Hello,
Finally got the professional pictures back so thought I would do a report. Sorry if the pictures are big:
The Weekend Before (4/08/12)
I’d decided to have the hen do the week before the wedding as I had two weeks off so wouldn’t have to worry about going to work on the Monday. The hen party was in Brighton as I used to live there and had quite a few friends who still live there.
So on the Saturday we travelled to Brighton, settled into the hotel and then made our way out to meet the others for a meal and drinking in the evening. I’d decided to invite a few of my male friends as they are very important to me and I’m so glad I did.
We had a brilliant evening of pubs and laughter and ended up in a 80s club night. This is where the most eventful part of the evening begun; my best friend, who was also my bridesmaid, fell whilst she was dancing and twisted her knee very badly. She was obviously in a lot of pain so three of us decided to take her to A & E, bearing in mind it was 2am. At 7am we emerged from A & E and my best friend had gained a pair of crutches. None of us were worried about her being on crutches at the wedding as we thought it would have healed by then….
The Week Before
My best friend on crutches (who I will call crutch lady from now on) was due to arrive on Tuesday and even though she still couldn’t put any weight on her leg she was adamant she would be a part of the wedding. We still thought the knee would have healed by Saturday anyway.
The week was spent doing the last few bits and also taking advantage of my week off before the really hectic weekend. I also had a second hen do on Wednesday as my Mum and MIL didn’t come to Brighton, so had a meal with them and a few others which was very nice.
On the Thursday my other bridesmaid arrived and we all had a last lovely couple of days continuing with the last few bits that needed to be done.
The day Before
I had pretty much done everything at this point, the only thing that needed doing were taking the cats to the cattery for the weekend. It may sound odd but this was the first point that it hit me I was getting married, I also felt horrible for sending my cat children away for the weekend (sad I know). My FIL very kindly said he would take all the drink, table plan and other bits to the venue so that was once less thing to worry about.
I spent the evening with a few friends round my flat that had come down for the wedding (OH had gone to his parent for the night). We had a slight bit of panic when my friend who made our cake and were bringing it with them, broke down on the way (her and her boyfriend were staying the night) but they luckily got here ok.
The Big Day (11/08/12)
I felt weird in the morning, I didn’t feel excited or nervous, just weird. At this point we realised crutch lady was not going to be able to walk without crutches during the wedding, which was absolutely fine. I did say to her that she didn’t have to walk down the aisle or anything but she insisted that she did want to.
A friend came round to do mine and the bridesmaid’s hair (she very kindly agreed to it for free) and the make-up lady came too. I wasn’t getting married till 3:30, so it gave us plenty of time to get ready which was good. We all got dressed and everyone looked lovely, it was the first time I had seen all my bridesmaids in their dresses all together as two of them lived quite far away.
The photographer arrived to take a few pictures as well as my FIL who was taking the Bridesmaids to the venue. He also bought along the beautiful flowers that my MIL put together and then we all went to the venue. I travelled with my Mum in the car; it was at this point I felt incredibly nervous, I don’t know why but I was really embarrassed as well with everyone looking at me. I felt even more embarrassed when I got to the venue and had to wait for OH to finish with the registrar so had to wait outside; I really didn’t want anyone to see me. I then finally went in to see the registrar and as we were a bit early the photographer took a few more pictures.
It was then time for the ceremony; I really wasn’t looking forward to walking down the aisle so I walked as quickly as I could hehe. It was a lovely ceremony and our friends who were doing the readings were brilliant; even though one of them got to the front and realised he had forgot to bring the speech with him, so he had to go back to his seat and find it, this made everyone laugh and made me feel a lot more relaxed.
After the ceremony we went out for photos and mingled with the guests for a bit. Then me OH and I went down to the beach for a few pictures which was nice as I hadn’t seen him properly for the last couple of days. When we got back we went in for the meal and did the speeches; the best man was incredibly nervous and hardly ate any of his food, it was at this point I thought we should have probably done the speeches then the food so everyone could relax a bit. He did really well though and everyone loved his speech. We then cut the lovely cake that my friend had made as a wedding gift for us; it really was the best cake I have ever eaten.
By the time we had our tea and coffee the evening guests arrived and the party started. It was such a brilliant evening as quite a few people who came I hadn’t seen for ages so it was awesome to catch up.
I had the most wonderful day and I still can’t believe even now that I’m married. I hate to be cliché but it really was the best day of my life.
Also, crutch lady is still on crutches by the way over a month after it happened.
My friend helping with the dress
Me and my Bridesmaids (crutches hidden)
Me and my bridesmaids
Crutch lady decorated her crutches
Me with the wedding car
All Married
All the day guests in front of the venue
Us on the beach
Us with the lovely cake
Drinking tea 
[EDIT] - I forgot to add my favourite picture:
