Day #39: The one with the two part wedding special

Two Part Wedding Special : Day 2

It isn't everyday you get to be in London when royal wedding history is made! We woke up excited to be here and ready to take part in the red carpet celebration. The alarms were set, the plan was made, Shayne's wacky/black feathered headpiece was laid out, Jake had the Will and Kate flags in his pocket, in fact...we actually pre-packed for the weekend trip we were leaving on the next day. However, in classic Singleton fashion, we somehow found a way to have an adventurous morning on our way to see Kate and Will tie the knot. As usual, it began with getting the wrong directions. When Shayne asked Jake, "Do you have directions for where we need to go?" she should have said, "Do we have directions to the pub?" Jake did in fact have directions, but they were directions to the tube stop (we were trying out a new one for the first time). Therefore, when we went to board the tube, we didn't know what stop we needed to exit at. Of course Jake's new smart phone wasn't getting an internet connection and of course we could not get hold of anyone else who was going. Therefore, we decided to wing it!

The plan was to meet Ben and Margaret, Sophie and George (and their friends) at a pub away from the heart of the action. Not that we weren't down to have a great time, but felt we didn't want to deal with getting stuck in front of Buckingham Palace when there weren't enough Porta-Potties! What would know, we took a chance on the tube exit, and came out from the underground RIGHT in the middle of the madness. Even with all of our planning to end up at a pub in southern London, we found ourselves in close proximity to Westminster and Buckingham Palace. Bummer. We decided to avoid the insanity on the streets, grab a cab, and just have him take us over to the pub. Problem, where do you get a cab when the entire city is shut down? We walked over to a cop and asked where the taxi's were lining up. The cop chuckled, looked around, and said, "Ummm, not sure if you knew this, but we have kind of a big event going on here today." As we walked away Shayne said, "Trust me, I would not be wearing this feathered head piece for sight seeing!"

So, we looked at our watches, realized we had about 45 minutes until the wedding began, and started jogging. This was not easy to do as we were weaving in and out of people who were already tipsy and wearing head-to-toe London pride garb. After wrong turn #17, we said that the front of our scapbook from our time here should read, "2010-2012: The Singletons Get Lost in London." We finally arrived at the pub, sweaty and with sore feet, with a few minutes to spare. It was a wedding miracle!

After our heart rates came back down to a normal speed we were able to kick back and enjoy. We had no idea how fun the next 12 hours would be. Yes, that's right, we were at the same pub for 12 hours. There have only been a few other times in our lives when this has happened (probably a good thing!), most of which took place in Tucson at Dirtbags. But, you know it's a fun day when you have need to consume two meals at the same bar.

Wedding Day Highlights:

* Of course no wedding party would be complete without a little cava (this is what they seem to call all champagne here even though it's technically the Spanish region for bubbly deliciousness)

* The arrival procession and the unveiling of the dress - what a neckline!!! Everyone in our pub ooo'd and aww'd as each new arrival came into the church. Princess Beatrice was definitely a crowd favorite (SO Carrie Bradshaw of her).

* The trees in the abbey - very 'green' of them. FYI: all foliage was of British descent.

* Shayne and Margaret's wedding day headpieces...when in Rome!

* Being so close to the wedding location that the "fly by" that occurred after the balcony kiss could be seen from our pub.

* A group of people walking into our pub who were wearing clothes that were very "wedding-esque" but not in an "I'm gonna wear a big headpiece with my normal clothes" way like we were. After talking with them, our suspicions were confirmed. They had just come FROM THE WEDDING!!! They were co-workers of Kate's and came to the pub for a private party upstairs. They let us take photos with their official invitations. Sweet.

* Our first Jager of the trip. Jake smiled broadly, Shayne made her stank face as she suffered through the liquid hell - all for the cause.

* Discovering the British version of, "That's what she said," entitled, "Tell her/him." For example, if someone said, "Wow, that guy is really fit (aka: British word for 'hot')," someone from the table could yell, "Tell him!" You are required, by game playing law, to rise, walk across the room, and "tell him" he is fit. Defensive maneuver: If you realize what you said could be used against you, you could yell, "Told him," and you are off the hook.

* Jake having his first beer purchased for him by a random British person.

* Shayne's limp feathered headpiece after getting caught in the rain on the way home.

* Late night pizza at George and Sophie's after Jake managed to fall down an entire flight of stairs.

Jake and Shayne after FINALLY arriving to The Orange.

* Shot of Kate's car on her way to Westminster. No, we weren't there - but, some of these shots from the TV came out pretty cool :)

Our pub! Look at all eyes on the TV - even the bartender. Love it!

Another fun TV shot. Check out the double image: Will and Kate reflected in the picture of the famous Westminster bells.

The post-kiss fly by over OUR pub!

The wedding attendees - only slightly jealous.

The official wedding program and pass to get inside. Apparently, the security was pretty high - so we hear.

Things start to get silly. Margaret and Shayne posing with a flower from the arrangement on the bar.

Ben, Jake, and George giving their Prince William smiles.

What to say...what to say?

The whole gang (minus Jake who was taking the photo).

Jake really got into the wedding spirit! We don't get American sports here, so he had to latch onto something.

Again, what to say...what to say?