Wednesday 18 February 2015
Tuesday 14 June 2011
The Reception and After Party
The meal was very traditional to suit the tastes of all our guests and the portions were extra large! Everyone raved about the quality of the food and service and we were more than pleased with that.
Later in the evening we had a live band, The Hootenannys, play a selection of favourites for 2 hours and then we had a DJ pump some dance tracks out until 1am and the dance floor was filled all night. This was another favourite part of the day for me.
The night ended at 3.30am in the residents' bar when Mr M and I retired to the bridal suite for some reflection.
The Speeches
The speeches to be honest are a bit of a blur to me. At the time I thought our guests weren’t laughing at the jokes and were a bit bored but in hindsight I think I wasn’t able to hear properly because he were raised a little bit and also because I was in my own world. When I look at the photos the photographer has taken, they seem hilarious so that is how I am going to remember them!
(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)
The Little Details
In the end we didn’t have a harpist, nor a string quartet, nor surprise opera singing waiters, nor caricaturists. I gathered up things I had at home – a birdcage, a gold crown, teacups and we put flowers in them, plain and simple. And it looked just like a wanted.
(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)
The Ceremony
We asked a neighbour, a very talented pianist, to play at our wedding. Choosing the music was a real labour of love and in the end we chose Canon in D Major by Pachelbel to be played during my entrance and Mendelssohn's Wedding March on our exit. During the service we sang As The Deer Pants For the Water and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling and the piano was beautiful for both these hymns. While we were off signing the wedding licence and church's register the congregation enjoyed Le Onde by Ludovico Einaudi, Loves Lifts Us Up Where We Belong and Moon River.
The ceremony was my favourite part of the day and I felt so relaxed, happy and confident. I’d love to do that part all over again.
Arriving at the church
When we were all ready to leave for the church we realised that the car for me and dad which had arrived really early had suddenly gone and there were no cars for us there. (It turns out the limo got stuck up a lane after taking a wrong turn and had to be helped into a field to turn and do a 16-point turn out of the gate to get out.) That meant that we had a few minutes to take some photos ourselves before we left the house.
On the way, we stopped off to visit my granny at her home who was too ill to come to the wedding. Her face was a picture when we went in to her bedroom, I'll never forget it. We had beautiful photos taken with her and I'll treasure these forever as she died just 6 weeks later on 9 June, Mr M's birthday. Of course we weren't to know at that stage they would be the last photographs taken of her.
All back into the cars and off we headed to the church. The driver told me I was beautiful and dooted the horn the whole way down the street in our local town so everyone was turning to look at us. I got really excited and any nervous butterflies I had in my stomach started slipping away.
When the limo with the bridal party pulled up outside the church, the wedding car with Dad and I waited down the road just a little bit. I seen some well wishers getting out of their cars and walking up through the gates to wait for us.
Before going into the church I stopped at the top of the steps and looked back at the people who had come to see me arrive. Our minister was standing in the foyer and he asked was I ready. I said I was and turned to ask the girls if they were ready. He opened the other door and the clunk made some people look round and see me. I stood there for a moment looking at everyone from behind while our minister gave the nod to the pianist to play the entrance music.
I took a deep breath and off I went up the aisle.
(photos courtesy of Angel Photography)