Just a warning – this is long! Really sorry haha, I’ve
written too much and this is me trying to keep it short and skip parts! Feel free to scroll straight to the wedding day as that's where the flashes start! Just to note I haven't included many flashes I'm not in as I didn't want to post solo photos without getting everyone's permission. I've justified sharing it with strangers if I'm in it 
How it all started
OH and I met at work in September 2009. After a few months
of talking, we went on our first date in January 2010 and it was fairly obvious
from the start that it wasn’t going to be a casual thing.
The Engagement
In November 2012, we had a weekend away to London planned as
it fell in between 3 birthdays in our friendship group – one of which was OH’s.
I was under the impression the whole time this was being planned by our friend
M. It was also his anniversary with his partner and he told the group that his
mum had bought us a private pod on the London Eye to celebrate. I’m sure you
see where this is going… So yes, at the top of the London Eye on fireworks
weekend, OH proposed! Of course I said yes and we had a brilliant weekend
celebrating, as I found out that OH had planned everything in secret.
The Planning
We actually had chosen our date before we got engaged. We
knew we wanted a summer wedding, and we wanted a Saturday to make it easier for
people to make it. I have always liked the idea of having a significant date,
but we didn’t want our anniversary as it’s in January. So we went halfway which
made it July, and we found a Saturday in July 2016 which was our exact 6 and a
half year mark. So Saturday 16th July 2016 it was!
We found planning fairly smooth. We booked our venue and I had my dress 2 years in advance, nothing was too stressful. There were a few bumps with family and invites, which I think is pretty common. But overall it went well, I really enjoyed the planning process as I am really into organisation etc so it was right up my street!
The Week Before
OH and I were both only working Monday and Tuesday, so that
we had a few days to finish off any last minute jobs and try to relax. OH ended
up barely doing anything, which I’m sure he didn’t mind!! On Wednesday I had
waxing and nails done – bit of a disaster but that’s not a story for now.
Wednesday evening we had our rehearsal which made things very real – I wasn’t
planning for someone else any more, it was really me doing it! Thursday I had
my eyelash extensions done which was nice as it just meant laying down with my
eyes shut for over an hour. I spent the rest of the day buying a few last
minute gifts for people, writing thank you cards, and checking everything was
ready for the next day. On Thursday evening one of our best men who lives a
couple of hours away arrived, ready to help set up the next morning.
The day before, Friday, we were up bright and early ready to go to our reception venue and get everything set up. In hindsight I’m so glad that we were able to do this – it was so relieving to leave on Friday and know how great it all looked. There were about 10 of us coming and going throughout the day, and overall it was a really fun day. Nothing was particularly stressful apart from one issue with the sound limiter which the barn had set way lower than we had realised. Aside from that, we left that afternoon feeling confident everything was looking just how we wanted it to. To break things up, here's a few pictures of how the barn looked on the day:
After that, we had a meal planned with both sets of parents, my sister, the best man who had travelled down and two other bridesmaids and their parents who were staying with OH’s parents. We left before most other people so that we could do the rounds giving gifts to people. We had decided early on that we weren’t going to have any gifts handed out during the speeches on the day, so we did it the day before instead. I really liked doing that, it was nice to have individual time with people before the manic day ahead. I ended up getting to bed about 1am. Wasn’t too bad as I hadn’t expected to be able to sleep much anyway! It turns out I fell asleep pretty well, and slept through until around 6 which compared to what I was expecting, wasn’t bad at all.
The Wedding Day!
As I’d woken up earlier than planned (not a surprise) I had
quite a relaxed start to the day. Had a shower, quickly posted on Hitched, then
just sat around waiting for people to start arriving. I had no appetite all
morning but aside from that I was feeling relatively calm. The morning didn’t
seem rushed until I started to get into my dress. It felt like that was the
point where people were disappearing to get their own dresses on, and I started
to feel like we were going to be late. As it turns out, we were ready well
before we needed to be. We went outside for some photos before the car arrived
to take my mum and nan and then came back for my bridesmaids. I couldn’t be
bothered to manoeuvre my dress back inside again so I was probably stood
outside mostly on my own for about 20 minutes. In hindsight I’m actually glad I
had that part, as it gave me time to relax and take it all in, but at the time
all I could think was that I wanted to just get there and get started.
We arrived at the church, took some photos and all I remember was really wanting to be inside. The walk down the aisle was a little stressful – my dress was a little too long at the front and I kept stepping on it, which was freaking me out. Everyone said afterwards I looked like I was super nervous but I was just panicking about not being able to walk properly! Eventually we got to the end and from then on it was all smiles! A few wobbles but we held it together and the ceremony was over before we knew it! We went outside for confetti and a couple of photos and then it was on to the reception venue.
One of my favourites from the whole day!
I actually had a snooze in the car on the way there! I think the not sleeping much or eating at all had caught up with me and I thought it would be best to get a power nap in rather than flagging later on. When we arrived only a few people were there – most of them had gone to the hotel to get coaches – so it was really nice to talk to a group of people without worrying that we were ignoring others. Then it was off for couples photos before the rest of the guests arrived. After we got back and everyone was there, we did our formal photos while people were having canapes and drinks. We were so lucky with the weather, I actually was a little red on my shoulders by the end of the day!
On our way into the meal we had our other hiccup of the day – my veil got caught on a light in the floor right as we were introduced. We could hear people inside clapping and I couldn’t move! OH tried to unhook me but ended up pulling the veil off my head. Not quite the plan but it was one way to solve it! In we went, and sat down for food. First off we had speeches – one of the best men read on behalf of my dad who is terrified of public speaking. Then OH spoke, and then me. I genuinely think I would have been fine during my speech, but OH got a bit emotional during his which was unexpected and set me off, so I did mine while holding back tears the whole way through. Completely messed up my words, but I think I got the point across.
I still didn’t have much of an appetite so I only had a couple of bites and then went round to mingle between courses – I always wanted to do this and am so glad I did. I just wish I’d seen a few more tables. I ended up eating my dessert with my cousin rather than at the top table, as the family on his table had gone off to deal with the children, so he was on his own. I really enjoyed this part, just sitting one on one and relaxing a bit.
OH's cake surprise!
By the end of the meal our evening guests had started to arrive, so there was more greeting and mingling to do. Then it was cake time, and straight after our first dance. I loved the first dance more than I thought I would, I just wish it had lasted a little longer. After that the evening music started and I pretty much didn’t leave the dance floor. Part of me regrets not mingling more, but I was just enjoying myself and the people around me, and mostly I don’t regret it as I did have a fantastic time.
The party ended at midnight, my dad is a DJ on the side and he did our music – the night ended with the crowd chanting his name to play more but our barn had a very strict end time so we couldn’t. Hearing how much everyone was enjoying it and wanted to carry on was a really special moment for me, it’s hard to describe the feeling.
After that, coaches arrived and it was back to the hotel and our wedding day had finished! It felt so strange that it was all over, it honestly went by in a flash. I know everyone says it, but I just don’t think you can prepare for how much of a blur the day becomes. Even so, I had the best day ever and I’m sure in time I’ll forget about all the little niggles and just remember the amazing day that it was. We had a lot of help from family and friends, almost no outside suppliers (just caterers and the car) so it was so special to see a day that had been brought together by everyone around us.
I’m sad it’s over, I miss planning and I wish I could just
live the day over and over again. But at least now I’m a wife! Sorry this was
so long, I’ve written it more for me than anything if I’m honest. As I write
this we are 1 day away from being married for 4 weeks, so it’s been nice to
relive it 
I’ll be sticking around so I’m looking forward to seeing the
weddings of all the other brides on here! Thanks to all of you that have helped
me out during the planning process, it’s been really useful reading these
forums throughout it all
