Early on I implied that our farm came with a large house that had been built by one of my wife's ancestors, I also wrote that it had a large number of guest rooms. Aside from our quarters, and that of our children, we have an additional nine guest bedrooms. This being the 21st century, we assumed that our children and their boyfriend/girlfriend would "share their rooms", after all, we are not simpletons to think otherwise, just asked them to keep the noise down...our youngest daughter turned beet-red when my wife made the announcement. Our granddaughter is sleeping in our room, for the entirety of our eldest daughter's stay with us, a concession she makes to her mother, and I don't mind at all!
The house is grand enough to have its own chapel, it was consecrated a while back, in fact, its predecessor building was one of the first private chapels consecrated after Henry the 8th broke from the catholic faith. Our chapel was rebuilt in 1748. How do we know -- its history is written on the building's cornerstone. My wife's family was somewhat "nouveau richer" in the 18th century, and so they had to "show their historical significance". An austere building that we never use, but we will this year.
This really was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Apparently, yesterday evening, my eldest daughter bemoaned that she never had a honeymoon (she never married) and now she doesn't want to be away from her daughter for more than a few days. Our now-pregnant future daughter-in-law started tearing up (hormones I guess..) and my wife then suggested that if they should get married right now, they could still have a honeymoon, and the wedding picture would not show any baby bump.
When my future daughter-in-law said "Where, Everything will be booked" my wife suggested right here! We have the space. Organizing this started this morning, and a few calls later and everything is in place. Amazing caterers were found, it was one of our distributors who had a name for us.
The chapel is a typical 18th-century protestant building -- it is drab, but hanging a few tapestries on the wall will make all the difference. The boys and I used a forklift to empty the space of all the junk that had accumulated, and washed down the dust too. It took about three hours and the de-humidifiers and heaters will be working overnight but the place could be ready for use tomorrow. Our local priest came by and said that he would bring all the things that would be needed. I took the opportunity of slipping him a few quids for incidentals. We are activating our "never used" ballroom (the catering staff will simply remove the table to make way for dancing). During a break, I called a local hotel that does events, we've known the owners for years and asked if we could rent some chairs and tables. 100 chairs and 10 tables were delivered two hours ago (on a Sunday, Christmas Eve!). They even included chairs and table covers).
Alerted last night, the parents of my future daughter-in-law arrived today just after lunch. They brought amazing gifts; including 48 bottles of champagne and many cases of spectacular whites and reds (the back of their SUV looked like a delivery truck). They had raided every single wine shop on their way up from Essex and bought every decent bottle they could find. Another ten guests are arriving before Boxing Day, including my daughter-in-law's grandparents (Tomorrow morning), and my two siblings and their spouses. I have two, one of each, and both are older by nearly a decade (I was a surprise).
The caterer came by for logistics, but when he found out who we were, he wanted a tour of our warehouses to select and organize what he could use, and what he had to buy. He also told me that he found a wedding cake (not really a wedding cake but it can easily be adapted and will be ready on the day).
Tonight, we will be 12 for dinner, tomorrow the same, but on boxing day we will be 23 including the best man and maid of honour. Boxing Day will be very busy this year, as a grandfather I will spend the entire day with my favourite (and only) granddaughter while everyone else runs around. I already have a morning suit, so no shopping for me, but the boys will need something. The father of the bride is like me, so we will enjoy the day to its fullest. While everyone runs around.
Happy Christmas all
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