Monday 6 July 2009

Celebrations Galore!

A very busy weekend at the House of Marmalade. We had the carnival to start with. Luckily the weather was just right, not too hot, plenty of breeze and no rain despite the looming clouds. I love Carnival day! It's a real party atmosphere and everyone comes out to play. It's the one day of the year where you can guarantee seeing pretty much everyone you know in the village.


This is our street, and we live right in the middle of it, next door to Mr and Miss T who invited me to their pavement party to watch the shirt race and the floats go by.


Mr Marmalade was one of the competitors in the Shirt Race with his friend Tim. You can read all about the shirt race and what it is if you click the picture below. It's Mr Marmalade pushing a 'stable'

Here's the front. They had been busy all week preparing and you can see it took a lorralorra work! It's supposed to be a take on the Queens Jockey drug scandal that has been in the news recently.


After seeing the various processions go by - pictures of which you can see here, everyone goes to the field for the main events. The most popular show in the arena this year was "Jive Pony". I had imagined that this would be dancing ponies (after all there were dancing dogs and dancing sheep too), but no! I was stunned. Here we had two lovely girls, doing striptease on the back of a cantering (yes cantering) pony in time to the song "Do You Love Me?"


Look! No hands!! Spectacular! It all happens in this village I tell you!

Mr Marmalade and I have only missed a couple of carnival days since we've lived here. One of those was in 1997 when we got married! Some people didn't come to our wedding in favour of the Carnival, but luckily the most important ones did. Ofcourse we are forever in their debt.


Very greedily, we had two weddings, one in the registry office on the Friday, and then a 'proper' wedding on the Saturday. I had always wanted to get married in leather, so that's what I wore in the registry office where it was just us two and our two witnesses. Just what we wanted, but my mother had other ideas...

The next day, off we trundled to a hotel in Alcester for the "ceremony". We had a "green wedding" which doesn't mean that we all wore a green outfits, but that it was as 'eco friendly' (to give it a label) and inexpensive as we could make it - total cost around £2k including dresses! We had a hog roast and hedgerow wines after an outdoor Pagan ceremony. My dress was made of crepe with a silk chiffon cape. Here it is.

It was the lady who made this dress who inspired me to sew. She was Amazing (note capital A). The most creative person I have ever, and probably will ever know. Which leads me to the next cause for celebration this weekend.

Look!!! I am famous!!!!! I am in this month's issue of Sew Magazine ... Not once...

but TWICE!!!!


This is good news for me because although I haven't mentioned it for a while, my "idea" is taking shape and I hope to have further news by August.

In the meantime, I better get on with some serious sewing now that I have a reputation to live up to!!


24 comments:

driftwood said...

congrats!

dottycookie said...

I love this post - so many photos, so many stories, and such a lot of joy and happiness throughout. Congrats on the fame - very well deserved!

Pink Feather Paradise said...

You deserve it all... what a lovely post and I will at last know someone famous...

and I can see how that dress would inspire...

x Alex

Daisie said...

Many congratulations on your fame!!

I must just say that we got married for just under £200! We all had new outfits and a small party after for the chosen few, probably not as grand as yours though.

xxx

laoi gaul~williams said...

ohhh its you!!! well done that lady

and i love those wedding pictures :) a proper wedding!

Sew Create It - Jane said...

Congrats on the double mention!

The carnival looks like a good day out. I happen to notice that you had all the right supplies for enjoying the parade (Pimms) :o)

Twiggy said...

Well done lady. We got married 13 years ago today and did it for about £1500, we had a real country wedding with the reception in the village hall where I grew up but the bestest bit was a ceidlih (sp) band with a shouter, we danced and danced and danced, what a top day!!!
Twiggy x

Diane said...

My absolute pet hate is weddings that cost an arm and a leg and are so impersonal. Yours looks fab - both of them! Your village looks insane - wish I lived there and huge congrats on getting in the mag - TWICE!!! xxxx

Gina said...

Exciting!!! A beautiful bride in leather and in crepe!

ginny said...

Hi julia...so fab about the sew magazine!...your blog is so friendly and fun and the article will bring more folk along to enjoy it too... i am intriged now about your 'idea' ... look forward to the reveal... whatever it is you certainly have the drive and determination to suceed at anything. loved seeing your wedding ceremonies... you look gorgeous in both, as does your handsome man.
have a great week,
ginny x

Anonymous said...

It would seem that some exciting times are ahead for you!

I love the flying wedding photo. Love it!

Joanne said...

Love the stable :D

We had a mini wedding with just the two of us too and it was lovely - I spent the whole day just with my husband, grinning like a loon.

congrats on getting into print!

Tracy said...

Beautiful post, Julia! Congratulations on your weddings (gorgeous photos...and look at you--stunning in leather and white!) Congratulations on your magazine feature--super! So much fun here...thank you for sharing all the fun that's been happening. May the Happy Summer Days continue there... ((HUGS))

dragonfly said...

I love your wedding photos - what a fab contrast!
I spotted you in Sew too. I've never bought a sewing mag before but picked it up for some reading for the weekend, and there you were! How exciting for you!

Rebecca said...

Hi, thats a great post, your wedding looked wonderful. I will have to check out the magazine article x

The Coffee Lady said...

oooh see you, famous lady!

Jo Power said...

Congrats how fab that you have been published you go girl xx

Jane Le Galloudec said...

My wedding cost us about £200... that included dresses... I bought mine off the sale rail and my bridesmaid used a dress she had worn to another wedding... I made my bouquet from silk flowers that someone gave me... my groom bought a new shirt and tie but used his best suit. We had a registry ceremony and a champagne buffet at my house for a select few and then a party in the pub at night for all our friends! It was great... It will be 25 years this November... perhaps we should do it again!

Great post! Really enjoyed it... and yes the village does seem a bit mad at times!

jennyflowerblue said...

wowzers superstar!

walter and me said...

You're famous! Woo hoo! Love both your wedding outfits, too.

Kate North said...

I wanna live in your village :)

Limecat said...

Oh wow - a pagan ceremony. Did you have a proper handfasting and everything? That's just fabulous. Hedgerow wine and everything.

Why wasn't I invited?!

Mrs Moog said...

Oh wow Julia - congratulations on your magazine fame!!! How exciting and so well deserved!

Lovely wedding photos - your dress is stunning :)

xxx

Annie B said...

lovely post - great stories - beautiful photos. and congrats on all the sew includes too!