Hello everyone!
We did it! I'm now a Mrs and a very happy one at that!
For those that want to jump straight to photos the official ones can be seen here : https://www.lilyandfrank.co.uk//htmlver/proofing.php password is springall
Unofficial pics can be seen here:
Getting ready: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=148915&l=769ad&id=615775466
Ceremony & Afternoon: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=148929&l=06333&id=615775466
Evening Reception: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=148948&l=3fa28&id=615775466
I think they should all be visible. There are over 500 official pics and 180 unofficial so it may take a while to look through them all!
I have to say our photographer Catherine from Lily & Frank Photography (https://www.lilyandfrank.co.uk/) was fantastic! She was fabulous on the day and I think the photos she's taken are amazing - we couldn't have hoped for better reminders of our day. I found her through Hitched so I hope someone else sees this and goes on to book her - I couldn't recommend her highly enough.
Right, onto the report... this may be long!
The week leading up to the wedding was pretty stressful - I was imagining every possible thing going wrong and the weather was being a nightmare. I was getting quite stressed and snappy and everyone was trying to calm me down telling me everything would go to plan. I thought it was all going to start going wrong on the Friday morning when we turned up at the suit shop at 10am for final fittings and collection only to find the shop shut with no sign of anyone insaide at all. Panic was starting to set in at about 10 past when the owner finally turned up and let us in - apparently another member of staff was supposed to open up but hadn't shown up. After the initial panic the suits all fit great and we took them home. Later on that day we went to see the cake which was fantastic and I started to relax.
I woke up on Saturday morning thinking I had a nice relaxing day ahead of me to get some pampering in before the wedding on Sunday. That lasted all of 2 minutes as I walked out of the bedroom thinking 'the house feels very hot' - I then noticed the bathroom window was steamed up which seemed odd. As I went downstairs it got hotter and I realised the front door was also steamed up and the walls were wet - it got worse as I headed through the living room to the kitchen where all the walls and windows were dripping with water and all our wedding cards that we'd received so far so damp and warped. It soon became clear that the washing machine, which I'd left to run overnight, had had a hissy fit and was stuck on a hot wash and had given the entire house a steam clean for about 7 hours and was producing a scary burning smell! Thankfully the suits that were hanging in the front hall were all fine and it didn't take too long to mop everything up and get the washing machine behaving itself again! I finally managed to have my manicure and pedicure and then left H2B to spend the night at my Mum's.
I fell asleep really easily on Saturday night but woke up at about 5am and struggled to get back to sleep with excitement. I finally got up at 7am and after a quick breakfast and donning my 'Bride' t-shirt it was off to the hairdressers who had opened up especially for me. We spent a nice relaxing 1 1/2 hours getting our hair curled and put up and I had my tiara and veil put in, then it was off to get my make-up done. I was a bit worried about this as my trial hadn't gone too well and I was envisioning having to re-do my make-up myself at the last minute but this time it went really well and I couldn't believe how good it was - I only needed to touch up my lip gloss during the day as the rest of it stayed on really well. The weather was looking a bit gloomy at the point and it was starting to drizzle but after a week of fretting it no longer bothered me.
At 12 o'clock I went over to the venue (next door to the salon where make-up was done) to start getting ready. We had a room just for us to get ready in and my dress was there hanging up and the flowers had arrived - I couldn't believe how fabulous they were! My sister's best friend did them for us and she did such a brilliant job, better than I could ever have imagined. There was just time for a quick look at the ceremony room (which looked fab with all the chair covers and bows) and a look at where the Wedding Breakfast was taking place, which also looked better than I could have imagined, it was all perfect.
At about half 12 I was in my dress, hair and make-up done, and all I could do was wait. My mum and sister was also ready and were taking lots of photos. At this point the room started to get quite busy and my firstly my brother and sister's boyfriend arrived, then Megan (my new step-daughter and youngest bridesmaid) and Mark's mum arrived, followed by a few more relatives who popped in to say hello. I was anxiously asking everyone if Mark had arrived yet - not because I thought he wouldn't show up but because I didn't want him to be late! We went out onto the private patio overlooking the golf course to take a few photos of us girlies as the sun was coming out and at this point Catherine the photographer came in to say hello and she took a few photos of us too. Finally the registrars came in to ask a few quick questions, make sure all the details were correct and to run through what would happen in the ceremony and then at last it was 1.30pm and it was time to go.
My heart was pounding in my chest so fast with nervous excitement. We lined up behind the closed double doors that led into the ceremony room. Megan first, then my sister, then finally me and my brother who was giving me away. This was the moment I'd been imagining for so long and I'd always thought that the moment I heard Canon in D playing it would all sink in that I was actually getting married but to be honest from the moment those doors opened and we started walking down the aisle all I could do was look at Mark and everything else was a blur - I can't even remember the music playing at all! When I first saw Mark I could see he was trying not to cry already and that nearly set me off too, I bit my lip to stop myself and by the time I got to Mark at the front I was grinning madly and didn't stop all day!
The ceremony was beautiful. The registar welcomed everyone and then it was into the declaratory and contracting vows which we repeated after her, and my friend Beck and Mark's Aunt Helen both did readings which were beautiful. We then exchanged the rings and said our own vows which even though they were written down in front of me I still managed to miss an entire line out - I don't think anyone else noticed though! We then signed the register with the witnesses and then posed for photos. I vaguely remember hearing the music at this point. We were then declared husband and wife and kissed to a round of applause before walking out to Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.
The next couple of hours were filled with the official photographs, greeting everyone, catching up with people we hadn't seen for ages and generally enjoying the day and having a blast (and rescuing my quite tipsy brother from the golf course!). By the time we had the photos taken the sun had come out, the clouds had started to clear and it turned into a lovely warm, sunny day - I needn't have worried all week!
The wedding breakfast started at about half 4 starting with the speeches. My brother did a lovely, touching speech saying how much my Dad would have loved to have been there which made me start crying but I gathered myself together and Mark and the Best Man did fantastic speeches which had the room filled with laughter! The food followed next - it was a 3 course buffet including a carvery and I have never seen so much food in my life, especially the choice of desserts! Everyone said how full they were afterwards and how nice it was to help themselves to whatever they wanted so it looks like we made a good choice there!
Before we knew it the evening guests had started to arrive so we spent some time greeting everyone and mingling and at 8.30 we cut the cake and had our first dance to Finally Found by the Honeyz, followed by Wifey where we thought lots of couples would get up and join us but no one seemed to want to get on the dancefloor so we ended up dancing by ourselves for a bit longer! The dancing soon started though and didn't stop all night - some of my best memories of the day are seeing people on the dancefloor who I never would have thought could move like that! The dancefloor was crammed especially when they played Wigfield's Saturday Night although that was incredibly difficult in my huge dress and heels! The evening pizza buffet came out at about 9.00 but most people were still so full from the meal earlier it barely got touched - it looked so yummy but I couldn't fit anything else in!
The disco finished at midnight and most people were still there so we spent quite a lot of time saying goodbye to everyone, then as we only live 15 minutes away from the venue Mark and I decided to walk home! We must have been quite a sight in our wedding clothes at that time of the morning and we got a few stares and comments from people going past! We made it home and Mark tried to carry me over the threshold but couldn't quite manage it with my big dress so I kind of got lifted and dropped over it instead! By the end of the night we were absolutely exhausted but we both had the best day we could ever have imagined and loved every single second of it! Everything went without a hitch and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. Two days later we headed off to Aventura Spa Palace in Mexico for 11 days and had the most fantastic (and hot!) time.
Name & Praises
Catherine @ Lily & Frank Photography
https://www.lilyandfrank.co.uk/
The Pavilion at Branston Golf & Country Club (Nr Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire)
https://www.branston-golf-club.co.uk/
Cindy Watkins @ Sugar Design (Swadlincote) for the fabulous and incredibly yummy cake
Wedding Paraphernalia for the invite envelopments which were the starting point for the design of all our fab stationery
http://www.weddingparaphernalia.co.uk
Zana Event Hire for our lovely chair covers and bows
http://www.zanaeventhire.co.uk
Ever After Bridal (Burton-on-Trent) for my fabulous dress and my sister's bridesmaid dress
http://www.everafterbridal.co.uk
..and I'm sure there's more that I'll think of later!
Well done if you read this far! I'm already jealous of all of you who still have your big day to come - enjoy all the planning and try not to stress - it'll be fantastic!
Love Ali xx
