CAKELADY'S BELATED SECRET VENUE WEDDING REPORT with flashes

Want to read more! Sounds really exciting.

My OH wanted the hot air balloon too. Think it was to keep costs down and have minimal guests!

OOOOH, , , I'm looking forward to this report....

I was hooked at Paul Weller ?

This is exciting......more please.

Ooooo exciting! i was a Mod for years and still scream like a girl everytime I see anyone in a parka going down the road on a scooter! I love it and really miss the scene I was into in my teenage years and early twenty's. Sounds like you must have been around the same time as me with the mod revival in the mid 80's Hubby just doesn't get it at all hehe.

Can't wait to read the rest and see the flashes! Congratulations by the way!

More more more!!!

Massively Intrigued! Crack on Mrs

Thanks for the lovely comments so far. Sorry to keep you waiting. Yes, I was around for the Mod (& Punk) revival!!! Music & going to see bands has always played a big part in our lives & havng a brother who is a graphic designer & OH who works for a Printers meant we could design our own invitations with a real flavour of us. Under the CD it said "The tracks of our lives" & included a mix of songs that we like & thought others would like too.

The Save the Dates were like 7" singles. We contemplated sending real records but it worked out too tricky & expensive!

We finally decided to get married in January this year setting the date for 8th September which seemed like ages away but I now realise we hadn't allowed long! As we were older (& either wiser or dafter - I'm not sure) we didn't feel we had to do things for other people. Our parents did give us some money towards the big day but we paid for most of it. It was really important to us that our lads were involved & we decided early on that we didn't want any bridesmaids but did want our boys to be Pageboys & walk down the aisle in front of my Dad & I. We asked OHs Mum to make a couple of simple ring cushions so that they could also hand us the rings. When she showed us them we were thrilled as she too had added something that reflected what we liked. I'll flash them later...

One of my hobbies is cake decorating so I knew I wanted to make the cake. I also decided I wanted to do the flowers. Two of my friends suggested this was a bit ambitious as I would already have lots to do, so I accepted their offer of making the bouquet but I really wanted to do the flowers for the tables. I wanted a vaguely vintage, cottage garden feel with old fashioned roses & hydrangeas.

Dress-wise I had my heart set on a 1950s tea-length dress or 50s swing style dress. I love the 60s minis but I'm not slim enough to carry this style off. I decided it had to be vintage style or actual vintage. I was worried about being an older bride but I've never been married before so did want to feel & look special. I'm not usually a dress person & a few friends genuinely thought I'd turn up in jeans! I'd even given them a clue by wearing a 50s style dress to my Hen party so when I went to look for a dress I surprised myself with what I chose...

Although I'm from a massive family on my Dad's side we decided we wanted to spend the day with our closest family & friends. We wanted children to be there through the day & have a party for the adults in the evening. The registry Office held 50 people but we couldn't seem to narrow it down below 68 people!! I decided to be honest with them but asked friends to sit smaller children on their knees & asked some of the fellers to stand at the back. We were able to invite more friends & family to the nighttime.

We booked the evening reception for a local sports club (nicer than it sounds as it's just had a complete rebuild & overlooks the cricket ground & leads to the Ings near the river).

We also decided on our daytime venue but kept this secret from everyone. This drove my Mum mad!!! Most people went along with the fun. We stated on the invites that we wanted everyone to meet at the Registry Office but leave their cars at home or at the evening reception as we were going to transport them to the reception & return them back to the evening venue. In the meantime we booked a lovely black & white vintage bus & with great enthusiasm from the bus company set about devising a "Mystery Tour" from the ceremony to the reception!!!

Having a secret venue was great fun although it did make it hard work for us in the end but was worth it.

I haven't really mentioned that we were doing this all on a budget of sorts which we did go over. We found however that there just wasn't enough money in the pot for a vehicle to transport me to the Reg Office! We had enquired about a VW camper but the quote of £200 to go a mile up the road just wasn't feasible. We therefore asked one of my brothers to be chauffeur in my Mum's little Fiat 500 car!

The few days before the wedding were pretty hectic. Being a last minute person I was making sugar roses & putting marzipan & icing on the cakes in between the school runs & work. We ended up having several late nights. OH spent weeks gathering retro toys from charity shops, car boots & off (his favourite place) ebay. We'd also been hunting for vintage jars, vases etc for the flowers & purchased a job lot of over 100 old milk bottles from an elderly couple via ebay. They were fab.

The day before I needed to make enough cupcakes for everyone at the evening reception (150) as the caterers were making sausage & bacon butties with potato wedges but not providing a pudding. Having a secret venue meant we couldn't ask anyone to help us transport things to venue. Also, as it was open to the public & the evening venue had a function on, we couldn't deliver anything until they had closed / finished. At 10.00 pm I was just starting to arrange flowers into milk bottles & OH was taking all the vintage toys & games & the cake to the secret venue. We dropped the decorated buns (cupcakes) off at Sports Club as I knew there wouldn't be time in the morning as we were due to tie the knot at 11.00am. Thankfully my Mum came over to stay the night before & she helped with the flowers ( I had been too ambitious & I was starting to flag). OHs parents were staying in a hotel nearby & our youngest boy went to stay with them but elder son wanted to sleep at home. The Best Man & his wife & family & various other members of OHs family were all staying in the Travel Lodge (we know how to live it up) which is walking distance from our house. The Best Man had booked a room for him & OH but by the time OH & I had got back from taking everything to the venues it was 1.00am. I gave OH a goodnight kiss & he walked over to the Travel Lodge & found that the Bestman had already gone to bed!! There had also been a mix-up with the room bookings & OH spent his last night as a single man sharing a double room ( & bed) with Best Man!!

The morning of the wedding arrived quickly (something to do with not crawling into bed until 1.15am). I had some breakfast with my Mum & elder son. My friend dropped off the bouquet (which I loved) while I was having my make-up done. It took me a while to justify to myself that it was okay to have someone do my make-up as this was definitely an additional cost but so glad I did. My friend came over to do my hair. I felt really calm - not at all nervous. I also felt really, really tired & knew this would mean tears later on!! My (chauffeur) brother arrived with my Dad & took Mum & our son over to OH, our other son & rest of OHs family & friends. I am reknowned for running late & always leaving things till the last minute but I was really organised - or so I thought!! About 20 minutes before time to leave I suddenly realised I hadn't shaved my legs!!! They weren't horrendously hairy or anything & I was wearing a long frock but I was contemplating changing into my spotty 50s swing dress towards the end of the night so after a minor panic I was ready!! I didn't get changed later on but never mind.

Just as we were about to leave I realised that I didn't have my (late) Nana's pearls on. My Dad put them on quickly (& twisted as it turned out) & off we went in our little wedding car.

For one of the first times ever I was early. I knew I couldn't risk arriving late to a Registry Office but as I didn't want OH to see me I waited outside with my Dad, brothers & our boys. The only person who had seen my dress before the day was my Mum. She was sworn to secrecy as I knew people would be surprised with my choice. I felt lovely in my vintage dress, vintage shoes (I ended up with four pairs off ebay), vintage brooch on my headband & my Nana's dress watch & pearls. I had even considered buying a vintage corset but decided M&S made sexy & comfortable undies! Emphasis on the comfy (well I am getting on).

The vintage bus was parked outside too. It was the first time I'd seen it & it looked fab with York Minster in the distance.

As soon as we went in & spoke to the Registrar I started to feel my bottom lip going. I was tired & emotional despite being very happy. As we walked in for the service I felt everyone look round. Everyone was smiling & the floodgates really opened. I actually look distressed on the photos. My OH didn't turn round till I was nearly next to him & he smiled (at the blubbering wreck who was about to finally become his wife) & whispered that I looked beautiful, setting off another flood of tears.

The ceremony was lovely. We were so proud of our boys. They did a grand job & the little one didn't stop smiling all day (apart from one moment when he realised that his Mummy & Daddy were actually married & he felt a bit overwhelmed. There was a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. The boys were really involved being able to stand with us as we said our vows. My eldest brother did a reading (We'd penned it for him as he had just returned from a charity Mongul Run in a 1 litre car, making a trip that took him & his wife on an adventure ending up in Mongolia within a month's timeframe - but that's another story). He did it justice & got a few laughs. Then OHs sister presented her reading that we hadn't seen. It was funny & touching & very clever as she had interwoven songs & artsists (music not the painting type) into the verse, ending with a quote from a Paul Weller song. Everyone was smiling, clapping & there seemed to be lots of cheering going on (is that supposed to happen at a wedding)?

After photos in the garden everyone boarded the bus & followed the little wedding car, which we parked in the Travel Lodge car-park fooling people into thinking the reception was being held there. We got on the bus & set off on our Mystery Tour. The bus driver was really good fun & even had me wondereing where we were going at one point. We went back towards town & right to other side of York then onto the A64 heading for ???? The bus pulled off the A64 & people started to panic. One guest was heard to say "I am NOT going to MacDonalds". Me neither I thought! Am I over-egging it now? Hope you're not going to be disappointed...Then we pulled up outside the Fish & Chip restaurant that we'd got exclusively to ourselves!

Loving it so far!!

So impatient for the rest, can't wait to see you in your dress!

Thanks Jennawenna & Fergo. Think our posts have got out of kilter sorry. It's taking me so long to type...I'm trying to summarise things a bit now, & then I'll put a few flashes on
. Here's the dress. It's original 1950s. I loved it when I saw it. It's probably not actually a wedding dress but I saw it, loved it & amazingly it fit so was meant to be.

I realise I'm waffling so I'll try to wind it up soon but I've got to say we had the most amazing day. It was warm & sunny & the whole day was happy & relaxed. I kept looking round & seeing everyone smiling & laughing. The reception venue was great & the people who ran it really let us make our own mark on the place. They let us set up a retro games area & having over 20 children there added to the atmosphere. They were so intrigued with the old-fashioned 70s & 80s toys! I can't flash too may pics of kids as some of my friends don't like the idea of their children being on the internet & I've got to respect that. The speeches were great. I was so proud of my Dad as he's not one for public speaking but he did a great job & my brother (the graphic designer one) had blown up some pics of me as a little girl which I knew nothing about! OH looked a bit sheepish when the Best Man's speech took place, especially as every story started with the phase "Once when Andy had been drinking..." My Mum was really laughing as the photos show so the stories can't have been so bad...

Time flew by & before we knew it, it was time to board the bus & head for the evening do. Most of the kids went home by 9.00pm & the evening was a great party with our friend, Dan DJing & everyone having a good old drink & a dance. There isn't much that I'd change looking back although we were both tired on the day as we'd given ourselves lots of work by keeping things so secret but it was worth it. We hoped for a day that everyone would enjoy. We wanted it to be meaningful but laid-back & fun too. The secret venue went down a storm & it really was one of the happiest days of our lives.

Thank you for reading this. Sorry it's long but I've enjoyed doing it xx

Love love love it. Congratulations to you all. Fab pic of you hugging one of your boys.

How lovely! What gorgeous photos!! I love the one of you all laughing while you're exchanging rings, it's so lovely the boys were up there with you ? xxx

Gorgeous report and photos!

Congratulations.

Looks like you had a great day! Was that Thompsons restaurant? X

Thanks for lovely comments. It was a really happy day. It wasn't Thompsons (we enquired there & they wouldn't entertain the idea). It was Tritons (heading towards Tadcaster & Leeds). It's lovely in there. Very modern & the food was lovely. They did fresh salmon, homemade pie etc as well as traditional fish & chips & the home-made pavlovas were to die for. We had sharing platters to start with at their suggestion &
these were great ice-breakers & got people who hadn't met before chatting x
Just added a couple more pics. One is OH looking suitably sheepish during Best Man's speech & the other is view of cricket ground from balacony at evening do x

Wow, such an original day, it looks fantastic!!

Congratulations.

I love this report. Your wedding looks like it was such a personal occasion, with all the finishing touches really relating to you and your hubbie. Love the invites, the bus and the 50s vintage dress.

Congrats xx

Top job CakeLady!

I love it- that dress looks made for you- it is beautiful.