A Summer to Remember-- Part 1

Does anyone remember what it used to be like when you get into September and think to your self " Where the hell did my summer go " Part 1.

Well let me tell you mine has done precisely that in spades. When I re-read the previous blog , I cant believe that there is no mention of the one other thing that has been occupying Lynda and my thoughts nearly 100% of our time and that is the Wedding of our daughter Charlotte , to the love of her life Terry Campbell. Ok so there were a couple of easter photos of them when they came out primarily to meet the priest the caterers the photographer the DJ and the florist-- as well as have a great time at the Pasca celebrations, but no real reference to the fairly traumatic times that we have lived through.

 

Now lets be clear about this -- most of my working life has been about planning and remember the old Construction Managers adage----

 

You see -- even the British Government agree with this old saying --

 

 

 

So on that basis , why was it so surprising that there were spreadsheets and "To Do " ruling our everyday lives. Me - spreadsheets - come on, it's me we are talking about.

 

Now I do not want people to get the wrong idea --- I am not looking for a new career----

 

 

Just so everyone understands-- wedding planning is never like these 2 depicted it -- Although like Mathew I did get the girl-----even the stress of the wedding did not stop me realising that no matter what Terry Campbell and Charlotte think they have , it will never be as wonderful as what I am lucky enough to have with my Lynda.

 

There were plenty of moments that the image below would absolutely sum up what I was thinking on occasion----

 

But of course that is only in the heat of the moment-- well, for some of the people anyway.

 

So I also found this statement below and this pretty much summed up what was going on over the past year with charlotte. You see , she wanted this ---

 

 

----- which I have to say is a mighty fine choice of venue -- "Inn on the Beach" is one of the best places in Aegina -- BYTHE WAY--- as it was our daughter Charlotte the wedding was never gonna be anywhere else other than in Aegina,  Greece justin case you wondered.

 

The problem came from last year in September and then again in January where trying to get the owner of the place to agree that we could have the venue on a Wednesday night at the end of August and thereby guaranteeing him loads of money , was not getting the positive response that I expected. I mean , come on here I was trying to force him into accepting around €4k+ for the pleasure in these times of recession and austerity and he was continually hesitating.

 

So lime all good PM's ( Ok , it's just a figure of speech), Lynda and I agreed that we needed a Plan B. So after only a small amount of research we found that if you can afford it then this place below kind of hits the mark as being one of the best venues for weddings on the island----

 

 

Having seen the place and found out that a Wednesday evening at the end of august would be fine we sent the info to Charlotte for her to talk to terry and get back to us--- it took half an hour-- a record for Charlottes responses -- and we suddenly found that Plan B was now Plan A -- there was a surprise.

 

 

Well it can be.

 

So easter was a pretty big deal for establishing the need to get into the minutiae -- the detail. I mean its all right having the key elements established -- Venue, The Dress, Caterers, Photographer, DJ, Florists and the like but when you start to add in the fact that the location is in Greece , on an Island like Aegina and you want and hope that some 50 odd people will make the journey-- no not ODD in that way -- just a saying -- family , friends  -- ok so maybe ODD is an ok description for some.

 

Anyway , it all rapidly starts to become Micro Management , when you think you have done a deep dive into any one specific item , it throws up 10 more things to sort out.

 

So out of that you need to decide what kind of micromanager you are going to be ---

 

I have the hope that I was not like this in the workplace but cant help thinking that I was more than a bit anal when it came to the Wedding Planning.

 

I mean, can you imagine when I am sitting with a Greek Catering manager and want to confirm that he is supplying all the cutlery , crockery cloths chairs etc etc etc-- I must have seemed like the return of the alien.

 

This is Mr Varafacis ex finance minister and resident of Aegina , showing what he would like to do to me for suggesting that he should check the figures again.

 

 

So that's the end of part one -- unlucky for some-- lots more to come from these barmy -- literally -- summer months and all for this----

 

 

We hope