my wedding report

It is the same one I posted on 'fetti, but with a few additions Two days before (27 December)
I had been told not to book anything for the afternoon, so I hung around at mums, then around 12 2 ladies arrived to pamper us- they set up while my bridesmaids arrived- we had champagne, massages, facials, manicures & pedicures- it was bliss! The ladies left around 5, and we had some nibbles, then my bridesmaids & mum presented me with a personalised photo album with loads of hen do photos, a beautiful bracelet for me to wear on the day, and best of all, a memory box, full of things from when I was a baby, growing up, and from holidays us girls had been on. There were loads of notes & photos & they made me cry. I couldn¡¦t even look at much in there as I got too emotional. It is so hard to live so far away from people I love so much- but I made the decision, so I have to deal with it .
The girls left, and the boys came back from the pub, and I had a lovely relaxing bath, then sent husband-to-be for a hot bath, to try & sweat out the cold he'd been suffering from for a couple of days.

The day before
Husband-to-be woke up still full of a cold & feeling dreadful; so I sent him back to bed to try & sleep it off a bit. I got on with finishing off a few bits & bobs then woke him up around 1.30, He was supposed to be going to pick up his best man before we went up to the venue to set things up & have a run through, and pick up a waistcoat that was missing, but luckily another usher offered to pick up the best man, husband-to-be dad picked up the waistcoat so the pressure was off him for a bit. Husband-to-be & I gave my parents their presents, we wanted to give them together but in private, my dad was thrilled with the pocket watch and chocolate cigar and my mum liked her gifts too.

The weather forecast was looking shocking, and the florist had called to ask if she could drop off the flowers in case she got snowed in the next day, she brought them over around 3, then went up to the venue to start putting our 'trees' together. We got up to the venue around 5ish & she was just finishing off, they were looking good, she had brought some extra mistletoe for us and had put a bit of that around- she was worried we wouldn't like it but it looked great. We set about decorating a few tables & putting all our little bits around the place. The best man & usher arrived, and the bridesmaids, fresh from their spray tans-looking orange! We had a bit of a walk through what would happen in the ceremony, with my dad & I doing silly walks down the aisle, and the best man playing Benny Hill music on his phone. The cake lady also wanted to drop the cake off early due to the weather, and when she dropped it off we were so impressed- it was so much better than expected. All the hotel staff were loving it, but we didn't let the bridesmaids or boys see it as we wanted them to have a surprise.

We all went back to mums, and I gave husband-to-be his watch, which he loved, and gave the best man the rest of his presents to give him in the morning. Then we said goodbye for the last time before the big day! Husband-to-be & his men went over to his dads for curry, I gave my bridesmaids their presents, then they left, I had pizza with mum & dad & we watched father of the bride. My brother & his girlfriend came home & we all just had a nice chilled night. We opened a bottle of wine I had brought back from Australia last year (it was from a winery with the same name as us) but it had gone off, so my Dad drank the whole bottle- he doesn¡¦t like to waste stuff. Mum & I were slightly worried about him having a bad head the next day but I think he was a bit nervous about his speech!

The Morning of Wedding day
I woke up before my alarm (of course!) and couldn¡¦t believe it was actually my wedding day. I had a bit of breakfast with mum & dad, and a quick shower before we went up to the venue- luckily the forecast snow hadn¡¦t appeared, so no worries about people getting there. We were a tiny bit late so bridesmaids & make up ladies were already there. It was a lovely morning, all getting our hair & make up dome, having buck fizz, catching up & eating sandwiches. The photographer arrived & kept popping in to take pictures, he was really good & hardly made any of us pose all day, just caught us as we were doing stuff. We could see the main entrance from our room, and I kept looking out, and I saw that the Bentley had arrived, but it was parked under the entrance so I couldn¡¦t see husband-to-be or his best man get out.


Eventually it was 2pm, and time to put my dress on, mum & I went into a different room & left the bridesmaids to get theirs on. It didn¡¦t take too long to do up & I felt magical when I put it on. It fit so well. The photographer took a few pictures of me on my own, and then I went back to my bridesmaids, they all told me how lovely I looked. Then my dad arrived, he looked soo smart, and bless him the garage door had dropped on his head so he had a big cut right at the top of his nose. Luckily his glasses covered it, but it did make him feel a bit ill when it happened. It all started feeling a bit surreal when I saw my Dad all dressed up, I didn't feel nervous, just really excited.

The ceremony
We made our way down to the registrar & I had my little chat with them, they were both lovely. I was a little worried as we had to give mums address as our residential one & I knew husband-to-be wouldn't know the postcode. Luckily the registrar prompted him (he told me afterwards). Outside the ceremony room I could hear the string trio & the gentle buzz of conversation, and the butterflies set in, SIL dropped off her little boy (our page boy). Then we went through the dark passageway to get into our ceremony room. The pageboy didn't like it in there, but our flower girl looked after him & he was fine. Everything went quiet in the room, then the trio started playing Cannon in d, the wedding coordinator opened the door, I couldn¡¦t see in the room, but I could see the dim lights & loved the excitement. The flower girl & pageboy went first, he froze halfway down the aisle, then ran to his dad, I didn¡¦t see it until I watched the video, but he looked very cute. Then my bridesmaids went in, in 2 pairs. Then I could see into the room, it looked so beautiful with lots of twinkly lights, I stepped out of the door, not knowing where to look, my dad joined me & I saw one of my friends grinning at me, then I looked down the aisle & saw my lovely husband-to-be looking really good & smiling at me. I meant to walk slowly down the aisle, but we didn't, my Dad tried to slow me down, but I just forgot again!

I reached husband-to-be, he shook my dad¡¦s hand, kissed me, and the service began. We couldn't stop grinning at each other. 2 of our friends did lovely readings, when we said the 'you are my best friend' bit we both got a bit emotional, but apart from that I just felt so happy. We signed the book, then did the fake one for pictures & it was amazing, we kept squeezing each others hands, and grinning at each other. When we were pronounced man & wife everyone clapped. We walked back down the aisle & went out of the door I had gone in, and everyone tried to follow us, but they had to go out of the other doors, it was quite funny.

We went off for a few photos, then caught up with a few people at the welcome drinks, then my husband & I went for a quick drive. The weather was awful so we just went down the road & back, but it was lovely to have 10 mins on our own with a glass of champers!

We had a reception line, which of course went on a little longer than planned. One of our friends who did a reading was really ill & had to go home, which was a shame, but at least she had seen the ceremony/ We were announced, and walked in to rapturous applause, then we had the speeches before dinner, my dads was lovely, he made me (and everyone else in the room) cry! He had a slideshow with a song, but the duty manager at the hotel didn't start it properly, so we had a false start on it. Hubbys was also lovely, and the best mans was funny, but sweet, until he brought out pictures from the stag do where they made hubby dress up as a Chinese lady (Best man lives in China) and for some reason he told everyone that my husband had a third nipple- even Hubbys stepmum asked him if it was true?!?. We had dinner- the starters were cold- which I didn't take much notice of at the time, but I checked with other guests and theirs were cold too- and roasted field mushrooms aren't great cold- I will be letting the hotel know! We cut the cake- so many people liked the cake, and then had dessert, sticky toffee pudding, which was amazing! We left the room to allow them to put the dance floor down. I had forgotten to get the guestbook circulating, so I gave it to an usher. My niece was very excited about setting up the sweetie buffet- so that was her job, and another usher had got us a load of props & old frame for comedy pictures.

My husband & I went up to our suite to grab 10 minutes & see if we could remember the dance routine we had been practising, we could remember about half, and it was a bit tricky in my dress, but we hadn¡¦t told anyone we had been for lessons, so no pressure. It was lovely to have a little chat, but we went back to our guests, and did our dance to Stevie Wonder- you are the sunshine of my life, we managed about half and the ending, but people were impressed anyway, and we were laughing most of the time. The disco started & it was awesome, we had got people to request songs on their rsvps, so they were getting up & dancing, my old school friends did a wicked routine to 'lets get ready to rhumble' that they had performed in the 6th form at school. There were glowsticks, there were fake moustaches, there was soo much dancing & laughing & hugging & kissing it was amazing. The music finished around 12.30, and everyone moved to the bar, hubs & I went to bed around 1ish, and chatted & opened some of our cards & talked about what an amazing day it had been until around 4am! I swear I went to sleep smiling & woke up the same!

We went down to breakfast around 8.30, and saw all our guests looking worse for wear- I hadn't drunk anything after dinner as I wanted to remember everything, and I was so glad about that after seeing the hangovers some people had! We chatted to everyone, grabbed some more of our cards & our few presents, then said some goodbyes before heading off on our mimimoon.

The minimoon-
We went to my mums cousins' cottage at her house near Brighton, and she had arranged for Champagne, roses & chocolate to be set up when we got there. The fridge was full; there were plenty of candles and even rose petals on the bed. There were other people in the main house but we didn't see anyone. We had such a lovely relaxing time, we spent a day opening the rest of our cards, reading our guestbooks & talking about the day- it was so nice to just be on our own together & reflect on everything that had happened the day before. We had a few tears, remembering the lovely things, and a lot of laughs. It was bliss!
The next day we went to Brighton and had fish & chips & champagne on the pier. There is a Brighton near where we live in Australia and they are very different! We did a bit of shopping, then went back & had a lovely dinner & champagne & toasted in the new decade as husband and wife!
Now we're back in Australia, it was horrible to say goodbye to everyone, it was our longest and best trip back ever & it was so good to see everyone having such a great time. Now we can't wait for all the photos. I am glad to be back in the sunshine though!
Name & Praise to
My mum- the best wedding coordinator ever!
Nicola at Essington Chase, for being so helpful
Wendy L'estrange at creative cakes for such an amazing cake- in look & taste!!
Anne Bayston for our lovely flowers & trees
Stems & sashes, for the chair covers & backdrops- they did make such a difference!
Jon Tonks of Tonks &Tonks- haven¡¦t seen the photos yet, but he was there from 11am till 10.30pm & didn't stop snapping.
Rebecca Scott/The make up lounge for making us all look lovely!
My lovely husband for the best day ever!!!!


http://jontonks.smugmug.com/Weddings/Gary/10973003_SLquA for the professional pics- password is Melbourne


Well done if you finished this

PS- we did have photos taken on the beach 3 months after the wedding, and we love them here is the link https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167313&id=674116738&l=e1890f474d

and... I dont know if anyone will b interested, but I started a photobook called 'the year of the wedding' it is all my notes, thoughts and planning processes from the day he proposed, to going back to work a married lady I have loved doing it and it has really made me think hard about everything we did, it is going to be a great thing to look back at, and to hopefully show my children one day. Just thought I'd share the idea

sounds like you had a great time, and i love your pictures.