So ladies.... my big day took place on Friday 27th May 2011 and here is my (rather long) report ;o)
The week leading up to the wedding day was hectic; I had lots of flitting about to do and loose ends to tie up, a make-up “lesson” with MAC and also a Xen Tan spray tan! Would really recommend MAC, I did my make up myself but used their prep and primers and my make up was more or less perfect all day! Didn’t get much sleep the week leading up to and forgot to eat most days, survived on a combination of strong coffee and Berocca drinks!
Thursday 26th May
Popped to the MAC counter first thing and grabbed a sample pot of foundation to match my spray tan colour, then popped to the jewellers and got my engagement ring cleaned and polished. Next stop was the wedding dress shop, had my chief bridesmaid practise lacing me into it, then bagged the dress up and took it out of the shop! This was a really butterfly in tummies moment!! Then headed back home and all my bridesmaids came over. Thursday evening the wedding party, family etc all met at a local restaurant/hotel where we had use of their marquee so we had some music playing and we all had dinner, this was really nice and gave people a chance to get to know one another! Headed home at about 10pm and had all my bridesmaids stay overnight with me, we did some last minute bits like nails and eye-lashes etc and then headed to bed!
The last time I looked at the clock it was 1.30am, then woke up at 3.30am as had a dream that the roofs have blown off my venue (random!), then rolled over at 5.30am, saw my dress hanging in my room and thought “wow today’s the day” and couldn’t get back to sleep.....
Friday 27th May
5.30am – 7.00am: Lay in bed exchanging some text message with H2B and just generally trying to relax and think about the day ahead! 7am came and all the bridesmaids bundled into my room shrieking “you’re getting married today” with much excitement we all got ourselves up and in the shower etc! I took a quick visit to my mum’s grave on my own for a bit of reflection and then went straight back home!
8.15am – 11.15am: Gave the bridesmaids their gifts which they all loved, then I was given some gifts from them and a lovely photo memory book of all our times together, this got me a bit teary! We then all took it in turns to have our hair done and did our own make up. The morning was lovely and relaxed and not a big rush at all, the music channel was on the TV and we all nibbled on croissants, ham, cheese and champers! I was also surprised with a “delivery” from the Best Man which was some beautiful jewellery and a card from H2B.
11.30am: The bridesmaids all started flapping and rushing and making me panic, my hair was still being done and I didn’t understand what the rush was as the taxi was due to pick us up to take us to the venue at 12.00, at this point my nerves were a wreck and I felt so sick, I was practically downing the rescue remedy!! My hair was finished and my tiara was put in place. I was then told I had to walk to the front door with my eyes closed.... got to the front door and outside were all my bridesmaids and also the photographers and the ushers, next I see an absolutely beautiful silver/blue convertible Aston Martin, with a very handsome driver calling my name! This was the most amazing surprise as I am a big Aston lover; this was arranged by my H2B and also an old Wolseley car from my bridesmaids to travel in. I was taken on a thrilling 20 minute drive in the Aston and then dropped at the wedding venue, by the time I got there my adrenaline was pumping and I was well and truly ready to get myself wed!
****: Me and the bridesmaids had access to the honeymoon cottage within our venue and put our dresses on here and did our last minute bits and bobs, refreshed our make up and hair and had some more champagne, also had some photos taken by the photographer. The flowergirl and my little nephew ushers arrived into the room, they looked amazing and made me well up! Then arrived my dad and then the registrar arrived for our “quick” chat, this seemed to go on forever and she was asking me where everyone was sitting etc (I had no idea, I couldn’t see) and by the time I left the honeymoon cottage it was 13.40, the ceremony was supposed to be at 13.30. I needed a last minute wee before the ceremony; this wasn’t the greatest idea as the boning was so low on the dress I couldn’t actually get my pants back on, so yes..... I GOT MARRIED TEAM C!!!
The rest of the day went as I imagined and was perfect in every single way. The ceremony was lovely, though felt longer than I expected, especially the signing of the register bit. I requested to stay stood throughout as did not want to be sitting/standing/sitting/standing in my dress. We chose personal vows and I am very glad we did, it was a nice touch to know that we had personalised this part. We also had two lovely readings by the groom’s dad and one of my bridesmaid.
After the ceremony we had a canapé reception with pimms as drinks, this all went down well and lots of photos were taken at this point. If you can afford it and have the time I would def recommend a canapé reception! 90 minutes later we sat down for the speeches, which were very touching and also very funny, then followed the meal which was amazing, the staff all served the tables one by one and all made sure they plated each setting at the exact same time, placing one hand behind their backs, very professional. There were not many plates left full, and everyone commented on the food. We had a warm cheddar and beetroot tart to start, main was supreme of corn-fed chicken stuffed with mozzarella and basil and dessert was a vanilla shortbread tower with fresh strawberries and clotted cream. We served a selection of white, red and rose wine throughout the meal and the rose was drunk by a lot of people, glad we included this.
I had one person who didn’t turn up, so one empty seat and wasted food. I wasn’t so bothered on the actual day but I am a bit upset about this as they didn’t let me know and I haven’t even heard from them since the wedding.
The evening kicked off at 7pm with the cake cutting and then the first dance was the hi-light of my evening, something I was very much looking forward to.... the rest is all a bit of a blur, there were so many people and so much going on, more food, alcohol, heaps of pick and mix from our sweet buffet and lots of good songs (including oops upside your head, which I got down on the floor to do!!)
At one point in the evening, me and my husband took ourselves off to a quiet corner for 10 minutes and just sat on our own taking it all in and I’m so glad that we did this and would def recommend taking a bit of one on one time out!
At the end of the night I was well and truly ready to get out of my dress, it was agony! Me and H2B went back to our honeymoon cottage, got me out of my dress, de-pinned my hair and then had a long hot soak together in the lovely free standing bath!
On the Saturday morning we went to the hotel where all the guests were and joined them for breakfast, we then made our way to Chester where we stayed for 3 night on a mini-moon, we stayed at the DoubleTree By Hilton – Chester, I would really really recommend this, it has an amazing spa and also a gorgeous Marco Pierre White Restuarant on site. Honeymoon is in December and we are off to Australia for 4 weeks! We used Trailfinders for our giftlist which was very easy to use and set up!
My tips/advice.....
1 – Your dress is going to get dirty, don’t stress about it, it’s going to happen no matter what and a good photographer can remove any marks on the dresses that may show up
2 – Make sure your photographer takes just the two of you off at some point for photos, so that you have professional and personal ones that don’t include family and friends
3 – Take a moment out to have one on one time just the two of you, to reflect on the day
4 – Pace yourself it’s a long day, have some water and soft drinks in between alcoholic drinks
5 – If you have time at the evening reception start, have a receiving line, I wish we had of done this so we could have then partied all evening, a lot of the evening was spent being pulled from one person to another.
So there it is my report... from my perfect day! ;o)
I’m the happiest I have ever felt and am loving being a wife, it’s the most amazing feeling!!
Now for the pics..... we wont have our professional pics for another 2-3 weeks, so here are a selection of pics that others have taken. I have put them on an online album as its easier to share a selection that way.
