Today (the 4th of July) is the first anniversary of our engagement and I am very proud to share this day with Susan & Vinnie who celebrated their marriage in the church I was christened in, St. Anne’s in Shankill. I wish them both all the love & happiness in the world.

Speaking of weddings (oddly enough!), last weekend Russell and I were honoured to be at the wedding of our friends Chris and Angela in her beautiful hometown of Guernica in the Basque region of Spain, and I’d love to tell you all about this wonderful trip. We drove up to Russell’s parents on the Wednesday evening & got about 4 hours sleep before rising at the ungodly hour of 4am & driving to Dublin Airport - my MIL2B Valerie was astonished that Russell was up & ready in 30 minutes… this is an unheard of situation in the Ryan family as Russell is renowned for “fluting about” - she commented that I obviously have a very good influence on him!

Anyway we boarded our Air France flight to Paris, hung around Charles de Gaulle for a few hours & then onward for our connection to Bilbao - there’s no direct flights from Dublin to Bilbao which is a pity because it might encourage more people to visit this beautiful region of Spain. We got to our hotel at about 5pm after a taxi ride with the stupidest taxi driver in the world… he couldn’t find our hotel! Anyway after a quick unpack, we were ready to hit the local bars… with the rest of the Irish contingent including Terry the best man & our friend Helen, both of whom were staying in our hotel. Chris’s family (including my BM Una) were staying a respectable distance away from us (they’ve known us too long!) so we met up in the evenings. On the Friday morning, we were all up early to catch the bus into Bilbao for some touristy sightseeing… poor Bilbao didn’t know what hit it! We walked the length & breadth of the city, seeing everything from the Guggenheim Museum to the Casco Viejo (old town) and having a pitstop for lunch (at an exorbitant €8 per head!). Incidentally, I’ve never seen so many bridal shops in one place in my life… I was restrained from entering them all by Russell & Terry but I did manage to ooh and ahh from outside! We managed to have a few quiet G&T’s that night in some of the local bars before getting a good night’s sleep in anticipation of the big day.

The sun was out & the skies were blue on Saturday 28th June…. which was great because it rained the day before. Due to the busyness of the local hairdressers, it was DIY for me & I was sporting a head of very gorgeous orange & red Velcro rollers - Russell is used to seeing me like this so made no comment, but the Best Man nearly fell down the stairs laughing at me…. a swift slap soon cured that! I was called upon to do Helen’s make-up & nails - both of which were slapped on at warp speed and then Russell needed his shirt ironed (poor pet). All in all, things were hectic when suddenly the nervous groom Chris knocked on our door with a calla lily buttonhole and a look of panic - he was afraid of stabbing himself with the pin! The flower was pinned onto his lapel & all was good until Terry came running down the stairs with his buttonhole too… was there no peace? As if that wasn’t bad enough, my BM Una’s fiance Barry was in possession of a video camera & was trying to get a shot of me in the rollers… I nearly broke Chris’s nose slamming our door in his face so my head wouldn’t appear on video!

Anyway, we all managed to get ourselves ready and were down at the local bar at 12.30 for a quick breakfast (i.e. the last remaining croissant on the counter) & to keep the groom calm… which wasn’t really working so Chris & Terry headed over to the Church of Santa Maria to wait for the guests to arrive, wearing matching black Hugo Boss suits with lovely silver ties. The church was beautiful - it had a big square outside so there was plenty of room for guests to mingle & chat while waiting for the bride to arrive. Suddenly I was presented with a large bag containing about 70 mass booklets & was ordered to hand them out… so I commandeered the rest of the gang & we managed to distribute them to all & sundry (Russell was holding my lilac handbag at this stage & it really suited him!). Then a car drew up containing the gorgeous bride Angela and her dad so it was time to get everybody inside the church. The bride wore a dress bought in Spain & it was very simple and elegant - a cream satin strapless gown with lace detail just under the bodice, an a-line skirt and a lace bolero-type jacket with long sleeves over the dress - she looked like a Spanish princess. Angela’s sister Tere and Chris’s sister Una were the two BM’s & they looked stunning in electric blue a-line dresses (bought in Dublin) carrying bouquets of calla lilies to match the bride’s bouquet. Just as I was about to sit down, I was flagged down by Una to fetch the ring cushion & basket containing 13 gold coins from the altar so they could carry them into the church… I was a wee bit flustered & was trying to juggle mass books & a camera already so I was a sight balancing the ringcushion on one arm while attempting to pick up the basket of coins… which promptly overbalanced & scattered all over the floor!!!!! The very kind sacristan helped me to pick them up & I handed them over to the BM’s before taking my seat in the church.

Fr. Roberto carried out a dual-language service which we really appreciated & it ran just like a normal Irish service with readings & prayers of the faithful before Chris & Angela took their vows. All of a sudden it was over & the register was being signed and everybody was applauding, photos were being taken and then it was time for the Chris & Angela to leave the church as husband and wife… to find a Basque dancer waiting outside for them. He handed Angela his red beret and then began his traditional dance. After he had finished, we were handed huge handfuls of rose petals & rice to throw at the bride & groom (no litter restrictions here!) before making our way to the restaurant for the wedding reception.

Now most Spanish wedding receptions aren’t held in hotels as they are in Ireland, but in restaurants, and they finish a good bit earlier than our usual 1-2am. The restaurant was about 10k from Guernica & was called Lezika. We were greeted by a drinks reception & sat down in the shade while Chris & Angela were having their photos taken for a chat. Soon, the bridal party arrived & it was time to head into dinner… well what a feast! 6 starters including lobster, prawns and asparagus - and you were served all of them, not just one - followed by fish, sorbet and fillet steak… and then an 8 tier wedding cake! The Irish guests were absolutely amazed at the sheer quantity of food that was served to us… a far cry from the usual 4 course meal we see in Ireland. The wine flowed freely and then we had Cava (Spanish champagne) before being offered liqueurs… the Baileys slipped down nicely!

After this incredible meal, it was time for the first dance and Chris and Angela twirled around the dancefloor to “Let’s Get It On” before changing the tempo completely & playing “The Wild Rover”…. and then it was time for us to hit the dancefloor… the rest of the night was a whirl of dancing, drinking lots and lots of cava and yapping to all our friends before falling into taxis & heading back to Guernica for more G&T’s.

It was a wonderful day & the highlight of an incredible trip… the bride & groom are sunning themselves in Italy on their honeymoon as we speak, before returning to married life in Ireland

One final word (if you haven’t fallen asleep at this stage)… good luck to my fellow WOL’er, neighbour & walking companion Alvina who is marrying Martin on 26th July.

Now what will I write about next time??????

Aoife