***Nicalf08's Wedding Report 9th June 2012***

The Proposal

We flew to Paris last November for my birthday, it was supposed to be a surprise but James’ Dad spoilt it accidentally! After checking into the Renaissance hotel we had a wonder around the Champ-Elysees area then came back and arranged a babysitter for that night. We had a lovely meal in the hotel and then went for a wonder across to the Arc de Triomphe, we wanted to go up on top of it but we got there just a minute too late as they closed it at 10pm. I could sense something was up as while we were holding hands James was nervously stroking the inside of my palm with his fingers. I didn’t guess even when he stopped and pulled me in for a kiss and started telling me how much he loves me and how Nicky and I mean the world to him. The next thing he was reaching into his jacket pocket (I still didn’t know what he was going to do) and getting down on one knee. Okay now I get it! Just as this was happening I was aware of a man walking past and doing a double take when he saw what was going on. I put my hand to my mouth in shock as James asked me if I would marry him and I managed to squeak out a yes. He got up and we hugged and had a kiss then wondered around back near the hotel to find somewhere to go for a celebratory drink. It all felt so surreal and like it hadn’t really happened, I was over the moon!

The Big Day

I stayed in the bridal suite of the hotel where we were having the reception. My day began at 5:20 with my heart racing and feeling like it was going to burst out of my chest. I laid there for an hour trying to relax and at 6:30 Nicholas came running in from his room and jumped onto the bed telling me he was hungry and wanted to go swimming! I got everyone’s presents in order and located all I needed for the morning and then went down to breakfast where we bumped into my future brother in law, James’ two nephews and then my parents. I managed a few mouthfuls of my full English but I just couldn’t stomach much.

I went back upstairs with Nicky, had a shower and then there was a knock on the door – the hair and make-up lady was here! I knocked on my mum’s door to summon her for her hair to be done. Then my Maid of Honour, niece who was also a bridesmaid and my brother who was dropping her off came up as well…it was suddenly happening! My future sister in law came up to take my son away for a couple of hours to play with her two boys so he wouldn’t be stuck in all morning. Everyone sat around chatting and drinking champagne and then the photographer arrived – more excitement! I had a chilled morning painting my nails, my dad was there for some of it too. Once the hairdresser started doing my hair and make up I realised time was going really fast and it started to feel quite hectic as I had my other bridesmaids, flower girls and pageboy arriving as well as my son coming back. Luckily the bridal suite was big with an extra dressing room where my son’s bed was so there was enough space for everyone to get ready and to be coming and going. Everyone kept saying how quiet and calm I was but for me this is a sign of internal nerves! All of a sudden it was time to get my dress on, I took it out of its bag and all the bridesmaids gasped and said how beautiful it was. I then announced I was just going to strip down to my bra and pants (my poor nieces) and the three older bridesmaids helped me step into it and zipped me up. Oh bugger the veil – I had completely forgotten about it and the hair lady had left! Two of my bridesmaids put it in for me but it had gone in a bit wonky, it didn’t look too bad at the time and I was more concerned about ruining my hair if we fiddled about too much. I got my jewellery on, gave my bridesmaids their flowers and sent them off to get in the car as it was time for them to go.

It was then just my Dad and I left in the room and I was mumbling about the something old something new thing and that I would just wear the bracelet he’d bought for me in Turkey when I was 5 as my something old. We walked downstairs to wait for the car to come back and some guests at the hotel stood and stared at me saying ‘beautiful’ I felt very shy! We stood outside waiting and it was such a lovely day, really warm and sunny. I felt so lucky as the days leading up were atrocious! The car arrived and I have no recollection of the journey to the church, no memories at all, I was in such a daze. I remember pulling up outside the church and the first thing I noticed was that Nicky was bawling his eyes out, he had fallen over. I went straight over to him to give him a hug, I knew we couldn’t go in until he had completely calmed down and I wanted him and my nephew Olly to walk down first with their ‘Here comes the bride’ flags!

We all stood in order at the entrance of the church and this is where my memory gets hazy again. The priest was faffing at the entrance… the pageboys went down first and as the doors were left open James turned to pick Nicky up who had run down the aisle and jumped into his arms saying ‘Daddy I missed you!’ and saw me waiting – moment ruined! He quickly turned back as he didn’t want to see too much. The next thing I knew the music had started and my Dad and I were walking down, Nicky had come running back to me and wanted to hold my hand so I swapped my bouquet into the hand that was linked through my Dad’s arm and fighting back the tears, walked down with two of the most important men in my life. The other one meanwhile was waiting at the bottom and didn’t turn around at all until I was stood next to him! My Dad lifted my veil, I handed my bouquet to my MoH and then took my place next to James and we all sung the first hymn. I was relieved to be feeling extremely happy and smily rather than the bad of nerves I was expecting. Then it started to go a bit wrong. I don’t know what was wrong with the priest that day but he made a series of mistakes and seemed very nervy. He started one prayer and then got confused where he was with our OOS and started again. We then had two readings and a psalm read by various members of our families. I was so proud particularly of my two nephews who are 13 and 11, they read perfectly and sounded so confident. The priest forgot to read the Gospel and went straight into his Homily, it was going ok until he started talking about modern times and how it can be hard to meet the right person…anyway somewhere amongst this he said the words ‘company Christmas orgy’. Yes that would be orgy…said in a Catholic church…by the priest. Well my Dad, James, best man and I who were all sitting down right in front of the priest could barely contain the laughter. My shoulders were shaking and I was worried I was going to snort really loudly but I managed to restrain myself. Then the priest tripped off his step and nearly fell on top of us!

While all this was going on my darling son was wondering around the altar, he spent some time sitting or standing with us but ultimately he wanted to explore. I could tell by his face that he thought this was all very strange, Mummy and Daddy dressed up, all these people, a man in a robe talking to everyone. He found something to amuse himself in the form of a tall, slightly wobbly standing candelabra. Tap tap tap went his flag. I looked at the ushers and they were looking at Nicky. They all looked frightened of what was going to happen next and if they would have to step in. Nicky was looking out at everyone as if to say ‘Is this alright, the tapping? No? Well I’m going to see how loud I can go before one of you stops me.’ Tap tap tap slightly louder this time. The priest stopped and said that someone would have to take him away and up jumped my brilliant sister in law who had told me the previous day that if he needed to go out she would happily take him. So off he went with a slightly turned down lip. The vows and blessing of the rings were next. I’d been told in the rehearsal no-one could me so I tried to speak as loudly as possible, I was surprised how confident I felt at this point as I detest public speaking but I just felt really happy and excited to be saying these words to each other in front of our familes and friends. We went to sign the register which was something else that the priest had done in the wrong order, we were supposed to have a hymn and prayer first. I looked at the organist and we gave each other a ‘oh well just go with it’ look. I felt quite tearful when I was watching the mums sign. We then went back to our seats and my auntie read our bidding prayers then the priest said his concluding prayer and we sang a hymn. He seemed like he was then just going to send us on our way without announcing us as man and wife, well there was no way I was walking out of there without that! So I leant in and whispered to him ‘kiss the bride, kiss the bride!’ he then practically pushed us together for our kiss! Off we went to the traditional church exit music and I had a quick glance at everyone smiling at us. When we got outside we saw my brother, sister-in-law and son walking back towards us, they had been playing basketball in the school playground next door! The next half an hour was spent greeting everyone and it was so nice to see so many people who I haven’t seen for so long.

Loving it so much!!' you look stunning. Cx

Our car journey back was really nice, Nicky joined us and we had the roof down and drank some champagne. I did spill some on my dress as the road was bumpy but luckily it wasn’t noticeable. Once back at the hotel everyone was already there and taking photos of us as we got out of the car, the photographers were getting really narked because just as they would take a photo people would step right in front of them and ruin it! We drank some pimms, mingled, then went for our formal shots with the people who needed to be in them plus some extras. At this point Nicky was tired, fed up and not understanding what was going on, he just wanted to go back to the hotel room. He had a complete meltdown when we were having the formal photos and I had to put on a smile while trying to tune out to the screams. My brother was holding onto him seemingly not bothered about being deafened! We then sent everyone back up to the terrace for more drinks while the three of us had some photos and Nicky calmed down when he was just with us.

There was a bit more mingling and then we went down to the suite for our meal. Everyone else was seated and we walked in last to a huge round of applause as the banqueting manager announced us as Mr and Mrs T….another shy moment for me. The meal was delicious, everyone commented on how good it was and said it was the best wedding food they’d ever had, phew! At this point I had to get out of the room, it was roasting hot even with the air con on, my dress felt restricting and when I got up I realised I had a numb patch at the tops of my thighs from where the corset was digging in and cutting off the circulation…my bony hips were feeling really bruised as well. I was told the event nannies had arrived and were waiting in another room for us so I gathered up the youngest children including my own and took them across to the nannies where there were all sorts of toys, games, crafty bits…they all happily went in, another phew! Back to the suite for the speeches, I actually felt nervous on behalf of the speakers and wondered what they would say. First my Dad, he said some lovely words about his own marriage and my mum, when he said they’d been together for 57 years everyone went ‘awwww’ and then applauded, I looked at my mum and could tell she was fighting back the tears. Then my Dad started talking about me and said ‘Laura had a tough childhood…’ uh-oh, I laughed as I thought he was going to make jokes about how much of a brat I was but actually he shocked me by coming out with the operations I had to go through when I was younger (not gruesome details I might add, just that I’d had gruelling surgery). Well that was it I started to cry, James didn’t have any tissues – idiot, I’d told him to have some on his person all day! Thankfully his Dad passed me a clean hanky. My Dad also told a couple of funny stories about me as a child and also some very lovely things about James and how he was ‘the best son-in-law they could wish for and a fantastic Dad to Nicholas’. More tears. James next, his speech was just the right mix of funny and sweet and again I cried when he talked about how much he loved Nicky and I. The best man’s speech was good as well, some very funny stories about James.

After the speeches were finished it was time to relax, drink and mingle some more. Time had really run away from us and it was already 6:30, we went to get the children at about 7 as we wanted to put Nicky to bed and come back down for the evening. Nicky fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and as we were waiting for the babysitter to come up I suddenly realised that it was 8pm and we had evening guests to greet as well as the cake cutting and first dance! Rushed downstairs, saw all the new arrivals and then we went into the room where our cake was right in the middle of the dancefloor. Everyone gathered round, we cut the cake and when it whisked off our first dance was announced, Paradise by Coldplay…no special meaning we just like it and didn’t want a mushy love song. We felt like utter t!ts shuffling around and it was awkward having everyone watch us. I asked James how long we could wait until we could ask people to join us and he didn’t know so I started gesturing for people to join us and dance. I’m so glad I did as lots of couples came up to dance, oldies and younger ones and it felt so much more natural this way. The DJ then played another slow one so we could all carry on for a few minutes. After this it was bar, dance, mingle, bar, dance dance dance. It was midnight when it came to an end and I couldn’t believe it was over already. We went up to bed and I was so relieved to feel comfortable again, I had bruises on my hips, my thighs still hadn’t regained all sensation and my feet were killing me! We chatted excitedly about the day for half an hour and then went to sleep, no funny business…I just couldn’t be bothered!

Our car journey back was really nice, Nicky joined us and we had the roof down and drank some champagne. I did spill some on my dress as the road was bumpy but luckily it wasn’t noticeable. Once back at the hotel everyone was already there and taking photos of us as we got out of the car, the photographers were getting really narked because just as they would take a photo people would step right in front of them and ruin it! We drank some pimms, mingled, then went for our formal shots with the people who needed to be in them plus some extras. At this point Nicky was tired, fed up and not understanding what was going on, he just wanted to go back to the hotel room. He had a complete meltdown when we were having the formal photos and I had to put on a smile while trying to tune out to the screams. My brother was holding onto him seemingly not bothered about being deafened! We then sent everyone back up to the terrace for more drinks while the three of us had some photos and Nicky calmed down when he was just with us.

There was a bit more mingling and then we went down to the suite for our meal. Everyone else was seated and we walked in last to a huge round of applause as the banqueting manager announced us as Mr and Mrs T….another shy moment for me. The meal was delicious, everyone commented on how good it was and said it was the best wedding food they’d ever had, phew! At this point I had to get out of the room, it was roasting hot even with the air con on, my dress felt restricting and when I got up I realised I had a numb patch at the tops of my thighs from where the corset was digging in and cutting off the circulation…my bony hips were feeling really bruised as well. I was told the event nannies had arrived and were waiting in another room for us so I gathered up the youngest children including my own and took them across to the nannies where there were all sorts of toys, games, crafty bits…they all happily went in, another phew! Back to the suite for the speeches, I actually felt nervous on behalf of the speakers and wondered what they would say. First my Dad, he said some lovely words about his own marriage and my mum, when he said they’d been together for 57 years everyone went ‘awwww’ and then applauded, I looked at my mum and could tell she was fighting back the tears. Then my Dad started talking about me and said ‘Laura had a tough childhood…’ uh-oh, I laughed as I thought he was going to make jokes about how much of a brat I was but actually he shocked me by coming out with the operations I had to go through when I was younger (not gruesome details I might add, just that I’d had gruelling surgery). Well that was it I started to cry, James didn’t have any tissues – idiot, I’d told him to have some on his person all day! Thankfully his Dad passed me a clean hanky. My Dad also told a couple of funny stories about me as a child and also some very lovely things about James and how he was ‘the best son-in-law they could wish for and a fantastic Dad to Nicholas’. More tears. James next, his speech was just the right mix of funny and sweet and again I cried when he talked about how much he loved Nicky and I. The best man’s speech was good as well, some very funny stories about James.

After the speeches were finished it was time to relax, drink and mingle some more. Time had really run away from us and it was already 6:30, we went to get the children at about 7 as we wanted to put Nicky to bed and come back down for the evening. Nicky fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and as we were waiting for the babysitter to come up I suddenly realised that it was 8pm and we had evening guests to greet as well as the cake cutting and first dance! Rushed downstairs, saw all the new arrivals and then we went into the room where our cake was right in the middle of the dancefloor. Everyone gathered round, we cut the cake and when it whisked off our first dance was announced, Paradise by Coldplay…no special meaning we just like it and didn’t want a mushy love song. We felt like utter t!ts shuffling around and it was awkward having everyone watch us. I asked James how long we could wait until we could ask people to join us and he didn’t know so I started gesturing for people to join us and dance. I’m so glad I did as lots of couples came up to dance, oldies and younger ones and it felt so much more natural this way. The DJ then played another slow one so we could all carry on for a few minutes. After this it was bar, dance, mingle, bar, dance dance dance. It was midnight when it came to an end and I couldn’t believe it was over already. We went up to bed and I was so relieved to feel comfortable again, I had bruises on my hips, my thighs still hadn’t regained all sensation and my feet were killing me! We chatted excitedly about the day for half an hour and then went to sleep, no funny business…I just couldn’t be bothered!

Sorry for some reason that bit has posted twice and now it won't let me add any more flashes.

If you want to see more pictures use this link:

http://www.simpsonphotography.co.uk/recent-weddings.php click on 'view highlights' for laura and james.

Thank yous:

Simpson Photography - a fantastic, friendly and award winning husband and wife team who do the best wedding photojournalism I have seen! They are based in Dorset but travel all over.

Belinda Ray Flowers, Wokingham - friendly, personal florist who knew exactly what I wanted from just a few photos and email exchanges.

Petit Gateau, Windsor - for my gorgeous cake that tasted delicious

Little Sweeties - event nanny and babysitting service based in Hampshire. Phillipa was so lovely, they set up a room full of fun for our youngest guests, the little ones all came out very happy and showing off their arts and crafts. She then babysat Nicky until gone midnight. So glad I hired them!

Berystede Hotel, Ascot - excellent customer service and delicious food, everyone commented on brilliant both of these were

DJ - 1Entertainments

Always and Forever Bridal, Hounslow - a huge shop with a large range of designers, staff and tailors brilliant and worked very quickly on my alterations.

Hair and Make Up - Christine McDonagh, Bracknell - mobile hair and make up lady

The Weather

That's it! Brides to be...please please please don't stress and take in every second of your day because it really does fly by! Also, all the work you are putting in to your day will go noticed, I had so many people commenting on every aspect of the day, even men!

Congratulations! You looked beautiful. Another huge fan of the 'Here Comes the Bride' flag here!

Congratulations what a lovely report and your wedding looks lovely too what. Also love the here comes the bride flag your wee boy looks so cute. xx

Congratulations what a stunning day. We looked at the same hotel as a potential venue for us but just a little too far! x

Sounds like a fabulous day!

I have never seen so many beautiful people in one place! Lol.

Absolutely gorgeous, congratulations.

x

Wow, you looked absolutely beautiful and what a lovely man you have married. Your son is gorgeous I loved the little flags what a great way to get him involved.

That bit made me laugh out loud!!! Your day sounds amazing, and you looked beautiful. Congratulations!x

So beautiful

Fab! Congratulations to you all xx

What a lovely story. I have a nearly 3 year old son, I was on my own with him for the first 2 years and since I met OH nearly a year ago he's been the most amazing father to my little boy who now calls him Daddy. How old is your little boy? He looks adorable

Fab report you looked beautiful and what a lovely family you have. Congratulations to you all

Congratulations! It looks and sounds like you had a wonderful day (apart from the bruises ?)

Thanks for the nice comments :-)

Pink Han-bag Nicky is 3.5 now.

Aw, what a beautiful story! I love reading 'how we met' and proposal stories, and yours are both so sweet.

Lovely photos too, and your dress looks gorgeous!

Congratulations!

Wow, you looked stunning! Such a heartfelt report, you have got yourself a lovely happily ever after xx

I made it myself, I am the least crafty person ever but it was surprisingly do-able for someone like me! Buy a dowel/stick from a garden centre or DIY place, make the flag using strong paper or you could use fabric. I just hand painted the message onto it then glued it around the stick and finished off by glueing the ribbon on to make it look a bit more finished :-)

So beautiful x