In one of our earliest blogs, Lesley wrote about her daughter’s wedding. Well, it's my turn now as one of my three took the plunge. For a whole variety of reasons this was very different from Lesley’s event, not least because of the shadow of Covid.

So this time the ‘Wedding Bell’ was my daughter and the ‘Wedding Daze’ was the state I was in afterwards! Hope you enjoy some of my lifelong learning experiences!

Ever noticed the way Google tries to tag your photos? It had this one as a wedding car on a dirt track! Well, half right – although, given the work I put in creating drainage ditches during lockdown, I am sure my steep driveway deserves a kinder description.  

With my youngest brother confidently stepping in as the official wedding chauffeur, the tone was set for a DIY wedding – or rather that should read a Community DIY wedding.

One of my volunteer activities is serving on the board of our local village hall. We are fortunate to have a fine hall, dating back to the 1890s, located on the Shore Road in Cove on the banks of the Clyde. It was at its splendid best on a fine September day – quite a relief as the event had been scheduled for exactly one year previously, and that had been postponed due to Covid.

With the shadow of Covid lurking, and the associated apprehension that hosting an all-age event now brings, we still decided to push ahead. Life does need to go on and although inevitably there were some call-offs because of the virus, it was with a great sense of anticipation that family and friends came from near and far to join us.

Our Community Hall is run entirely by volunteers and we received considerable help and guidance in preparing for, and delivering the event. With my wife in charge of interior design and fit-out, the venue was transformed from a village hall to a fine wedding venue.

Every good wedding has to have great food, and the wedding catering was provided by our local café. Like almost everyone in the hospitality sector they have had a hugely challenging year, so the opportunity to do a big event enabled them to bring in some of their younger staff and learn about event catering.

We also decided that to ensure that party time was a success it would be better to bring in a professional disco. The Mobile Disco Company from Loch Lomond did the honours and provided non-stop dancing for three hours. One of the tricks of a successful party is to keep reading the room, adjusting as required, and continuously understanding the mood. As part of the wider hospitality industry they too have been on the ropes but are seeing business begin to pick-up.

I guess our wedding was, in microcosm, typical of the widespread disruption Covid has wrought - not in the big dramatic way that dominates the headlines, but in multiple small ways, that has fundamentally changed the way we live. I wonder what the futurists will predict?

But – for newlyweds – isn’t that always the question?

Lead well

Graham