Zeroing In

Since Mum, Dad and my brother all moved up to Wales it’s really challenged me about the concept of ‘home’. People talk about ‘going home for Christmas’ but I don’t really have that sort of home any more. The house I grew up in has strangers in it, and I certainly no longer have an ‘old room’ to go back to and feel sentimental about. West Ewell, where I lived for 4 happy years before coming up here, has a huge pull for me with so many close and dear friends there but it was never ‘home’. But the good news is that I can honestly say that Islington has become my home.

Following on from Donny’s post I too have become a massive fan of Islington. I love going jogging round Clissold Park and visiting the goats and deer there, I love pottering down the overpriced interior nic-nac shops on Upper Street and even enjoy walking up to Lidl at Finsbury Park for the weekly shop. So it feels really right to me to think about us getting married in this area.

Yes it’s going to be expensive. Yes, it’s going to limit what we can do. I know all that, but we also know we want to get hitched somewhere that means a great deal to us. So Islington it is. For better or for worse.

Now we’ve decided an area to do everything in it gives us a few limitations to work within, but at least when you have limitations it allows you to make more constructive decisions. I had been getting thoroughly overwhelmed and bamboozled with the hundreds of different wedding options available in London, so to limit it to an area is brilliant. It means we can start zero-ing in on a workable plan.

I had set my heart on getting one of the old Routemaster buses to take everyone from the wedding venue to the reception venue but a) they start at £500 a pop and b) we would need 2 of them. Yikes. That would be £1,000 which would be better spent on better food options, or enabling us to invite a few more people. So the plan is to find a reception venue walking distance from the Town Hall. There are a number of possibilities there (Upper Street is a fantastic area for restaurants) so the hunt begins for somewhere pretty that can fit us all in, and not cost the earth.

We’re actually thinking a morning ceremony followed by a lovely long lunch could work quite well. It helps with costs, and means there isn’t that usual 2 hours of standing round awkwardly drinking champagne on an empty stomach waiting for dinner, having not had time for lunch before setting off for the service. We can then go on from there for somewhere more informal for chatting and drinking fun into the evening.

That’s Plan A anyway. We’ll see whether we can make it a reality.

Looks like the flock of doves is out though…