Matt’s Journal

Stag Weekend

Posted by Matt under General, Wedding

My lack of updates coincides with my lack of sleep as of late.

This weekend saw a group of ten men travel up to Northampton to enjoy two days of laughing and general fun. Having taken the Friday afternoon up, we meandered up to the hotel in the afternoon, taking a very confusing route.

Upon arriving at the hotel, we dumped our bags, got changed and then headed out for a bite to eat. Luckily just across the road there was a restaurant type complex that housed a TGI Friday’s, a KFC and all the major fast food places. We made a beeline for TGI Friday’s, this turned out to be a good choice (you have to love Ribs/Steak/Onion’s in abundance!). After a few beers, taxi’s were ordered and the ten of us ventured into Northampton.

The night itself was fun, we ventured to a Vodka Bar’ and other night spots and consumed a fair few drinks. It wasn’t meant to be a big night but it kind of gained momentum, my Stepdad falling asleep in the disabled toilet and apparently I was egging a Policeman on to Pepper Spray me in the face “because I was Police trained and I could take it”. We got home at around 2:30am and slept for only five hours before waking for karting.

Waking at 8am and walking over for breakfast, it really showed from people’s faces that the night before and the lack of sleep had caught up with us. Everyone ordered some sort of American breakfast from this US themed diner and then we ventured off to the Karting arena to race to the death.

Upon arriving, we were shuffled into a little hut and told to put on our waterproof clothing, a helmet and racing gloves. After putting on the gear, we were briefed on the course and then herded over to the track all giggling like little schoolgirls. Having been assigned a vehicle for the day, we all leapt into our karts and waited eagerly for the practice laps. You could see as soon as we got going people were thoroughly enjoying themselves, people sliding off in the wet, people nudging into each other, it was a riot (and that was just practice!).

Times and positions for the start of the race were sorted, I qualified in fourth place. As the race started, it was a mad dash for the first corner, everyone slipping off the track and trying to lead each other. We continued to race for 25 laps, it was honestly the most fun I have had on a day out for years.

Two other races followed this race, with us starting in reverse order for the second race and having a sprint to our karts for the third. My brother and my friend Mike really excelled themselves, managing to not slip off the track in the wet as much as everyone else, much to the annoyance rest of the racers!

Lunch quickly followed the conclusion of the racing, with Sausage and Mash or Lasagna being the order of the day. As soon as we were fed up, it was over across the fields to where the clay pigeon shooting would take place. Being the Stag, I was pushed into going up first……I came in with 6 out of 6 shots, not bad for my first time! The others soon followed, some doing very well and some not getting the hang of it. It was a good crack though, everyone was supporting each other and everybody really enjoyed themselves. We returned back to the hotel, had a quick nap and then headed out (to TGI’s again) to get some well earned food.

After stuffing ourselves, it was time to hit the town. The older members of the group retired to the bar at TGI’s and left us young folk to continue our night. We hit the town again, this time going to a few other places, all with me sporting a Viking blond wig and a moustache.

We partied ’til we could no more, got a taxi home and then fell into bed. We were up early-ish in the morning to get home quicker, that day was pure relaxation! I had a fantastic time, I would recommend Karting to anyone, it’s especially fun in the wet!

Is Summer Coming?

Posted by Matt under Marriage, Update, Wedding

This year, unlike any other year I can remember, has been the most unpredictable weather wise. We had a good spell of sunshine and high temperatures in April/May time but since then the weather has been warm but mostly wet.

Just last weekend we saw high temperatures and I must admit I thought it was Summer starting to kick into gear, the pollen levels were high and even I started to get a dose the itchy eyes, something that hasn’t troubled me in the past. As a result of this, I have been waking up earlier than usual in the mornings with a tight chest, a result of hayfever playing on my childhood-asthma tainted lungs.

I have inhalers which keep it in check, it’s the sheer annoyance of waking up and having to fool your body back into sleeping another few hours that frustrates me.

The wedding is now under four weeks away and I am hoping of all the days it has been sunny, that particular Monday is one of them. I think there will be nothing better than sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows and making our reception venue look spectacular.

So, c’mon weather, sort your bleedin’ life out!

4 Weeks and Counting

Posted by Matt under General, Wedding

An opinion on what will make the Wedding rock:

1. I am marrying the most stunning and awesome person on the planet besides myself.
2. The wedding has kept a chocolate brown and gold theme throughout, including the suits, dresses, invites and order of service’s. You name it, it’s themed and going to look spot on.
3. We have had our up’s and down’s with so called “friends” but have still managed to make sure that we have people to support us on the day.
4. We will have two photographers photographing every passing second of the wedding day, giving us all of the pictures so we can decide what to do with them. This eliminates copyright problems and people wanting different kinds of pictures for their albums. It does also mean of course that I can post them wherever I want, show them to distant relatives who couldn’t be there on the day.
5. The videographer has no problem with us using the video after he was authored it to DVD. People will be able to buy their own copy from him and I am free to share it with the above mentioned family members so they can see it free of charge.
6. Our wedding will take place at a lovely church which can hold hundreds of people, the good news so far is that we are on course to filling the church, so the vicar is happy with my suggestion that I could give them a few photo’s of the church looking at it’s best.
7. The vicar (a female) has been very supportive and helped us continually throughout the whole affair (I suppose she is meant to but she still deserves a mention!), helping us choose nice hymns and giving us permission to film in the church. As a thank you, I have offered to build them a website for the church.
8. Our reception will be at The Lawn in Rochford, take a look at the picture below to see how nice it will look if the weather holds out.
   
9. Nearly everyone who was invited accepted, so we have a nice mix of people at the wedding.
10. At the end of the day Katie will be Mrs Brian

I Can Do That!

Posted by Matt under Tech, Videos, Wedding

Last week I went to see the videographer for our wedding and met him at his house. Expecting just to note down a few ideas in his front room, we were escorted into his “studio”, an impressively set out room at the back of his house. Upon taking a seat in his very lovely leather chair, he proceeded to show myself and Katie’s family what his previous wedding bookings he had recorded.

As I sat there watching his video in Final Cut Pro, I pondered about the logistics of setting up my own Video company, one where I would be available for Weddings and private events but go at it with a bit of a different slant.

When I say different, I would try and make the marriage ceremonies live on the internet for family who could not attend around the world, have a Youtube-esqe service that would allow the wedding goer’s to embed snippets of the day on their websites or even email. I could offer a service to other wedding videographers maybe?! Who knows! (OK, I’m running away with it now).

They would get DVD’s with personalised covers and disc printing, you name it.

It’s a serious thought, I will look into investing in some more equipment (a legit copy of Final Cut Pro comes in at near on £4000!) and see what happens. I run my own media company anyways, seems like a good area of business to be in.

Watch this space.

Ever Closer

Posted by Matt under Wedding

This week saw me doing the following:

• Book two photographers for our big day, one to shadow me in the morning of the wedding and one to shadow Katie. They will then combine to catalogue the day for us.
• Visit the videographer for the wedding, let him know what we did wanted recorded and what we didnt. Here I took some inspiration from the video’s he showed us as to what I didn’t want. The woman with the seventies style mullet helped considerably.
• Witnessed having our Banns read at the church where will be married.
• Sorted Katie’s passport so she can travel on our Honeymoon.
• Ordered and paid for Bride and Groom’s party gifts for the wedding day.

We still have to meet the vicar to finalise all the readings for the ceremony but it’s all coming to fruition. People are touting it as the wedding spectacular of the year, it’s just a day where I get to see the person I love smile and be her happiest for a day

Wedding Banns et al

Posted by Matt under Wedding

This weekend has been fun, with myself and Katie running around the parishes making sure our upcoming wedding is all prepared for.

Attending church on Sunday, we stayed behind to confirm all was still OK for our wedding. We enquired about the confetti, whether they would ring the bells, who would infact be taking our service. That was all quickly dealt with and we were swiftly asked to fill in the form for the churches electoral roll. This should have been done a lot earlier but with the male vicar we had originally scheduled for our wedding having personal problems, we have been dealing with his wife (also a vicar) so there have been some delays in getting it all sorted. She will be taking the service which suits us much better.

So we are to be added to the electoral roll and next will be to make sure that our Banns are read. Because we have been attending the parish where we wish to be married for more than 6 months, we don’t need a wedding license and just need to make sure that they read the Banns before our actual wedding. What we didn’t realise was that we would also need to visit the parish in which we live (weird because the church we are marrying in is about a 10 minute walk away) in order to have the Banns read in the local parish. This required us to journey over to the vicarage, meet the vicar and then give him our details.

He then, in his infinite wisdom, mentions that because I have only been living at Katie’s for a short time, I may have to get the Banns read in my local parish before I moved, making it a third reading in as many weeks! We have to pay for each one of these readings and their certificates, weighing in at nearly £100 for the lot……that was not expected!

In summary though, we have got it all sorted and we are still on course to be married. It’s been a testing time and I think we will be glad when it’s down to the actual day as it’s been a tad stressful :).