Europe Bound

London skyline
Photo used courtesy of Vemma

The adventures of Matt & Sharon continue. This time internationally.

So my lovely eldest sister recently announced that she was getting married. She’s been living in the UK for the past 6 years now, and despite the fact that she’s developed a terrible generic Southern pommy accent, we still love her dearly and were very excited when the news came through.

What that means of course, is that it necessitates us flying over there. Something that has long been on the agenda, but has perhaps needed a kick up the bum like this to initiate. I am of course, the king of procrastination.

So the date is set for the 20th of September. We’ll be flying over a little beforehand and are going to dip our toes in the cultural sea that is Europe (specifically France and a little of my ancestral homeland Ireland), before livin it large in London for as long as our money holds out (not long).

I’m also charged with the job of being the wedding photographer on the day, and helping to coordinate the reception dinner menu (and I’m thinking of taking a marriage celebrants short course in case I need to step in for the priest on the day).

This henceforth is the post for anyone with knowledge of London, Paris, Dublin, and the greater European / British land mass, to share and inform me of the absolutely must go to places, restaurants, markets, pubs, bistros, schlocky tourist spots, and ridiculously overpriced celebrity filled cocktail bars.

Also if anyone on the other side of planet can give me an idea of what is fresh and seasonal in the UK in September, I’d greatly appreciate it.

A summer wedding

The cut

Another quick one, just to proudly announce the marriage of my brother Francis to his beautiful new bride Joelle. They were married this past weekend here in Perth. It was a wonderfully unique ceremony (they both work in media, so there was plenty of music and videos playing throughout), an excellent reception lunch (organised by Mum with the help of a small army of volunteers), and some eloquent, funny and emotional toasting (accompanied by a pleasant Australian sparkling sourced by yours truly).

Smiling

The moment says it all really.

Touch ups

The only problem was that it was so hot (41 C in Perth that day, with little to no breeze), that the makeup artist (aka the lovely Sharon) had a hard time making sure the sweat from the grooms face didn’t wipe off all of her hard work…

Mojito

Still, nothing that a refreshing minty mojito couldn’t fix.

It was a great day and night, and I wish them all the best for their new life together.

Soppy post over… be assured, this blog will return to it’s usual sarcastic self shortly.