Todd and Clare's wedding

My oldest friend was married on Saturday back in Australia. I had the honor of being Best Man and so made a lightning visit for the long weekend.

Arriving back in Australia Thursday evening I had mixed feelings. Although I was looking forward to seeing family & friends again, my heart was back in England with my family. It was odd to hear all the Australian accents around me; from people, on the radio, ... Not having a home also made me feel that I was a visitor. I'm sure that as time goes by we'll be looking forward to returning - just not right now.

Friday I caught up with Todd and had the opportunity to relax and talk about the wedding. I got the first glimpse of the astounding effort both he and Clare went to when Todd showed me the shirt, tie and cufflinks he'd bought me for the wedding. We tried them on and I have so say we cut a sharp figure!!

That night we settled back for a few drinks. By 10pm I was exhausted - the jet lag definately getting the better of me. I was struggling to put a sentence together. Not good - given that this time the next day I'd be warming to my speech.

I found myself awake again at 3am. Jet lag! Rather than try to adjust to the time zone I was up and working on the speech. I have to admit to a little anxiety; not so much because of the crowd (I knew a fair chunck) but rather because I was struggling to find the right words to express my thoughts.

I spent Saturday morning at our favourite Brunetti. It was almost worth the trip alone to catch up with our friends and enjoy a wonderful coffee. I found that my appetite was gone so I didn't tuck in to the pastries as I used to do.

After lunch I met Todd and we travelled to his hotel in St Kilda Road - just a few minutes walk to the reception at The Willows. We enjoyed a drink, got on the kit, and put the final touches on the speech. Then, we set of to walk the short distance to the venue.

Todd and I have known each other for 24 years. I enjoyed catching up with some of his family that I hadn't seen for 15 years. The ceremony was so impressive. Both Todd and Clare had gone to tremendous effort to have it reflect their individual values and everyone felt honored to share the moment with them. Its a great credit to them both that so many of their good friends were able to celebrate the wedding with them.

I've posted a few photos that I took before the wedding. I hope to get many more and I'll post them as I get them.

Sunday I crammed in more family and then it was off to the airport for the return flight home. 2 1/2 days in country - that would have to be about a record!