rather than professionally staged ones.

Emma

Paddy

I haven't a clue what he just said there or what the girls were commenting on in the below shot

Paddy asked me to be his best man (scary ) which was an honour.

Emma,s Brother, Sam was a grooms man and his wee boy also had the top hat and tails.

Grace and Elizabeth did a great job as flower girls, I like this shot of my God Daughter a lot.

Her wee sister was intrigued by a magician at the reception

Emma, her Dad and the flower girls arrived by horse drawn cart

Paddies Sister Nicky and Emma s best pal Sophie came from Australia and I like this casual shot of Nicky taking a "selfy" with Sophie looking on.

Paddies Mum also made the long trip from Australia and she was one of only a few people I knew and had to stand up in front of and give a speech.

This was my Best Man's effort at a speech and I tried to not look at my notes while doing it so actually missed out wee bits and changed others.

" Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen girls and boy.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Robert and I,m an old pal of Paddy and Emma's from Australia,

Actually this gets a bit confusing as I'm not actually from Australia now, I'm from Ireland and as you can probably tell from my accent I'm actually from Scotland. So if you forget my name, you MIGHT remember, the Aussie bloke with the Scottish accent who lives in Ireland. Or then again you might find it easier to remember my name.

When Paddy asked me if I would be his Best man a few months ago I said I couldn't because the Best man has all these tasks like organizing suits and transport and the Stag party and it would be really difficult doing that from a different country.

Paddy's reaction was “Sheell be right Mate, Mike will do all that” I ended up saying yes, so I really have to thank Mike, Lin and Dereck, Lolitha and Sam for all the things I should have organized. All I had to do was not lose the Ring and stay sober enough to do a wee speech. This is the wee Speech part.

Show mass of paper sheets.

Don't worry I only wrote a sentence on each page and made the text big so I can see it.

I think everyone will agree Emma looks gorgeous.

I hadnt seen Emma, Paddy or the girls for the last five years and Emma has been teaching Zumba dance and working out and dying her hair and all sorts so I hardly recognised her.

Mind You the biggest changes are with my God daughter Grace, and her wee sister Elizabeth who have grown up into proper young ladies and they did a wonderful job as flower girls today.

For those of you who know Paddy you will know he is an avid fisherman, infact he is so keen on fishing he came to Ireland to fish instead of helping with the wedding arrangements.

We had fine Irish weather while he was over, it was soft rain and only blowing force six for most of the time. It was also a bit chilly at times and when it came out in conversation, in a bar, about the seven layers of clothes Paddy had on he was asked if he was actually a cabbage, this remark made me spill my beer and partially choke.

We did catch some fish but the real catch Paddy can happily boast about is his beautiful bride.

I learnt some new things about Paddy when he was visiting I didn't know he was allergic to dish washing, probably because we had a dishwasher in Sydney. He has also got over the habit he used to have of borrowing my lawnmower, this visit he didn't ask once if he could try it out.

As well as being best man today I am also Graces God Father,

When Paddy and Emma asked me if I would be The God Father I had to look on the internet and Google it to find out my responsibilities, after five minutes research, signing up for an Italian course, and practising how to say “forgetaboutit” convincingly, said yes,

It wasn't until after I had changed my name to Corleoni that I discovered Google isn't always the best way to educate yourself.

So I didn't bother Googling best man, and I just hope I don't miss anyone out, with the thank you and

email wishes and any other things I should mention.

I would like to thank everyone who has made the day such a sucsess including Mike for all his hard work and Lolitha for everything she has done to make the reception so nice, Lin and Dereck who did all the arrangments at the church and ceremony.

The bridesmaids, Nicky and Sophie, and the flower girls Grace and Elizabeth.

I couldn't make the Stag day but would like it known that I did return the groom without alcohol poisoning prior to it, the guys played golf and Paddy didn't win the round but he certainly scored a hole in one when he didn't fluff the words “I do” earlier on.

The venue for both the wedding and reception have been lovely and the weather was kind to us as well. One of my favourite parts of a wedding is what we call in Australia the grog so this is the good part,

Ladies and Gentlemen lets all raise our glasses to the Bride and Groom, may they enjoy a long and happy life together. Slante bha Mr and Mrs Watts.

Well that was my wee speech but before I finish I would like to share a wee text conversation I had with the bride yesterday evening.

I texted her "what a wonderful hotel Emma good choice"

Emma : Yeah its gorgeous

Me: I could quite happily move into this bed full time

Emma : haha ( I think she was getting bored texting at this point)

Me: I'll be lucky if I wake up in time for the wedding maybe just see you at the reception

Emma: No way my brother is coming to pick you up at 1000

Me: He will have to wake me

Emma: My Dad will knock you up

Me: No way Emma a pregnancy this late in life as well as being a medical wonder would also do me in.

Well that was my wee speech I hope you all enjoy the rest of the evening.