K & M'S WEDDING RECEPTION - A VERY ENTERTAINING AND ENJOYABLE OCCASION!

And so it was that, having spent months looking forward to M and K's wedding reception, members of my family and I made the long awaited trip along 3 motorways and a not so straightforward A road to the idyllic setting of the Mallory Court Hotel, in Leamington Spa, not being quite sure how this event would turn out.

Having consulted Google Maps in planning our route, I was satisfied that that it would be a very straightforward journey, with us exiting the M40 at J14, following the A452 for about 3 roundabouts and, hey presto, there we should be, at the Mallory Court Hotel. I imagined that, as we travelled down Harbury Lane, there would be this Hotel by the road, beckoning to visitors, here I am, you cannot possibly miss we. 

The reality, however, was quite different. Firstly, finding Harbury Lane was not as easy as I had anticipated, despite my careful planning, and, secondly, the Mallory Court Hotel, being in a gated enclosure concealed by the leafy country lane, and  the add  verdant foliage of Spring/Summer, did conspire to cause us to miss it at our first attempt, whereby we had to pass it by and made a detour to access it.

Arriving at MCH, however, was an experience which soon proved that it was worthy of any inconvenience it had unintentionally caused us. The place has a decent car park, nicely landscaped and maintained gardens and beautiful trees; many, if not all of them now in bloom with a variety of colours which are pleasing to the eyes of the discerning visitor.

M and K are close relatives of ours, and today has been there 'Big Day', with them having decided to 'tie the knot' and have a wedding reception at this most delightful and quite sumptuous of Hotels, which clearly had status and a reputable history behind it. Enough said for the MCH, at least, for now, because the day belongs to M and K.

M and K are two quintessentially level-headed young people who have been in a steady relationship for several years, and have now decided to consolidate it by getting married. Both of them are the proverbially hard working young people who know what kind of living they want to have for themselves and their family, and are committed to achieving it. They are an ambitious, highly motivated, and amiable couple, who would make good role models for young people who are struggling or do not know how to go about achieving a stable and secure living. 

In other words, K and M are the kind of young people whose parents can justly be proud of their achievements to date, and how they are going about living their lives.

Now, weddings, as have too often been the case, are now very expensive events for which some young people and/or their parents will mortgage their futures, or years of it, for the questionable achievement of 'a day's fame as 'bride and groom.' A 'Cinderella in reverse', if you will. 

For the more egoistic bride and groom, and/or their parents, the marriage is probably the most exciting event in the marriage, and money and/or expense should not be allowed to interfere with the arrangements for this most 'special of days.' More prudent grooms and brides, however, are aware that the wedding is only one day in a marriage which, it is to be assumed, they and others intend to last for a very long time; if not a life-time - considering that up to 42 per cent of marriages in the UK end in divorce - and are more apt to have a proper perspective about their wedding plans. 

Not for them the questionable extravagance of expensively designed and clinically implemented wedding functions, which wreaks of conspicuous consumption in a world which does not speak of the lives which the bride and groom will be living.

K and M, as I have noted earlier, are level-headed people who are not given to poring water into a leaking bucket, as it were, and tend to spend their hard earned money wisely.  The result has been that they provided their wedding reception guests with what I would describe as a non-extravagant but immensely entertaining and enjoyable wedding reception. 

One which placed and/or allowed their guests to participate in creating an atmosphere which ensured that everybody had a great time enjoying themselves. I do not recall having ever been to a wedding reception for decades now and seeing so many people of all ages dancing and doing so so relentlessly. This wedding reception had, as it were, 'soul', with the bride being on the floor dancing for probably several hours. It was not stifled by sterility and formality.

The reception became about the people who were there, with them interacting freely and making the occasion, rather than being fitted into it. 

I took the opportunity to talk to and observe many of the people who attended M and K's wedding reception, and found no indication that anyone did not enjoy themselves. This was thanks to the venue, the DJ and his range of music, the many family members and friends of the groom and bride, and, most of all, the  unassuming personality and character of K and M, and the care they put into planning the kind of event they wanted.

Thanks, guys; in this, planning of your wedding arrangements, you would also be good role-models for other young and not so young couples. You decided what you wanted and went about making it happen, whereas others might have allowed themselves to be too much influenced by what they perceive to be the expected norm.






OWOHROD