I organised jars of sweets which would be put on the dining tables for the wedding dinner, helped put white sheets over chairs and then set out cutlery and little jars of jam and chutney on the tables.
It was all so pretty! There were fairy lights and ivy, bunting and name placements were little pebbles with names on them! Each table was named after a beach which the bride and groom had been to and where the pebbles actually came from.
Outside was a little marquee which the men of the family had spent all day putting up. Unfortunately, we had a feeling that it would be likely to rain and most people might want to stay indoors. However, most of the next day seemed to consist of a beautiful, sunshiny, rain free atmosphere. I put on my awesome rainbowey, colourful dress which I had got from Monsoon (the lady-est of high street dressy shops) and spent ages on my hair to get the curls right. We then headed up to the church, camera at the ready and waited for the bride to arrive, whilst the church bells rang.
It was the most exciting moment when we realised she had arrived! We could see a glimpse of the bridesmaids and her wedding dress, outside the church by the big wooden doors and then the music started and we all stood up. The bridesmaids looked ever so lovely! You could say they were the Pippa Middletons of the occasion and then came the bride to the lovely sound of Mumford and Sons' Timshel.
The wedding ceremony consisted of a nice collection of hymns and readings from the vicar and relatives. My favourite reading was from the bride's sister who read an extract from The Velveteen Rabbit describing marriage to be a symbol of love forever and no matter how old and scruffy you might get, you will always be loved. It was ever so sweet.
Her boyfriend and my mum then went up to play some music. He was on the guitar and my mum sang, whilst the bride and groom signed the register.
They were pronounced husband and wife! It was so lovely! We all headed out to witness the photo taking and general happy celebrations before heading up to the manor house for din dins.
We volunteered to take back the flower arrangements.
And when we arrived back at the manor, we mostly wandered about, socialised and ate snacky foods going around on trays. Pots of bubbles were provided for the kids but of course I just couldn't leave them alone. It was also there and then that my taste buds decided to accept the idea that ginger beer and olives could be quite nice.....big day :)
When the bride and groom came back from there long drive around the country roads in their snazzy wedding car, more photos were taken. Y'know. The big group ones!
Good times. After the photo hassle, we went in to the dining hall to find our seaside tables and take our seats before digging in to a lovely buffet wedding dinner, catered by Downhouse Farm (a lovely farm/campsite/cafe place I once went to with me and my girly friends for a few days)
A little quiz went round to each table for a fun little game and a prize would be won for the table with the highest score. One question referencing Back to the Future made me particularly excited and the correct answer, filled out by me and my sister, Eden resulted in a high five.
Then, bets went round for how long we expected the father of the bride's speech to be. When it came to that point, it sparked an idea of what a wedding really symbolised. Not just the official mark of love and togetherness but also the official welcoming of people into a family. The best man had made a hilarious booklet of all that could be used to embarrass the groom such as a very proud photo of the two of them holding up a wet mattress and other such shenanigans the kiddies were told not to take a look at.
The groom then made his very long and heart felt speech which provided his thanks to everyone who came and his sympathy for those who couldn't make it such as good friends and even those who had passed, such as my grandfather who all who have come to know recognised as a pretty darn epic person.
He then moved on to the subject of his lovely new wife and listed every thing he loved about her. The list consisted of factors such as her love for their pet cats, her insecurities about her height and nose and also his love for her height and nose. It all added up to the fact he was so excited to begin living the rest of his life with her. It was perfection :) Pudding was then served and the bride and groom had a photo taken of them pretending to cut the knife with........a freaking sword! Oh how I do love my family.
When dinner ended, it began to rain and wandering through the grounds or the crowded house didn't seem so fun so me and my sister headed up to bed a little bit later. Unfortunately we missed this o.o
AWESOOOOME! They came up with the WHOLE routine!
Now for the song of the day! I thought it was only fitting to put the song that my cousin walked up the aisle to :)
