For those of you who are long time readers: you may remember our friends
Jill and Florent. Well, they FINALLY got married!! I say 'finally' because they have been together for 12 years.
Since Jill and Flo have been such wonderful friends, we made sure that it was in our budget to attend this wedding. Since their engagement, Jill and I have been talking about wedding things non stop. One of the many topics was location. Jill is from Scotland. Florent is from France. They now live in Italy. Where is this wedding going to be? It was decided that the wedding would be in Scotland. Jill wanted to get married in a chapel on the grounds of the University of Aberdeen. It's her Alma Mater and Flo attended there for a bit too so, it was a special place for both of them.
The date got closer, Carlo had been trying to lose weight and couldn't decide to wear a suit or a kilt. He chose the suit. Actually, it was the suit he wore for our wedding. I had already picked out my dress (in May) and had magically lost 10 lbs before our U.S. trip. Then... I found out about Baby #2. So, I had to scramble for another dress. (I would be almost 5 months pregnant at the wedding) Valentina got a hand me down dress that fit perfectly but I completely forgot to buy her shoes. I spent the week before the wedding walking around my neighborhood for dress shoes that didn't cost €138. (Armani shoes to be exact)
Then it was time!! I was nauseated during our U.S. flight so I was really happy that I didn't have to fly solo again for this wedding. The flight was great except for me being nauseous. Valentina sat on Carlo's lap and fell asleep on part of our flight. We had a layover in Paris and as we came into the city, we had the best view and could see the Eiffel Tower, The Avenue des Champs-Élysées, the Seine, Notre Dame, etc.. all of the best Paris had to offer. I told Carlo we had to kiss and he asked why. I said, "Who knows when we'll be able to go to Paris and kiss at the top of the Eiffel Tower. This way, we can at least kiss OVER the Eiffel Tower!"
Our flight to Aberdeen was just as great. We got to see all of the gorgeous green land, the coastline, beach, etc.. it was a beautiful intro into Aberdeen.
You'd think that the Bride and Groom would be super busy with wedding stuff but there they were... Jill and Flo at the airport to pick us up and give us a ride to the hotel. We had to report a missing bag first but then it was off to see Aberdeen!
We got to the hotel, rested and a few minutes later, were off to lunch with our friends...
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| tasty Scottish soft drink |
After lunch, Jill and Flo left to run errands and we stayed to do a bit of window shopping and sight seeing. Of course the most important part was for Valentina. As we entered Union Square, Jill said we might see Peppa Pig... and she was right!
Valentina loved this Peppa Pig ride. She just kept saying 'Peppa, Peppa' over and over again. We had to drag her away and of course she cried the entire time.
If you enlarge the picture, You can see her crying while we were at the Apple Store at Union Square.
I spotted some cute shoes in the window of a store so we quickly went in and bought them. That may have been a mistake as they also have Peppa Pig hats, socks, shoes, rain boots, etc... We decided it was best to leave so that we could do some sightseeing and Valentina could get her mind off of Peppa.
We spotted our first Bag Piper and I tried to get a really good picture but he kept moving the bag pipes in front of his face... probably because we didn't give him any money.
The rest of the day was just walking around and going back to the hotel to rest. Our bag had indeed come on the next flight from Paris so, Jill brought it to us. She and Flo had gone to pick up Flo's family and they were staying at our hotel so, they brought our suitcase for us. That evening, Carlo wanted to eat hamburgers so, we went back to Union Square and yes, Valentina saw Peppa Pig again.
The next day we got up and had breakfast and got ready to go to the beach. I managed a quick belly shot for my week 17 picture.
It was not too bad of a day except that it got really windy. Carlo had to put on a fleece sweater and we needed to use Valentina's rain cover on her stroller to block the wind.
I had my jacket too but this pregnancy has my hormones all out of whack and I was actually warm in my outfit.
While looking for a particular church that Carlo wanted to see, we passed this college and lucky for us there was a Starbucks conveniently located across the street.
I haven't had Starbucks in almost 3 years so, I was very happy that moment. My hot chocolate was so yummy that I wish I had a second cup!
It started to rain so, I put my jacket on and we continued on our journey which now included souvenir shopping. Since we had a late snack, we had an even later lunch. We both wanted to have one thing before leaving Scotland... and that was Fish and Chips.
Because we were so tired from the day, we didn't go out that evening and in fact we skipped dinner. Carlo did go and buy us some sandwiches but at a small store down the street but other than that, we stayed in.
Saturday was THE BIG DAY!! We had breakfast and got ready in our wedding attire. There were quite a few guests staying at our hotel so, Jill and Flo arranged to have a bus pick us up to take us to the church and then to the reception.
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| University of Aberdeen- Chapel |
As we all got off of the bus, everyone started taking their cameras. Most of the guests were out-of-towners so, it was all so different for us.
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| Carlo and Valentina |
As the guests were taking photos, a Bagpiper appeared and started playing. He was hired for the day and stayed on the grounds playing before and after the ceremony.
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| entrance to the chapel |
As I was walking around taking pictures, I saw the Man of the hour. Flo, his best friend/best man, and Jill's brother/groomsmen. I later asked Florent how it felt to wear a kilt. He said he felt "very proud" and that there was a "new sensation" and he was liking it!
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| inside of the small chapel |
We were sitting in the back row and Carlo was on the aisle incase he had to take Valentina out so, all of my pictures taken during the ceremony were bad and this was the best one I could get. I used the flash which I try to avoid if possible.
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| The Wedding Party |
Jill and Flo have been together a long time and during that time they've lived in several countries. Mexico, Spain, France, and Italy. Each table was named after a city that they have lived in. (and currently live in)
After the ceremony, we were moved to the hotel where the reception was held. They had some champagne (orange juice for us non-alcoholic drinkers) and hors d'oeuvres. Valentina made lots of friends during that time.
Our table was called Granada which I believe is the city in Spain where they met. We had a great group of people at our table.
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| way too cute Cake toppers! the Bride looks like Jill |
In most countries, you only have one cake. (not like in the U.S.) So there was a traditional wedding cake along with a traditional French wedding cake. A tower of profiteroles (aka cream puffs). Unusual to most of the guest.. normal for me.. the American who is used to seeing 2 cakes.
There were quite a few kids of all ages so, each kid had something at their place setting to entertain them. Valentina immediately had a huge smile on her face when she saw "Bobby" (she can't say Brobee)
One of the things I was really looking forward to were the wedding favors. Jill had decided on giving little gingerbread people. A bride for the women....
And a gingerbread Groom with kilt for the men!
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| family picture during the reception |
The kids all got candy in the shape of different Scottish animals. Sheep, cows, dog and Nessie! (the Loch Ness monster)
I kept asking Jill what traditional Scottish dish I should try other than Haggis. If you don't know what Haggis is, let me tell you. It is sheep's heart, lungs and liver, minced and mixed with other seasonings and spices and stuffed into a casing of sheep intestine. Yeah... I ate it. I didn't want to but it was part of the meal and I was really surprised that it wasn't bad.
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| Chicken stuffed with Haggis |
This is one of Valentina's new friends. Her name is Ines and she lives in the UK. Her mother is from Argentina and Ines speaks Spanish.
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| cutting the cake |
It was a really long day and the evening cake quickly with a dance after dinner. We waiting as long as we could but we needed to get back to the hotel to pack since we were leaving the next morning. Valentina fell asleep so we called a taxi and left. We missed the surprise fireworks AND we didn't get any cake. We were both really sad about that.
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| family photo at the dance |
Sadly, this is the only shot we have with the bride and groom. Flo's head is almost chopped off and Valentina is barely poking up at the bottom. We had a great time and wish we could have stayed longer to see more of Scotland.
Tantissimi Auguri
Jill and Florent!
