We got married two weeks ago. Will try to keep it brief!
background
We have been together three and a half years. I was dating someone else when we met but when that relationship broke up he took two years to ask me out. We hit it off and said the I love you thing just over two weeks later and moved in together just seven months after our first date! he proposed exactly two years from our first date. It was a private romantic proposal at home with rose petals and candles scattered around the house and he got down on bended knee with a beautiful ring he'd designed and had made especially.
Planning
We booked the wedding venue just a week after getting engaged (February 2014) and I immediately became obsessed with pintrest and wedding blogs and forums! We booked Crockwell farm for a July 4th wedding and it took over half our budget what with the hire fee, accommodation for immediate family for two nights and catering but no other place would be good enough! It meant the rest of the wedding had to be done on a tight budget so I did a lot of ebay and DIY which was actually really fun.
We found out I was pregnant in November - due exactly a month after the wedding. We had to consider cancelling the wedding but it wasn't really an option as our insurance didn't cover it (read the small print guys) and we'd lose a lot of money already paid out. We discussed it with our family and everyone was of the opinion that we just go ahead and hope for the best (I had a medical condition meaning I was high risk for being premature). Being a PA most of my career I consider myself highly organised and didn't have much stress with all the planning apart from paying for everything that I wanted. Each month I'd do a selection of pre set out tasks using various spreadsheets and every penny saved and spent was recorded. We did go over budget in some places so had to make savings elsewhere but I must admit our £15k initial budget did hoik up to £17k during the planning stage when I got a bit carried away! Luckily both sets of parents were incredibly generous and didn't interfere with our decisions either!
Being pregnant meant selling the already purchased beloved dress and getting a maternity one. I also had extra pressure of budget being spent on buying baby items and making sure everything was finished a month before the big day so I wasn't getting stressed so close to my due date and risking early labour! I didn't have a hen party because I don't really like them and being pregnant meant I didn't want a fuss. I didn't get any help from anyone with planning until the week before and the day before when decorating etc. I am most proud of the handmade invites and all stationery like menus and table plan etc as I designed and created it all single handedly in my lunch breaks at work which cost next to nothing!
The build up
we had just 50 guests in total and 24 of them arrived on the Friday afternoon. A few were roped in to help decorate the venue then we all went to the local village pub up the road (Crockwell farm is in the middle of nowhere near a tiny little village called Eydon). It was nice to spend time with our immediate family before the chaos. I had an early night in the honeymoon cottage on the farm whilst my OH stayed at a cottage down the road with his boys.
I had breakfast with my family the morning of and because the ceremony wasn't until 2.30pm we had plenty of time to sit out on the lawn chatting and relaxing before I needed to start getting ready. I had my hair and make up done professionally and the photographer came for a few shots. Being 8 months pregnant I couldn't drink but did have a Buck's Fizz with my mum and sister. I was a bit nervous but mostly excited. My dad cried when he saw me and actually pretty much welled up several times on the day bless him!
I walked down the aisle in the beautiful barn to Laura Izibor "Mmmm" and it was all very emotional! We had two readings and the ceremony was lovely and personal. The registrar was amazing. We both fluffed our vows and teared up and it was nerve wracking being watched by everyone but otherwise truly wonderful!
We had an amazing 40s style jazz singer perform whilst canapés and drinks were enjoyed on the lawn before sitting down to a set menu. The food was amazing.
We were lucky to have had a friend lend us his new photo booth for free which was enjoyed by everyone. We had lawn games outside and guests were free to just mingle around and relax. We had an awkward first dance (both hate slow dancing and I was pretty huge), but the live band were excellent. I danced way more than I should for how big I was! Guests commented how nice it was to have a chilled vibe, nothing too formal. It was relaxed and laid back. We had bacon butties in the evening and guests departed by midnight. The immediate family who stayed on site had breakfast together the next morning.
Issues
My OH fell out with his best man a few months before so he decided not to attend. His girlfriend was my MOH so she didn't feel comfortable to attend without her partner and whilst we remain good friends, it was heartbreaking not to have her there.
My sister was my other BM but had given birth just a few weeks before so on the day was dealing with two infants and a serious lack of sleep so was pretty much no help to me. I don't blame her but I did feel a bit alone getting ready etc.
I ordered flowers online to be delivered by courier boxed up the day before but due to heat waves and thunderstorms and the travelling, some of them were a bit bashed up and unusable. Luckily we'd over ordered the gypsophila so that acted as a filler and I was going for the country garden fresh picked vibe anyway so I didn't mind.
my dad got my new FIL name wrong during his speech!! He's only met him once before the wedding but still! Bit embarrassing but they were polite enough not to bring it up so we all just pretended it didn't happen although now I'm not entirely sure if it was a slip of the tongue or if my dad genuinely thinks his name is Dave?!
other than those minor issues we both felt it was the perfect day! Being married is amazing and our guests said they had the best time. No one mentioned the lack of traditional aspects such as cake cutting or bouquet toss which we opted out of. We were totally spoilt and really appreciated the effort guests made to travel to the middle of nowhere to celebrate with us. We couldn't have asked for anything more and being pregnant didn't ruin a thing. Apart from waddling around and achy bones I really enjoyed myself and being sober meant I got to talk to everyone and remember everything vividly! I cant say the same for my husband who felt a bit delicate along with most other guests the next morning!
