Thayne John Ellis and Melissa Joanne O'Garey were married on Saturday 22nd November at the Holy Trinity Church, Bacchus March, but let's start the previous night.
Melissa was incredibly busy. The cake was a disaster she would have to fix herself; Thayne found the suit sizes had been lost - his brother, Brad, had been given shoes of two different sizes. Everything seemed pretty normal for a wedding then.
Kristie and I were picked up by Melissa's sister, Janelle - Melissa and Thayne were nowhere to be seen. Janelle and her husband were due to leave for Melbourne, so Kristie and I looked after their three kids for an hour or so.
After Thayne and Melissa arrived, the men went away while the girls stayed to use the pool and spa - I think they got the better deal.
We three kings ended up with two knaves indeed (Clint and Dion), and found ourselves dragged away to the pub for some beer and pool. Neither Thayne, Brad or myself get our rocks off by drinking - it was just bizarre.
We escaped back to the house, played PlayStation computer games for an hour. Late night phone calls proved that Thayne's mind was preoccupied. He tried to write his vows on the whiteboard to help him remember but sentences like "With this this I ring..." just wouldn't cut the mustard. He decided to get some sleep. It wasn't much of a bucks night for Thayne - I was disappointed for him, but he seemed happy.
Attacked by hayfever, I got up and sat with Clint and Dion in the back room. We told interesting stories, played guitar and sang songs. I feel that, in a way, I had Thayne's bucks night instead.
The photo shoot in the morning was fun, Kristie was there to watch. Thayne was buzzing, but I was surprised he had no hesitations about the wedding. Perhaps I was just projecting my own insecurities.
Brad and I sucked Soothers as we sang in the church, made sure we stood in the right spots, tried to look like the tough men of forged steel that we are.
Melissa watched a dribble form at the end of Thayne's nostril, and Thayne tried to blow his nose quietly as the priest spoke of tandem bicycles and home-cooked meals of the 1950s. Melissa was incredibly happy.
Kristie's voice went and she couldn't talk at the reception. The music was good, but the clown who went from table to table doing magic tricks was by far the best part of the whole reception. (Kristie wants jugglers and fire-eaters if we ever get married.)

Well that's who I felt like, managing to fill an order of 16 books leading up to Christmas.
I made a change from black leather to burgundy and from silver metalwork to gold - the best books vanished within hours. The staff at HangUp were very pleased.
A small magazine called 'The Write Art' recently published photos of 'Book' and an article on my bookbinding. I didn't get any book orders from the article, but I think more people looked for my books in HangUp this Christmas.
I also managed to get the Dragon Book finished. It is a very solid, heavy book, and the people who've seen it seem very impressed. The dragon on the cover is meant to be Tarasque, a scaly dragon feared by the villagers of Nerlue, France.
The book will remain blank until I have something worth writing in it, or failing that then my children may have something in mind later on.

Some people have suggested I keep family records and events in it - which is a good idea.
One book designed to keep events is the wedding album I made for Thayne and Melissa. It was bound in burgundy suede with a large gilded wedding ring buried in flowers and gifts on the cover.

Click picture for a better view.