The weather in the UK is blue skies and sunshine. Did we need to fly all the way back for sunshine, of course not we are here for the wedding of Anne’s nephew Christopher and his betrothed Amoge, or Ams. We have travelled back a couple of days early to ensure that any travel delays can be mitigated. Nothing worse than finding your low cost flight is cancelled and you have to make the rebooking yourself during the summer. We had decided to be in Sicily for the return to the UK as in both Algeria and Tunisia the fact that you have a motorcycle entering the country is recorded in your passport and stamped out on departure with motorcycle, plus they will not fit in the overhead lockers on the plane.

The locations, yes plural, for the wedding are in two counties, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire. Why two you may ask? The lovely couple bring together two cultural backgrounds, Nigerian and British, hence the two ceremonies. one at Hinwick house on Saturday 14th and the other at Northampton Cathedral in Sunday 15th.

We travel up on the Friday taking Anne’s mother and get our first view of Hinwick house. What a stunning location for the Saturday wedding and Sunday reception. A casual dinner allows both families to catch up.

Saturday afternoon sees both Anne and I in traditional Nigerian dress for the ceremony as are many other family members from both sides. We were not expecting to be that included. Thank you Chris and Am. I will leave you to guess the colour theme.

Music dancing and a great MC lead the couple and assembled guests through and amazing ceremony at the core of which, in my view, was not only about bringing the couples together but also the respective families.

A midday wedding service at Northampton Cathedral allowed those who had partied late into the night a little recovery time. A beautiful ceremony conducted by Christopher’s older brother Matthew. The couple asked that we don’t take photos during the service so we could be fully present during the service.

Anne’s navigation across country saw us arrive back at Hinwick house just behind the bridal car. Anne jumped out and secured some special photos.

The reception dinner and following party ran late into the night, but we, with Anne’s mother, had headed back to Kent a little earlier.

A wonderful weekend which we could not have missed. Congratulations again to Christopher and Ams and thanks for the invite to a unique event.

The plane is now descending into Catania airport and tomorrow Streak and Storm will resume their journey in Sicily.

– Anthony