Wedding report
Thursday
My mum, sister and bridesmaid were already here, but it was my last day of work. I was really surprised and shocked to be given a little “presentation” in front of everyone at work with champagne, flowers, chocs and a beautiful hand-carved bread board made by one of the DT teachers. Was so chuffed because I don't remember any similar presentation for any other staff getting married!
After work my o/h had arranged for us to have a massage together which was a lovely way to start the whole wedding weekend, and very relaxing. Afterwards we went home and had a lovely dinner with mum and the bms, and just watched some tv.
Friday
I thought it would be a hectic day with having to take all the bits and pieces to the hotel, having a meeting there and the rehearsal in the afternoon, but it all went so well. It tipped down with rain all morning, so was a bit tricky getting stuff in and out of the car without being too wet! We managed though and luckily the hotel had the room all set up anyway, so we were able to put the place cards, centre-pieces and table plan etc out and it all looked great, which was a relief.
We had the rehearsal at 4.30 – first just me and o/h to do the vows, then at 5pm all the family turned up, including my friends from America who I hadn't seen for ages. It was a lovely meeting and greeting time (poor vicar probably wanted us to just hurry up and rehearse!). My dad and brothers were flying in at 3pm that day and had to pick up a hire car and go straight to the church, so it was touch and go as to whether they would make it, but about a minute past 5 They all arrived and I was so happy! The sun came out and the church and grounds looked beautiful.
Then we all went back to my flat for pizza and drinks while O/H went out with his parents and friends for dinner. They all left reasonably early, leaving me and my bridesmaids to watch Mama Mia and relax. I found a quiet moment to open my wedding present from my h2b, and I couldn't believe my eyes, when I opened a beautiful personalised card to find he'd booked us a cruise for a week in October!! I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to be marrying such a generous sweet guy. I went to bed about 11.30, but I hardly slept at all I was so excited, running everything though my mind.
Saturday
We got up about 7.30 and I looked out the window to see lovely sunshine. However, my heart sank, because over the past couple of weeks, any time it was sunny in the morning it rained in the afternoon and vice versa. Although I'd always said it didn't matter about the weather, I was really disappointed when the weather forecast proved my suspicion right – it would rain from about 12pm. The disappointment coupled with a lack of sleep meant I wasn' t in such a great mood to start with and one of my b/ms was being a little irritating – bless her- kept asking all the time if I was alright, which is fine once or twice, but gets wearing after a while!!
Anyway, we picked up my mum from the hotel, got some Starbucks coffees and headed off to the hairdresser. I started to relax a bit more then, especially when my make up looked really good – including the fake eyelashes I'd decided to have at the last minute. Then I asked my hairdresser to make my hair “really high”, much more than the trial, which was a bit of a risk, but turned out so well! By this time I was in a much better frame of mind, and really looking forward to the day.
Fast forward a bit here, as I'm getting a bit detailed ! We left for the church about 25 minutes before 1 (usually a 10 minute drive), but the traffic was the worst I've ever seen it! Luckily we'd left so much time so we were only 5 minutes late. It was raining by this point, but I honestly didn't care any more, I was just so happy and looking forward to the ceremony.
Walking up the aisle happened so fast, and it was all a bit of a blur! I remember OH telling me I looked amazing (as did he!) and then the ceremony seemed to be over in no time! It was really raining by then, so we decided to have pics in the church rather than outdoors, but the photographer did a fabulous job and the made the church look so regal and great, so I'm kind of glad we did have them indoors.
After the pics we drove to the hotel and while the guests had drinks the wedding party walked to the beach where there was a lovely old fashioned carousel. We all got on and had a ride while getting some really cool pics. The rain stopped for a bit as well, meaning we got some beach pictures too, which I love.
After that it was back up to the hotel to have the receiving line – which I'm glad we did as it was the only time we managed to speak to some guests! The reception was just perfect. The food was great, the atmosphere was really good and the hotel staff were outstanding.
Time then for a quick freshen up and moment to ourselves in our beautiful sea view room and then it was downstairs again for the reception. We had an Elvis singer who went down well and then a DJ for the rest of the evening. Everybody seemed to be having a great time, loads of people on the dance floor and chatting etc. It was lovely to stand back and watch and just enjoy the moment. Then of course we danced all evening!
One really lovely moment for me was having my mum and dad on the dance floor boogying away as they're usually pretty conservative and I've NEVER seen them on a dance floor, so it really made my day for them to enjoy it and get into the spirit of it so much. There's even a sneaky picture of my dad outside with a brandy and cigar! Lol.
It really was the best day of my life, there wasn't a single moment I didn't enjoy once the day had begun. We had a fab honeymoon too, despite getting marooned in Iceland for 3 extra days!
Sorry it's been so long and thanks for
reading so far! I hope you all enjoy your wedding days as much as I did mine! 
