I was fortunate and privileged enough to participate in a rather unusual wedding on 2nd May 2015. My friend, John Trevillian married his long time partner, Marcus Cotton.
The wedding itself was unique, with the theme of a Travelling Fair, and was held at the luxurious and beautifully decorated boutique hotel called Belle Grove, in Suffolk.
You can see details on the venue, Belle Grove, here. https://www.bellegrovebarns.com/?gclid=CN7-0bzP-8YCFUHJtAodK2IB0g
I was asked to perform the Hand Fasting ceremony, something which I was little nervous about. I’d not done one before and had visions of messing up John and Marcus’ wedding by saying something wrong. However, with meticulous planning and a threat of bodily harm from John if I did, I was soon ready to rock and roll. (I joke about the threat -John told me he knew I’d be perfect or he wouldn’t have asked me…I am pleased to say I don’t think I did too badly)
I even got to go out and buy my outfit, a dress and a velvet cloak so I could look the part.
It was such a humbling feeling to be asked to do this and to be able to perform the ceremony in the tranquil and rather pagan grounds of the estate of Belle Grove. The temple was incredibly kitted out to reflect the ceremony and the weather held clear for us too, not raining and being fairly warm by May standards.
We even had our own Gypsy fortune teller in the guise of Leah Frederick, a voiceover actor, voice acting coach and singer all the way from Augusta, Kentucky, who made the trip especially for the wedding and to meet John and Marcus in person for the first time. Leah and John are online partners in a pod casting enterprise to convert Johns books to audio and also create other pod casts.
Another person who came all the way out from the US to meet the grooms for the first time was Erik Conrad. Erik and Marcus were internet buddies for a long period of time and again, Erik came over specially for the wedding too.
The two grooms looked so handsome and ready for their marriage and it bought tears to my eyes seeing them both look so happy. They are both amazing people and deserve each other.
John is a character in himself though. He’s an English novelist, poet, Druid, shaman and award-winning author of three novels (The A-Men, The A-Men Return and Forever A-Men), plus writer of many other short stories, poetry collections and travel journals. He is also creator of “Britain’s Most Extraordinary Home” [The Times]: Talliston House & Gardens, where he and Marcus live. Yes, they actually live in this house and I’ve eaten dinner there in the Haunted Bedroom, had a few drinks, slept over in the Room of Dreams and attended my writing circle there. I’ve also taken cyanide capsules in an End of The World party too, which was fun 🙂 Obviously it wasn’t real cyanide…or I’d not be here now.
If you’d like to check out the house they live in, follow the link below. I can guarantee you’ll be completely amazed and transfixed by the images.
All in all, two incredible men, one fantabulous wedding and one mind blowing house all combine to make my life a little bit more interesting than it has ever been. I’m a lucky woman indeed.