I’ve got a classic Suzuki 1100 ES sitting idle in my garage as I type this, but not so long ago I was a keen motorcyclist, and as it says on my profile on the HSS site, I’ve always wanted to conduct a biker wedding. I suppose I had the idea that it would involve everyone arriving on bikes in full leathers, and it being something of a wild, high octane event, but as usual the reality was a little different.

Nigel and Iona met through Saddletramps an outfit that friends of mine also rode with, so I felt an affinity with them both from the start. But it was when they sent me their homework that I got really interested. It was amazing. Searingly honest, (their dislike for one another  was mutual for quite a while at first), emotionally open, funny and moving, there were times I thought “Woooah! Too much information”, but I knew that if they chose to use any of it in the ceremony, it would be one to remember. 

And it was. But for quite the opposite reason.

Iona and Nigel hardly used any of the material they’d shared in their homework at all. Instead, they wrote something entirely new, that was just as honest, open, funny and moving, but in a very different way.

I learned a lot from Nigel and Iona’s wedding, not least that the homework isn’t just for the ceremony. It’s its own reward; you can use it, or not use it, but you won’t regret doing it.

It was a great wedding in so many ways. Sadly I left just as the wilder part of the evening was getting under way, but it looked as though it was going to be a LOT of fun.