It doesn’t feel like long ago I was creating Gebrannte Mandlen for favours and painting wedding cake toppers. Glad to say I’m still happily married with the same man I blogged about when I first hit the blogosphere in 2002. Memories.
So just maintaining the status quo :)
I loved Anthony’s Restaurant so much I had my wedding reception in their flagship restaurant at Boar Lane, Leeds.
Anthonys Restaurant
19 Boar Lane, Leeds, LS1 6EA
0113 2455922
Version 2 of my wedding (the Philippine version) was held in Blue Bay Waters Beach Resort in Sariaya, Quezon. This is the area where my Philippine clan is from and has been the setting of my childhood. I love the volcanic black beach of fine sand, the sweet taste of proper barako coffee and a sea, whether silent or roaring, puts my life into perspective.
The ceremony followed the traditional filipino ceremony, with the blessing of the veil, cord and candles. The setting…well, when you talk about beach weddings. This was heaven.
After the ceremony we invited our guests to stay for dinner and drinks. The food? Filipino of course! The food always tastes better in Quezon Province. We had one roasted cow, two roasted pigs (another was out back for back up) and many many other delicacies. Mmmmm lechon…
There was quite a bit of entertainment on. A band in the pavillion for those inclined to dance, the cutting of the cake and many many speeches (are you surprised?)…
The next morning we were happy and relieved… no more weddings to organise. No more chasing of services or spreadsheets. Wheeee!
(I would’ve jumped higher, but that dress is mighty heavy!)
Well, I was hoping to twitter as the day progressed…until I realised that as a bride I was absolutely denied a handbag or a mobile phone. Aaaargh! I guess it was for the best. Even for how surprisingly smooth the day went (l337 project management skillz ftw!), I still had my hands full. Some of the photos in this post are courtesy of wonderful friends. Still waiting for my photographers take on the whole day, which I will post up soon.
The day started with a morning at Leeds Radissons Hotel Room, where I kept myself busy by pretending to be engrossed with the current events on CNN.
Also, at one point I spent some time hiding from the groom. Someone said that Mr H was already at the Town Hall, but when we went down we found out he actually was at the other corner of the hotel lobby. Which sent us back up to the mezzanine floor, where we hid until a faithful call, ‘The groom has left the building.’
The ceremony was held in the beautiful Leeds Town Hall.
Which was followed with a time of many photographs and photographers.
From there we headed over to Anthony’s Restaurant at Boar Lane, where a champagne (and champagne beer!) was waiting for us. When Mr H and I had to decide on reception venues, we knew that Anthony’s was the place for us. The food was excellent and the setting perfect. The service was first class even with the rooms invaded by our many guests.
Under all this chocolate and marshmallow is an actual cake. I promise!
After many glasses of red wine, greetings and speeches we took are cue to vanish. At 7 pm a taxi was waiting for us to take us to Manchester Airport Radissons Hotel, where we could relax until our flight to Manila the next morning.
So what has happened in the past three weeks?
Well, the big things I guess take priority. I’m now married to a wonderful man after two weddings (in case one wasn’t enough to seal this marriage). One wedding was held in Leeds, UK and the other in Sariaya, Quezon, Philippines. So the day after the British version I flew for hours (plus a 3 hour stopover in Singapore) to arrive in Manila where my holiday there was mixed with visiting resorts, meeting family, meeting friends and getting myself hitched…again. To the same man of course ;)
So here’s a rundown of the resorts I have visited. Worry not, I will blog my reviews quite promptly, but if you don’t want the full version, here’s the summary:
Right now to start blogging up the long version… :)
Preparing the bridal luggage to take to the hotel tonight. Included are some goodies including a bottle of Moet n one whole chocolate fudge cake. Yum.
Now I hope this cold goes away. Typical, ain’t it?
Oh yeah, light rain forecasted. The big bad brolly is on stand by.
As a reader recently commented, it’s crunch time! Now one week and four days to go and I’m starting to feel the pressure. But not all tasks were hair pulling, teeth grinding chores.
A pot, a mountain of almonds, sugar and cinnamon everywhere and Spotify playing in the background with our favourite tunes: we were a sugar roasting almond factory. Gebrannte Mandeln (sugar roasted almonds) are our wedding favour treat of choice and there’s nothing like it when it’s homemade.
Behold the gooey sugary mess that needed to be cooled and then divided!
Well, Mr H definitely enjoyed making the batches. I think in total we used 1.6kgs of almonds and 1.2kgs of sugar. Yes, they’re not exactly healthy ;)
Whiskey wasn’t happy. She wanted some too. Little kitty paws can’t undo wrapping and bow ties :(
Never ever pass up a chance to enjoy yourself at Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms in Harrogate. Just looks at these macaroons! This was a lovely treat during my Hen day, before we headed over to the Turkish Baths and then a night around town. A good portion of the menu contains traditional Swiss meals, so it was a little taste of home in St. Gallen. I was so impressed, I even bought their book! Can’t wait to try out the Swiss Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake recipe.
A very enjoyable day out with the girls :)
