London Wedding

Had a brilliant time at a wedding held in Croydon, London.
The event itself was beautiful with Ella's Grandfather walking her down the aisle, kilt swinging.
I was so pleased to have been invited and was able to see some old friends and celebrate with them.

The handfasting was probably more memorable than the service if a little cold. Many there, myself included, took the opportunity of jumping the broomstick.
After the meal, along with drinking and dancing we could also take photos in a specially curated booth in honour of Star Wars - lightsabre, Princess Leia head piece and a grand dark hooded cloak.

Before the event, I took advantage of being in London to visit an old friend and we visited Kew Gardens, amazing! Some lovely sculpture and a fantastic exhibition with hundreds of dried flowers threaded and hung from the ceiling. We were able to walk through these - astounding.
Then there was the bee place! wow!
This incredible structure has been built to replicate a bee hive.

"The Hive is a unique, multi-sensory experience designed to highlight the extraordinary life of bees. A feat of British engineering, it stands 17 metres tall, set in a wildflower meadow.

The Hive is an immersive sound and visual experience. The lights you see and the sounds you hear inside The Hive are triggered by bee activity in a real beehive at Kew.
The intensity of the sounds and light change constantly, echoing that of the real beehive. The multi award-winning Hive was inspired by scientific research into the health of honeybees. It is a visual symbol of the pollinators’ role in feeding the planet and the challenges facing bees today."
(https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/attractions/the-hive)
You can walk inside and it is a strange experience but very beautiful.

The Hive

inside The Hive, top level

inside, bottom level

The gardens themselves are beautiful to walk around and much bigger than expected, could spend all day there with a picnic and sketchbook.

the greenhouse

greenhouse again

The structure just leant itself to some arty photos and I couldn't resist.











During our walk we came across a wonderous line of gorgeous statues. The carving is excellent and made me a little envious, must practice more.

detail

 

There was also an amazing exhibition/ installation of dried flowers. Walking amongst them was quite surreal and would have loved to have been able to be there with no other visitors, but hey, that's the way it goes.