Your Pictures!

Hey everyone,
things are just about returning to a degree of normality after the wedding; Catherine has nearly completed half a term as a married woman and I have managed for some weeks without even taking any leave.

We really did have two great days at our wedding and Leicester reception and we both could not help but notice that there were plenty of people with digital cameras happily snapping away at us. I have set-up albums for your pictures of The Wedding Day and The Leicester Party. If you want your pictures to added to these albums all you have to do is e-mail them to me and I can upload them. We'd be particularly delighted if people had any pictures of the day of the wedding after 6pm and the Leicester party in full swing, as we don't really have any pictures from them.

You can send us as many pictures of the Grapevine grouping as you like. It still won't change that we shall not be sending anything to the alumni office.

If you want to send the pictures to me, please do this by e-mailing the address that was on your invite. If you are not sure of this let me know and I will be able to give it to you.

We hope you enjoy the albums as they, hopefully, grow. We really did enjoy the wedding and hope you did too.

Sweden Photos

Hej!
Most of our photos from Sweden have been developed and are sat in a very tall pile in our living room. As we use a 35mm camera we need to decide how many we're going to digitise the old fashioned way by manually inserting them into a scanner ourselves, pressing a button on the computer and then fine tuning any adjustments. It's an almost pre-enlightenment process. This is the first and probably best batch of photos, only hindered by the fact the scanner settings were pretty low. The same album will be updated with other photos that we have scanned or had put on a CD, as soon as we have them.

Thanks to everyone who bought us items from the bliss list. As we have told most people already we had a wonderful time and we hope to tell you all about it.

That Playlist in Full

I'm not sure there will be very many people interested in this post, but I did hear some people making positive noises about the songs played both at the Wedding and at the reception in Leicester. If you're not particularly interested in the background music then feel free to stop reading now, or perhaps take a look at the photographs provided by the photographer.

It's fair to say that I have linked idiosyncratically and basically at what caught my interest. Many of the youtube videos or other things linked are live recordings or slightly different versions. Many of them just make me happy or are things I have seen for the first time today. If you want to know anything more about any of the bands then clock on their name or send me an e-mail about them.

Wedding Party Playlist

Before the wedding:
1. Oh God Where are you now? (In Pickering Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?) - Sufjan Stevens [excerpt]
2. Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou) - Sufjan Stevens
3. Vito's Ordination Song - Sufjan Stevens
4. Hope - Dirty Three
5. Hail to the Lord's Anointed - The Welcome Wagon

[at this point Catherine was not around to walk down the aisle. We sat in nervous silence for a couple of minutes and the PA technician put Hope on again until Catherine arrived. Thanks PA technician.]

Whilst we were signing the register Peter and the organist played Part 1 of Okna na Marca Chagalla (1976) by Petr Eben.

As we left the Church:
Olsen Olsen - Sigur Ros [excerpt]

Leicester Playlist

1. Empire State (Son House In Excelsis) - Mercury Rev

2. Beartown - Polar Bear

3. Untitled 3 - Sigur Rós

4. Hail To The Lord's Anointed - The Welcome Wagon

5. She Has No Strings - Dirty Three

6. Nude - Radiohead

7. Yiddisher Charleston - The Gilt Edged Four

8. Parking Lot - Galaxie 500

9. Strings of Nashville (Instrumental) - Pavement

10. The Ground So Soft - Lift To Experience

11. Everything's [um, gone badly]! - Dirty Three

12. High Lonesome Moan - David Pajo

13. Never Let Me Go - Aretha Franklin

14. Schizophrenia - Sonic Youth

15. Ina Mina Dika - Asha Bhosle

16. Some Kinda Love - The Velvet Underground

17. Come On! Feel The Illinoise! - Sufjan Stevens

18. (Love Is Like A) Heatwave - Martha Reeves

19. Nantes - Beirut

20. Falling From Cloud 9 - Lift To Experience

21. THE FIRST DANCE: Breathless - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

22. Adlai Stevenson - Sufjan Stevens

23. Nowhere To Run - Martha Reeves & The Vandellas

24. Caribou - Pixies

25. Today - Smashing Pumpkins

26. Little Fury Things - Dinosaur Jr

27. Box Elder - Pavement

28. Friday I'm in Love - The Cure

29. Punka - Kenickie

30. Expectations - Belle & Sebastian

31. Light & Day / Reach for the Sun - The Polyphonic Spree

32. Autoclave - The Mountain Goats

33. Jesus - The Welcome Wagon

34. O Saathi Re - Asha Bhosle

35. Spiral Golden Town - Deerhoof

36. Into The White - Pixies

37. What Goes On - The Velvet Underground

38. Thalassocracy - Frank Black

39. Gold Soundz - Pavement

40. I Like Birds - Eels

41. The Lovecats - The Cure

42. Trompe Le Monde – Pixies

43. Iggy – Acoustic Ladyland

44. Can I Take You To The Cinema? - Kenickie

45. Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles

46. Tugboat - Galaxie 500

47. The Abandoned Hospital Ship - The Flaming Lips

48. The Penalty - Beirut

49. House Of Cards - Radiohead

50. Chasing A Bee - Mercury Rev

51. Going To Queens - The Mountain Goats

52. Hanging Around The Day Part 2 - The Polyphonic Spree

53. Float On - Modest Mouse

54. These Are The Days - Lift To Experience

55. Just Like Honey - The Jesus & Mary Chain

56. God Is In The House - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

57. Black Horse - Gastr Del Sol

58. The Rider Song - Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

59. Hope - Dirty Three

60. Death Is Not The End - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

61. Fire In My Heart - Super Furry Animals

Phew! Little things on our return to Leeds

Hello everyone,
In the last 17 days I have slept in seven beds in four cities in two countries, so it's fair to say that I'm tired and I don't really know where I am. We have so many wonderful memories of the last two-and-a-bit weeks and would really like to say thank you to everybody who has helped us prepare, celebrate and relax following these times.

I'm not trying to produce anything in a coherent manner yet, but have a few things to share with everyone.

Firstly, the photographer has put a very large number of photos on his portfolio website, which can be accessed by clicking here. After clicking, there is an option in the top right hand corner to watch the pictures as a slideshow. Don't feel that you have to -there are more than 500 pictures on the site- but feel free to have a look through. Catherine and I have the unenviable task of looking through all of these and selecting just a small percentage of them for the wedding album.

Secondly, plenty of people have been asking us about our honeymoon. We had an amazing time and will very soon be able to provide proper and sensible pictures showing what we did. As these need to be developed (thanks to those who bought it on the Bliss List) all I have is the pictures Catherine decreed were not worth the film, development or association with her camera. As some of these were absolutely vital I had to use my phone to take them. My favourite of this is the first thing I saw out of the airport, which was the quite fabulous book vending machine:



60SEK for a paperback, with descriptions and short authors bios on the front and sides.

My other preferred picture is of the poster for the upcoming "Handful of Keys '09: Rhapsody in Rock" gig. A shame I had to miss the gig itself as it as it is happening in August:



Close inspection reveals that, sadly, it is his hair over his left eye and not an eye-patch. To make up for it though, you are absolutely correct in thinking that it is a keytar he is holding in the bottom right of the poster.

For some unknown reason, Catherine prefers the shot I took whilst trying to get my phone to work so I could take the picture above:



As I said in the post before the wedding, we have lots more to put on the blog, so do keep checking. Pretty soon I'm going to create an album on a site where people will be able to add their own photos. I'm hoping to rack up a number of photos equal to the photographer's website.

Thanks again for everyone's continued emotional and practical involvement in our wedding. Although things are getting back to some degree of normality we are made constantly aware of what a wonderful time we have had in the last few weeks and how special this has been to us. We hope to hear from you all very soon.

Leicester Countdown

Hello everyone,
I am writing this from the airport in Stockholm. We have had a wonderful time on our honeymoon and are about to take the plane back to the UK to be with you all tomorrow in Leicester.

We hope everyone who came had a really good time at the wedding. We're hoping to spend a little bit more time with everyone tomorrow and will hopefully not be running around doing thirty things at once. The information for getting to the venue is below and it will be great to see everyone who can come tomorrow.

I must go, I haver a plane to catch...

Index of Posts 6 Days to Go Edition

This is probably the last post before the wedding, so we'd just like to say thanks to everyone for everything so far and we hope to see soon you if you are coming to the wedding, the Leicester party or both.

I know blogger isn't always the easiest thing to navigate so I thought I would do another index and explanation. This should hopefully provide everyone with the information they need. If you have any other issues, please feel free to contact me at my e-mail address (which is on the invite) or leave a comment below for me to respond to. The next few days are going to be hectic for us, but I'm hoping to have enough time to respond to any queries.

Formalities and Suchlike

Perhaps this is clear from your invite, but most of the times and dates for our festivities are shown here. The one thing not on there is there start of the Leicester reception, which your invite should show you as starting at 7pm.

I have tried to make maps for all the routes below, which have their own index available here. Also, excitable people with technology lust can use Street View to look at the routes in Leeds.

Leeds Information

Now for the real stuff. The next 3 paragraphs will be based on how you are getting to the Church if you are coming to Leeds on the day of the Wedding.

For those who are coming by Car: If you would like to part at our suggested car park you will need to follow these directions. You may want to have a look at the map and the one thing you will need to be aware of is the final, slightly hidden turn to the car park. After parking the car you should find your way to the Town Hall (the directions explain this) and then follow these directions to The Church.

For people arriving into Leeds Central Train Station, you need to follow the walking directions shown here to get to the Town Hall and then follow these directions to The Church.

For people who live in Leeds but don't know how to get to The Church, get yourself to the Town Hall and follow these directions to The Church.

If you are using an alternative method of transportation to these then please let us know and we will try to get the information you need. I'm not sure what's left, but someone will always find something to surprise you.

From the Church the very close friends and family will need to make their way to Weetwood Hall. If you are driving you can follow these directions. If you are not driving you can find out more information about public transport here. I particularly like the sound of GEO Cabs, but that is mainly because of my fondness for the word Geoduck.

If you are staying in Leeds and you have not already booked anywhere then our potted list of hotels is here.

Leicester Information

I think I'm sure in thinking that a majority of the people coming to the Leicester reception know where the Church Hall is and are aware of the issues surrounding parking when there is football. However, for the people who are not used to the ins and outs of LE3, there are travelling directions for driving from me and from Catherine's dad. One you have got to the Church you can use these instructions to find a car park. Similarly if you are walking from the Station or the City Centre there are directions from me and from Catherine's dad.

Other Information

We have a wedding list, information about it is available here and you can access it by clicking on this.

The Church have asked us to inform people that confetti is not permitted after the wedding. If you haven't been there before you'll see on the day that the church is next to the subterranean A58(M) and having confetti fall on you probably isn't good for a driver's fragile sense of control. If you were going to spend a couple of quid on confetti and don't now know what to do with it, feel free to donate it to St George's Crypt. People coming to the reception at Weetwood Hall will be glad to know that biodegradable confetti is allowed and a small amount will be provided for photos and general merrymaking.

Well, all we can say is that we'll see you on the day. We hope you have managed to work out what you are doing and how you will cope with loop roads, train stations and subterranean A roads that have motorway restrictions.

Don't be thinking that this blog ends when the wedding is complete. We will be putting up photos, playlists, anecdotes and links to more you tube videos of hovercrafts.

See you very soon!

Street View!

I was thinking we had all the pre-wedding information possible on the blog. And then Street View happens.

Street View is a new feature to Google Maps that lets you see the road of certain cities at eye level and have a good look around. Why is this important to our wedding blog? Because you can see all the junctions on our directions in Leeds. Instead of having a just a map, you can see what the road looks like and what buildings there are around. Fantastic for navigating your way around a city you hardly know on a Saturday morning! All that time I spent taking photos of the streets and then this thing comes along.

So, to get a view of a particular junction on one of our route-planned maps of Leeds you can click on the camera that appears next to the direction on the left hand side. Here is the link for the start of the journey from Leeds Town Hall to the Church. You can then either click on other junctions to see what they look like or follow the journey (it's in blue) from one end to the other. One reason I think this is great is because people will be able to see the junction they need to turn on to get to The Light car park.

Two things though: it's a car that takes the pictures and you shouldn't walk down the middle of the road. Secondly, there are not pictures available for Leicester. You're on your own there.

Bliss List- Wedding list

Hello everyone,
The countdown is really starting to tick. In three week's time we shall be married and preparing to set off to Sweden on the 5th.

Which is where our Wedding List comes in. We have chosen Bliss List because it will allow us to buy items for our honeymoon. By purchasing presents from the list you will make sure we can have a really good time in Scandinavia. We are really looking forward to the honeymoon and celebrating our wedding with you.

If you choose to buy anything from the list then thank you ever so much.

No Filibusters- Leeds Speeches

We are not planning on doing many things traditionally at this wedding. We're holding receptions on two different days, Catherine is not going to claim she will start obeying me and -the topic for today- our speeches will be open to anyone present to comment.

This is how it will run. At the Leeds reception, we're going to have the traditional speeches from the best man, the father of the bride and myself. Catherine will also have a speech and explain this process for people that haven't read the blog. Then the forum is open and anyone present can say anything nice about us. This is an opportunity for our closest friends and family to have their say. We are telling you now to make sure people are not shocked on the day and to give people time to think of something. It could be a line, a memory or a full on story.

We'll be having a friend be a kind of chair and if you want to let her know you are going to speak you can by adding a comment on this site, talking to her on the day, or waving furiously at her when someone else is talking.

News from the comments

Hey folks.
Catherine's dad has been hard at work thinking of better ways to direct people around Leicester. If his suggestions seem more sensible (and let's face it, he does live there) then follow them instead of ours.

For people who are travelling from the East:

Coming from the A47, east of Leicester, follow the A47 until you reach the inner ring road on the outskirts of the city centre. Take a right turn at the roundabout and follow signs for the M1. Keep in the right lane as you pass over the Belgrave flyover, and then keep in the left lane. Before long you will pass the new John Lewis Store on your left (not to be confused with the John Lewis car park on your right). Take the next left/slip road on to the Holiday Inn roundabout (also known as St Nicholas Circle). This looks more like a one way system than a roundabout, but you want the 3rd exit (right turn) following signs for M1. At the second set of traffic lights turn left on to Narborough Road. At the second set of traffic lights turn right into Westcotes Drive.

For people who want to walk straight to the Church from the station:

Turn right out of the station as described by Catherine.

At the 1st set of traffic lights turn left into Belvoir Street (it is called Beaver Street in Leicester).
At the end of Belvoir Street is the City Council HQ. Continue straight on into Newarke Street. At the end of Newarke Street you will see an old monument called the Magazine. Follow the road round to the right and there is a pedestrian crossing over the main inner ring road.
On the other side of the ring road if you look ahead you will see a quiet road called The Newarke with De Montfort University on your left and Newarke House Museum on your right.

Follow this road and you will cross over the Grand Union Canal Mile Straight. Turn left at the T junction and walk alongside the canal till you come to a set of traffic lights.

On your right you will see a path that goes through Bede Park in between the Quay Pub and Sainsburys. Follow the path, and if you keep going straight on you will arrive at the Church of the Martyrs.

As you leave the park you will cross over a small bridge over the river Soar. Continue straight on and you will be firstly in Briton Street, and then Westcotes Drive. The Church of the Martyrs is on the right, further up the road from the Hindu Temple.

Maps a plenty!

As detailed in my last post, I have given up the Herculean task of trying to make Google Maps show all of the directions on this website on one megamap. Catherine has been struggling with a map of her own, but that is a surprise for the people coming to the Leeds reception.

So here are some maps of directions from the previous posts:

• Walk this Way- Town Hall to St George's Church- Post - Map
• Train to Gain- Leeds Central Station to Leeds Town Hall- Post - Map
• Seeing the Light- City Centre Car Parking- Post - Map
• Driving to Weetwood Hall- Post - Map
• At Last Some Leicester information!- Post- Map (From M1/M69)-Map (from City Centre)
• Walking in Memphis Leicester- Post - Map
  

Walking in Memphis Leicester

The Church of the Martyrs Church Hall is only a short walk from Leicester city centre, but it's hardly a straight line. What's more -as people must have been finding is my own inimitable style- I'm not going to direct people in the most straight route but the most clear route. Also, buoyed by those Co-Op adverts with the walking school bus, I'm going to direct everyone coming from the station to the city centre and then direct everyone from the city centre to the Church Hall. If you want me to buy you little florescent vests then send me an invoice, they're coming in thick and fast now.

The most important waypoint in this post is the Clock Tower. As with the Town Hall in Leeds, the purpose of this is to make sure everyone gets to the same point. If you are in Leicester city centre the Clock Tower is signposted and blatantly obvious; it's the big, white, pointy thing outside the main entrance to the Shires Highcross shopping complex. It looks like this:



From the Station to the Clock Tower
This is the easy bit! Coming out of the Station concourse you walk into an enclosed brick exterior section, filled with taxis and cars desperately trying to complete 3 point turns. The general swell of people should be turning right and out of this building through a large opening. Follow them to the outside road, which fantastically appears to be two roads in one; both Granby Street and London Road run side by side with no break or separation. Walk along Granby Street and an underpass will come into view. Walk under this pass and continue on the same street. This is still Granby Street. Keep going in this straight line and the road changes it's name to Gallowtree Gate. Never mind that; just keep going and The Clock Tower should come into view.

From the Clock Tower to Westcotes Drive
Standing with the Clock Tower behind you and Highcross to your right, you will see Eastgates infront of you. Walk down this and it changes it's name to High Street. Perhaps at one point this was the High Street, but it appears to be more of a shell now there is a monolithic shopping centre parked on it. Keep walking down High Street and it opens up to a road with a small car park to your left and a big traffic island of a hotel infront of you. This is St Nicholas Circle. Cross the large road that sperates you from the Circle and follow the circle round to the other side. Here you can cross the River Soar as you walk on St Augustine Road. Keep on this road until you reach a large crossroads. Turn left at this crossroads, walking along Narborough Road. It will be easier for later if you walk along what will be the right hand side pavement of Narborough Road; with the closest cars travelling in the opposite direction. After a little walk you will need to cross over another crossroads and the shops will start to be constant and densely packed on both sides of the road. At the second right after the second crossroads you will see the Hindu Temple on your right:



Turn right at this street and continue down Westcotes Drive. On the right hand side you'll pass the Church of the Martyrs and shortly afterwards will find the Chuch Hall. Admire the historic railings and come right in to meet Rory Palmer.

I've been told some people would like maps. I haven't been unreasonably witholding them but was trying to work on a mega-Google map that would have all the different directions in them. Needless to say, that was a crazy idea and it made Leeds look like a half-eaten multi-coloured noodle bowl. So here is a simple map of the above post.

Parking in Leicester

Imagine with me: You've got yourself to Leicester. You're on Westcotes Drive. You're outside the Church Hall. But you're still in your car and there is no on-street parking available. What do you do?

If you know Leicester well enough then you find your favoured parking space near to the Church Hall. There is a lot of streets with on-street parking nearby but you may find the the football fans have beaten you to it. There is also little chance that large numbers of people in the area will be getting in their car and moving; I have a copy of the guest list here and practically everyone in LE3 has been invited.

So: if you've followed the instructions so far you will be on Westcotes Drive, with Narborough Road behind you. Carry along this road until the traffic lights and turn right into Fosse Road South, passing the very new health centre on your left. Shortly after this you should see a number of cars parked on your left hand side. Come off Fosse Road South by turning left and turn left into the car park. Then walk the 200m back to the Church Hall, shake my hand and get yourself some food.

Football

We've just checked the listings and Leicester City are at home to Carlisle on the day of the wedding. We would like to ask people who live in Leicester that -if at all possible- they do not drive in and try to park on Westcotes Drive or the surrounding streets. It isn't going to bother us much, but you may be unable to find anywhere nearby to park and will have to drive around for ages.

At last some Leicester information!

Hello!
Following a number of weeks of anxious preparation (and Church visits, location visits, fraught place card discussions, etc.) I've finally managed to accumulate the time and gumption to direct people to The Church of The Martyrs Church Hall. Time because I've had to scratch my head quite a bit and gumption because most people reading this will know better than me how to get there. Comments are welcome in the comments section.

Westcotes Drive from the M1 or M69

If you are lucky enough to have a car able to transverse motorways and are coming from far away, then you'll probably be whipping down the M1 or M69. If so, you are really lucky, as getting to Narborough Road (the road you turn off to get to Westcotes Drive) could not be easier. He says. Junction 21 of the M1 is also Junction 3 of the M69. Come off here towards Leicester, ignore the signs directing you towards the ring road and go straight over the roundabout. You are now on Narborough Road! Travel along Narborough road and you'll find the shops becoming more densely packed and the number of takeaways and restaurants increasing. Eventually, on the 32nd left you will see the unmistakable Hindu Temple:



Turn left down this road and congratulations, you are on Wescotes Drive! The Church Hall is the large building a few doors down from the Church itself.

We will update you with parking information later.

Driving from the City Centre/ East

We will be putting walking directions from the City Centre very soon and if you are able to make the short walk from the City Centre to The Church Hall you will earn kudos and affection in our eyes. However, some people may be coming from the City Centre or some other direction than North, South or West. My knowledge of the East of Leicester is Peterborough, The Wash and a picture of a dragon that says 'Caution: confirmed sightings of monsters'.

If you are coming from the East or City Centre then you will be best to get on the outer ring road (A563) and keep going until you get to the Fosse Park junction, turning onto Narborough Road and following the instructions above. I know it's silly to direct people half a mile away on a 5 mile journey, but as you would have to cross a river through what is basically a medieval streetplan, you may thank us in the end.

Coming Soon...

• Walking directions from the City Centre.
• Information about parking.
  
• Reminders about wedding lists.
• Wedding-related anxiety attacks.

Accommodation in Leeds

Most people travelling to the wedding will travel to Leeds in the morning, watch us get married, enjoy Leeds a little and then make their way home again. But I can imagine that some people would like to come down the day before and not spend their morning racing up (or down) the M1 or are even one of the very few and immensely privileged people invited to our small reception on the day.

The most obvious place to stay for people coming to the small reception is Weetwood Hall itself. You can contact Weetwood Hall by ringing 0113 230 6000 and by mentioning our names you may get a discount. Staying at Weetwood Hall will make checking in on the day easier and you will get to wave us off in the morning.

If you feel like you've seen enough of us then a little way back towards town is The Village Hotel. This is the nearest hotel I would recommend and (as I don't happen to stay in many hotels in the city I live in) the only other hotel outside of the city centre I have any real experience of.

If you are coming to the intimate reception and decide to stay in the city centre then you will need to make sure you know how to get back by reversing the directions shown in Driving to Weetwood Hall or Public Transportation to Weetwood Hall. Buses will still be running by the time I go to bed but you may be better off calling for a taxi.

The Etap is a cheap and cheerful city centre traffic island that happens to be within looking distance of our flat. It would be perfect for people staying the night before the wedding or anyone who only wants to pay £35 a night for a double room.

For people coming to the wedding who want a short walk in the morning, there is The Ibis, which is conveniently located about 5 minutes walk away from the Town Hall and therefore 7 1/2 minutes to the church.

Although this list (especially the city centre bit) focuses in on the cheaper end of the market, if anyone wants to splash out then they can go for 42 The Calls.