Archive for August, 2006

I’m a married man!

Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006

As of 19 August 2006, I became a married man to Rachel Johnson, who is now of course, Rachel Wilks! Rachel was absolutely stunning in her wedding dress – I was over the moon! We had a brilliant day – everything went smoothly and it was very emotional for the two of us.

We are currently waiting for the official photos, and will let you know when we have them. In the meantime, you can check some out at my Flickr account. Here are a few.

confetti

cake

car

Stag Night

Sunday, August 6th, 2006

Last weekend I had that dreaded night of all, the stag night! Some of you will be wondering what it is. Here’s Wikipedia’s definition:

A bachelor party (also called a stag party, stag night (UK, Ireland and Canada), or bucks party (Australia)) is a party held for a bachelor shortly before he enters marriage, to make the most of his final opportunity to engage in activities a new wife might not approve of, or merely to spend time bonding with his male friends (often in his wedding party afterwards).

A bachelor party may involve activities beyond the usual party and social gathering ingredients (often drinking alcohol and gambling), such as going to a strip club, hiring a female stripper or escort, and in some traditions more hazing-like tests and pranks at the future groom’s expense, which shows the whole thing is also a rite of passage from bachelorhood (associated with an adolescent lifestyle, often in the common past of most participants, e.g. in their student years) to (more ‘responsible’) marital life.

The task of organizing a bachelor party is often traditionally assigned to a male sibling of the bachelor or to the best man; otherwise any (close and/or reputedly party-minded) male friend will organize it.

Mine was a joint venture with the hen, and both of our families attended as well. We all stayed at the Zeus Hotel and Restaurant in Baldock, Hertfordshire.

On the night itself, we had a Greek-themed meal followed by belly-dancing, plate-smashing and a disco. Pictures can be seen here, but here are a couple for you viewing pleasure.

bellydancing

toga

lampost