Well I guess its my time for a 'how it went' story! :-)
How we met:
In September 1998 I went as part of a scratch band to do a weeks tour of Kefalonia, Greece. I took my then fiance with me and was heard complaining about the loud idiot on the back of the bus who was singing, telling rude jokes and keeping everyone awake. When we got to our hotel I found to my horror I was actually sitting next to the idiot for the whole week.
The idiot became a good, lifelong friend and although I never thought of him in that way, I learnt to realise he was an idiot with a heart :-)
How we got together
In January 2011 I had an accident meaning I needed ACL/MCL Ligament repair and was told I'd be non-weight bearing for 3 months. I was worried as I was single and living on my own. A friend offered to put me up and look after me through the operation. How kind and thoughtful! Who would have thought the idiot from Kefalonia so many years ago would have become so important in my life?
I realised that he cared for me, he would do anything for me and I saw the real man, properly for the first time. I suggested that maybe I shouldn't move out and maybe we should see if our friendship could become anything else. I never moved out :-) We officially got together just after the chimes on New Years Day 2012
The Proposal
My OH is never good with words. It was simple and a heartfelt Yorkshireman style statement! Just after the chimes on New Years Day 2015 he said 'Do you want to become Mrs S then?'
I laughed and said 'is that a proposal?' and was shocked when he said 'yes!' I said when and he suggested sometime this year - when I realised what little time that was for wedding planning (and saving as we saved as we went) I panicked but was so excited!
We didn't really have a date that fell late enough for us to save but early enough to not be impacted by snow which we didn't want...... we chose 10th October as my Dad died a number of years ago and it was the day he passed away. I thought that way, he would be with me in spirit.
*NOTE* Just realised I have chosen his birthday to get around to writing this up...... I guess he approves of the marriage! :-D
The Venue Choice
We saw lots of different venues and talking it through I was surprised I was actually traditional. I wanted a church wedding. The one near my in-laws was beautiful and the vicar was great fun, so our wedding location was decided
Originally I had wanted a posh receptiion venue, but realised I am not posh, nor are my family and friends.
For example..... we sang rude songs in the evening, someone was climbing on the bar for a photo late on and the animal balloons ended up in odd positions that children wouldn't understand!) A posh place would have frowned at us I am sure!
We went for a motel that was known for excellent customer service, great food, reasonable bar prices and great disabled access (for both sets of parents this was critical). I am SO glad we did. I know if people pulled up their noses when entering the motel they would have left pleasantly surprised.
The Day
The morning flew by! I was stopping at the motel with my bridesmaid, cousin, mum and a couple of friends who had travelled a long way to join us.
I went down to breakfast and cried on the way down.
I sat down at breakfast and cried
I ate my breakfast and then cried
I hated myself for being such an emotional wreck and then cried!
The blooming waterworks just wouldn't stop! hahaha! Nerves hit weirdly!
The make up artist came though, and I warned her about my leaky eyes - she worked around it though and did a stunning job.
My only worry was I had my BM and another friend on dress/corset duty. My friend was held up in traffic and only arrived 25 mins before I was due to be married!!! My BM's partner had helped my BM with corsets in the past and I ended up stripping in front of him and he helped me get into the corset!
Nothing like pushing your boobs into your bridesmaids boyfriends head before you marry is there?!!!
The other friend arrived and took over, and finally I was in my dress and ready to go - it was 12.50 and 12 minutes away. I'd be perfectly late!
Traffic to the church was a problem - it was SO slow! We had actually been stuck behind a steam roller train and even more weirdly it stopped outside the church! The vicar had come out to have a nosey and I had to have my photo taken with it of course (wasn't allowed to get too close due to the muck bellowing out of it though)
My tog got a few cheeky photos of his own too!
So, my wedding started at 1.20pm with the blessing of the vicar who was quite amused by the whole story. I was the only one he knew of held up by a train!
Nerves were plenty going in. I went in on my own, but this was ok. My Dads photo was around my neck in a locket so he was with me. I did become tearful a few times - during one of the hymns and at the end.
One hint for people - my cousin is not an immediate family member but she was doing the family speech for me and is important to me. I saw her at the back hidden out of the way and it REALLY upset me as she is so important to me. She wasn't bothered/worried about this at all - no issues, but it did upset me. If there is someone you want to be seated somewhere specifically, tell them beforehand and tell the ushers yourself - don't leave it to the groom!
Once married, we had our photos at the church, a few at a local park (which was busier than I thought for a Saturday in October!) and went for our meal.
Our idea of a cream tea went down well - the coffee and walnut cake was out of this world and plenty of tea and wine was available. The speeches were fabulous. My cousin had me in tears and I love her to bits (she also gifted me hew written down speech afterwards which is the best present I received at my wedding - it mentions memories of my Dad and Nana and anecdotes of our childhood - it is priceless), the grooms Dad was asked to say something because he likes to talk, and our super quiet, say nothing brother in law seem to change, come to life and become the life and soul of the wedding! I kid you not, everyone was laughing - even our tog said it was one of the best man speeches he has heard!
We went for a rest but the crowds were entertained by our caricaturist who went down a storm - really very much worth it if you get a good one. We welcomed the evening guests to a brass quintet, cut our cake, had our first dance etc. but the memory I have in my head is the kids dancing, laughing and playing. My friend can make balloon animals and had brought he kit with her. The kids were going manic! She also had balloon aliens and could make balloon apples - adults and children were so happy.
Best comment I had from a friend was that her son said on his way home with a car full of balloons 'Mum I liked that party, can we go again'
The roast cobs were great - and the chips were super scrummy! At this point I seemed to have a bottle of prosecco in my hand and a glass full but was never drinking it - I was so busy trying to see everyone and catch up with everyone.
About 10,30pm I looked around and it had gone quiet.... the families had gone, some of the day guests had gone and it looked thinned out. However, we think this is normal and I can confirm that even at 1am when we were closing down there were about 15 of us on the dance floor still going! I also took the opportunity to change out of my dress into a 'wifey' t-shirt and have a proper drink :-)
I was absolutely shattered and it took days to recover! Fortunatly I did a lot of that in Mexico!
Would I do anything different? Well, 2 things annoyed me a lot on the day.
One was parents, but sadly you cannot be responsible for other people. It is a shame their actions clouded our photos in particular (they went to rest before the formal photos were finished and its only thanks to our tog we did get some in the evening of them!), but this was out of our control.
The other was my cake. Looked fabulous but there was a problem with a tier being uncooked. Amateur baker but we had tasted samples so thought we would be ok. I am in the throws of small claims court procedings.
No one but my, my partner and those we chose to tell knew of these issues. So remember, your perspective and others can be vastly different!
What would I recommend doing?
Have a grom! Lol! That is my BM's partners nickname. He got us pastries in the morning, he would sort out hairpins for us, he would find things for us - he was our gopher for the morning. And then he sorted my Mum out for me and shovelled her into the wedding car (keeping me stress free!) and kept an eye that she was ok around the church. He oddly sat at the front of the church and took photos for us too! He was a proper all around dogsbody who got toasted later on because without him my day would have been so much worse. All cheer Grom the wedding saviour!
Phew! Thats lots! I'll try and add photos now :-)
