Hi all,
Well what can I say, other than I had the most wonderful amazing fantastic day ever ! Everything went perfectly, well there were a few wardrobe malfunctions but even the sun co-operated and we managed to achieve what I hoped for and that was to get married in the gardens of the venue ?
So I have never attempted to do anything like a report before so please bear with me and apologies for rambling.....
Tuesday
Well this was the day the manic build up to the wedding began ! It started with haircut and highlights and waxing urghhh ! Though it was quite relaxing and gave me a little time to myself to think about what I needed to do for the rest of the week. I had taken to carrying a notepad around with me so I could jot down what thoughts popped into my head, I must have looked slightly bizarre in Sainsbury's over the last few weeks lol !
After my hair was done, I went to collect my engagement ring, you may remember the disaster I had with it, though luckily it was perfect when I picked it up phew !!
I then went to the shop I had ordered my flowergirl dresses from, my now SIL had texted my niece's measurements over from Tenerife two months ago and her dress had been ordered to those sizes. It had been a little touch and go whether they would actually make it over from Tenerife thanks to the pesky volcano !! Thank god though her dress fitted perfectly, it was only afterwards I discovered her mum had measured her with a fixed metal tape measure not a soft one aaggghhhh !!
Wednesday
Today the table plan was delivered and also the place cards, they are perfect and exactly what I designed and imagined ? so the afternoon was spent making up the table boxes. each box had an envelope full of table diamonds, a disposable camera, place cards, the table name, the favours, the seating order and an information sheet highlighting whether there were any children or special diet people on each particular table. I also boxed up the post box, the children's toy boxes and the guest book. My lounge floor was totally covered, true to form I ended up re-checking everything 10 times it was a bit like going on holiday .....passport,ticket's, money, passport, ticket's money !!
Thursday
I had booked my husband in for a haircut this morning, but what I didn't tell him was I had also arranged for a maincure ! He was most errrrr surprised when he was called to the "beauticians parlour" !!
My parents arrived this afternoon just in time to collect my son from school as a surprise for him. My son plays for a local village football team and has training on Thursday evenings, so we used the time to go to the venue and drop everything off. It was a little surreal going to the venue knowing that in a few days we would be there for the wedding.
Friday- the calm before the storm..........!
I really wanted to get everything done for the wedding before today as I just wanted to relax and have a quiet day. My mum and I had a morning of pampering, we had our nails and feet done, my dad and husband (!) had gone into Canterbury to collect my son's trousers from the hire shop, they were too long so they had been altered. So it was nice having some time with just my mum. In the afternoon my CBM arrived with her family and shortly after my sister, her partner and my nephew and his girlfriend turned up so the house was mad ! We had arranged to go out for a meal in the evening so 15 of us trundled off to the local chinese restaurant where we must have had an excellent time because the bill was over £400 eeeeek !!
Then it was time to say goodbye to Steve, it was so strange knowing the next time I would see him he would be at the end of the aisle............
We got home around 10pm and I put my son to bed and watched a bit of tv, checked the weather forecasts again though I wish I hadn't because it was a bit dire grrrrr and went to bed myself..................
Our Wedding Day
Well I managed to get some sleep but I woke at 5.30 am and just dozed for a while, at 6.15 I gave up and came downstairs and checked weather again, it said it may dry up later in the day but gave no indication off when............My parents got up shortly after soon followed by my son Josh. I manged some toast and then we started playing charades, not sure how that came about but suddenly we realised the time was ticking on so it was a race for the bathroom ! My CBM arrived aroud 9.30 to help transporting the dresses and accessories to the venue, she was brilliant really calm and by a miracle we were all ready to go for 10.30, it's about a 15 minute drive from my home to the hotel, but I was so paranoid of dresses get swung aroud in the back of my car it took longer than this !!
On arriving at the hotel, my dad was waiting and he said just go and have a look at the reception room, it just looked amazing. The vision I had in my head for all these months was finally coming to life and it was all I dreamed of.
We checked in at the hotel and I went up to the bridal suite where we were getting ready and suddenly it was chaos ! The room became filled with people and there was no room to move !
The make-up girls started work on two of my bridesmaids, so I took some time to look out of the window at the ever darkening sky, praying it would brighten up, then I saw the cake and the flowers arrive at the same time !! Well that was it, I was off ! I shot downstairs to the hall to check it all out. The flowers were stunning, my theme was aqua and bright pinks and my florist did a brilliant job, the flowers so were so bright and vibrant that it all looked breathtaking, my boquet was no exception, it was beautiful..........
The cake was fantastic and when it was set up it really had the wow factor (it also tasted really bloody wonderful !!)
I felt a little overwhelmed at this point so I headed back upstairs to get ready.......
No sooner had I sat in the chair, when the heavens opened and it poured and poured, my dream of getting married outside seemed very dim at this point.........but I knew the inside room looked fantastic so I decided I had to stop worrying about it.
By this time, the photographer and videographer were in full flow and time was just zooming and it became apparent we were running slightly behind schedule.............
When I was finished being beautified ! I walked to the window and I couldn't believe it when I saw the staff setting up for a wedding outside, it had stopped raining and dare I hope ? it also looked like it was brightening up.........
I was hoping to get into my dress when I noticed my bridesmaids had vanished, cue the first wardrobe malfunction, my CBM had somehow managed to go up two dress sizes in 8 weeks even though she still looked the same size. Her dress was corset backed but the modesty panel woudn't fasten, so my other bridesmaid opened the "emergency kit" got the scissors out and snipped the studs off and arranged the panel and laced her up so tight the panel had no chance of moving !!
So I am stood there in my stockings, knickers and just thetop half of my pj's on,, lacing my teenage bridesmaid in her dress thinking, oh god we are meant to be getting married in 10 minutes and I was nowhere near ready !
The registrar had already asked to come up earlier,, but I had asked for more time, but time was running out and they popped up, they went through a few questions and she said she was happy to delay the ceremony as the weather was improving and she knew how important it was to us to be married outside........
So the time came to get me dressed, it was all going well until my bridesmaid managed to get the zip caught in the lining of my dress and it was stuck fast and wouldn't budge, by this time I was getting slightly stressed !! In the end my photographer, the videographer and my mum managed to get the zip unstuck by snipping the lining and freeing the zip and suddenly I was dressed and it was time to head downstairs 35 minutes late...........
The hotel manager got us all organised into the order we were going down the aisle, then the music started and we were off.........
My gorgeous son lead the way, he was so proud and careful carrying the ring cushion, he was followed by my flowergirls, my CBM and my two other BM's and before I knew it my dad and I were walking down the aisle towards my husband.......
The registrar welcomed everyone and we had the first reading, we then started saying our vows. It was then time to exchange rings and the registrar and best man had agreed that my son could pass us the rings, she called him forward and he stood between us and pulled the rings of the cushion and handed them to us, he is only seven and he did so well standing infront of everyone and doing such a good job, that was until he turned around and for some unknown reason he put his thumb on his nose, wiggled his fingers at our guests and then jumped down the steps, luckily everyone laughed !!
Well before we knew it we were married and in the words of Pink, it was time to get the party started !! It was a whirlwind round of photograph's and laughs and chat and more photograph's and through all this the sun was shining ?
We sat down for the meal around 4.45 am and the food was gorgeous and it was time for the speech's.
People who know my husband know he is a man of few words and doesn't show his emotions very often in public, well he did the most moving speech people have heard it had people crying and his friends amazed..........
Here are a few quote's from it.......
To my son he said......... I am incredibly proud and continuously amazed by you, I am honoured to be part of your life and I will always love you unconditionally for the rest of my life.........
To me he said.......... I am the one he lives for, every day from the moment I open my eyes he will always strive to do everything he can to make me smile and happy, he also quoted Robert Browning in saying "grow old with me, the best is yet to be"
Our bestman also included my son in his speech, he finished his speech by getting my son to stand on his chair and saying that he was the real best man and got everyone to toast him, that made people cry again !
It then moved into the evening party and the first dance......We hadn't told anyone but we were going to do a novelty first dance, so we started off swaying (like you do) to Aerosmith's Don't Wanna Miss A Thing, when it got to the bit where he sort of screams, the music suddenly skipped and we started doing the macarena, followed by YMCA and finishing with the Timewarp, before suddenly cutting back to Aerosmith where we suddenly carried on swaying like nothing had happened !! We got alot of cheers so it must have been good lol !
The dance floor was full all night and all too quickly it was midnight and our wonderful day came to an end, it was all I dreamt of and more, I wish I could relive it again because it goes far too quickly..........
Well congratulations if you got to the end, I didn't realise it would be so long !!
We have been to stay at the Alton Towers resort for a few days, we are going away in September for three weeks to Florida ?
Here are a few pictures taken by our friends, we get the official ones next week hopefully...........
My friend thought it would be funny to have false teeth in !! she was right ..........
