Thought it was about time I wrote my report for you lovely ladies. This might take a while as I tend to babble on a lot, so be prepared to lose a couple of hours of your life reading this (ok, maybe not that long but still, you might wanna make a cuppa or something before you start.)
I met my husband in a pub in our local town. We talked all night and I actually left at the end of the night without his number. We had mutual friends though, so I got his number the next day, dropped him a text and we met up the following week. After a couple of dates we got together ‘officially’ and, after another year together, he proposed. It was a simple proposal, nothing extravagant or outrageous, but it was perfect nonetheless.
The date for the wedding was set for 6th October. In 2011, it was the week of the heat wave. I’d hoped we might get a cheeky heat wave in 2012 too, but that wasn’t the main reason for the choice of date – obviously, as you can never rely on the weather. It was my late grandfathers’ birthday and I felt it was a way he could “be” there. He died before I was born, so I never got to meet him, but I thought it would be nice for my mum – a way of remembering him.
Planning the big day
I got planning straight away, even though I had 14 months to go. I wanted to be prepared and I didn’t want anything to go wrong. I NEEDED it to be perfect. It was a DIY wedding and I was doing everything myself. No wedding co-ordinator to ensure the day ran smoothly, no hotel supplying the drinks etc, I had to source everything myself and it was up to me to make the day perfect. I knew I had to do a good job. Planning was relatively stress-free. I had the usual guest list arguments, bickering over money, catering etc. but generally it was fine.
Or at least it was until the week before the wedding.
I finished work on the Wednesday before the wedding. On my last day, I strolled into the office to find my desk had been decorated by my colleagues. (
I couldn’t concentrate all day – I just wanted to go home and get on with the wedding shenanigans. I really didn’t do much work at all that day, and 4pm couldn’t have come soon enough.
Wednesday night, my sister and her OH arrived from Devon (most of my family live there). We stayed up chatting until about midnight before finally retiring to bed.
Thursday, I was supposed to be picking up mine and my BMs dresses from the seamstress. However, my dressmaker had called me earlier in the week and told me she needed more time to get it finished. I was fuming, but had no choice. I re-arranged to pick it up first thing Friday morning.
I went for a manicure on Thursday morning and then spent the afternoon making shortbread biscuits with my sister and her OH. These were to be the favours at the wedding. We had a little production line going on and it worked out really well. I was so pleased with how they turned out – had to hand it to my sister and her OH for being pro-active!
My parents arrived from Devon late Thursday night, popped in to say hello and then went off to their hotel for the night. Friday was bound to be a busy day, so we all needed our rest.
Friday was a veeeery stressful day. I woke up bright and early excited to be picking up my dress. On my journey there, my dressmaker called me and told me she needed MORE time to finish the dress!! I said it wasn’t possible as I was already on my way and would be seeing her soon. I got to her house, not in a particularly cheery mood, and the BM dress was hanging up. I almost cried. She’d chopped too much off the length – it was now practically a mini dress. Not only that but she’d sewn the bloody sash onto the wrong place!! I made her correct the sash while we were there, but there was nothing we could do about the length. The dress was also 2 inches shorter at the back than at the front. I wanted to cry, but instead I just thought to myself “at least it isn’t my wedding dress” – my dress, thankfully, was perfect!
I met James for lunch, which was lovely. It was the final time I would be seeing him before the wedding. We had a nice little pub lunch, said our goodbyes and parted ways.
Friday afternoon, mum and I went to Costco to get some sarnies for Saturday and then to Hobbycraft. For some reason, we decided that the thing to do the day before the wedding was sew hundreds of beads onto my veil to match the beading detail in my dress. Yes, mental I know. So, as you can guess, Friday night was spent doing that. I am sooo pleased we did though, because the veil looked absolutely stunning and everyone commented on how gorgeous it was!
At midnight, we finally went off to the land of nod. It was lovely, as I had my mum and my sisters all in the house with me.
The big day
I must have woken about 6am, but didn’t want to move as I was sharing a bed with my sister. I lay in stillness, not wanting to wake her. She got up to go to the toilet and when she returned I jumped on her screaming “I’m getting married today!!!!!” Then, my mum ran up the stairs and jumped in bed with us! My other sister was still asleep in the spare room (though not for long after our screaming). We all got up, had breakfast, and then went off the hall to decorate.
With my anal organisation, it only took 2 hours to decorate the hall. Everyone was given a task & they were so pro-active. I couldn’t have asked for more organised people!
My dad picked up the cake and brought it to the hall – I was so impressed with it! It was decorated so classically, exactly what I wanted.
At about 11am, we’d done everything we needed with the hall. I took a step back and admired it – I was overwhelmed with how gorgeous it looked and was so chuffed with myself for pulling it off. I thanked all the girls for their hard work, and then off we all went, back to mine to get ready!
I don’t really know where the next 3 hours went – one minute I was putting on make-up, the next I was in the car with my dad heading to the church. I decided to give my BM presents at home, because I felt it was more special that way. Everyone held back their tears, until I gave mum her present. I framed a poem for her, and I also wrote, on separate pieces of paper, 100 reasons why I love her – a new one for every day – and tied them up with ribbon. She broke down in tears, which made me go, and then my BM went too! We were all a right mess. My dad walked through the front door and asked what we were all crying about, which was quite funny!
We got into our dresses, took the obligatory photos, and then headed off to the church. There was a space of about 10 minutes when it was just me and dad in the house. It was so silent, and we didn’t know what to say to each other, so we put some music on and had a little dance – it was nice to kind of “forget” about it all for a moment or two.
I was late to the church. The wedding was at 2, but I think it was 2:15 by the time I actually walked down the aisle. To be honest, I’m not sure why I was late, as I’d been ready to go since 1:30 and the church was only 2 minutes away. My MIL tells me that James was perfectly relaxed until it got to 2pm and I wasn’t there. She tells me the colour drained from his face. I’m not sure I believe her though, because he was as cool as a cucumber when I got there - though the stiff drink beforehand might have been the reason why!
Walking down the aisle was amazing. I felt so happy, I really couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. I was beaming the WHOLE way down the aisle and when I got to him, James said “you look good” which made me chuckle... he always says that.
The service was absolutely fantastic, the vicar was brilliant and the choir were amazing. On the way out of church, I saw my Nonno. He smiled at me, and blew me hundreds of kisses. I was so pleased to see him. He’s 91, and I didn’t think he would come. But he was fighting fit!!
This is one of my favourite pictures. It’s my Nonno (he is my only remaining grandparent), his grandchildren and great grandchildren. I imagine this will be the only formal photo we’ll ever get, as he didn’t attend my other sister’s wedding, which is why it is so special.
James had hired a Morgan to drive on the day and, I took one look at it and thought “how the hell am I going to get in there in THIS dress?”. Somehow, we managed it, though my hoop was round my boobs and I couldn’t move at all! It really didn’t bother me though, as the venue was only 15 minutes away, and those were the only minutes I really got to spend alone with my new husband. The journey to the reception was great, the roof was down, the sun was shining, and I felt like a princess. People were tooting at us and waving and it was just magical!
All of our guests commented on how good the hall looked, which pleased me immensely!! The food was amazing, the speeches were fantastic, and cutting the cake was awesome, despite not having a proper cake knife (not that it really mattered, a knife is a knife right!)
When it was time for our first dance, I went up to the DJ to show him which song to play. I’d given him the CD because it was an unusual song and he wouldn’t have had it himself. I asked him to play the album to me, just so I could check that it was the track I thought it was. He went through all of the tracks on the CD, but the song wasn’t on there!!! I panicked and called James. He had a listen, but no, it definitely wasn’t on the album - I’d picked up the wrong blooming CD!!! So James sent his dad off, back to our house, to pick up the right CD. Half an hour later he returned with the correct CD and we finally got round to our first dance. Phew!
The rest of the night just seemed to disappear. I was dancing pretty much all night, in between greeting guests and having pictures taken and stealing kisses off my new husband. At midnight, everything was packed up, thrown away or given to guests and the day was over. Our gifts were loaded into the car, and we were taken back home where we sat opening them until 2:30am!! We were absolutely shattered by the time we’d finished, but we were both absolutely blown away by the generosity of our family and friends. We didn’t have a gift list, so we mostly received vouchers or money but we also received a few gifts which were wonderful.
I really could not have asked for a more perfect day. Apart from the slight hiccup with the first dance, everything was just magnificent. My Nonno was a star, everyone loved him, and he stayed right until 10pm! Even then he didn’t want to go home and the only reason he left was because my uncle was afraid the people at the care home would tell him off, haha!
If I could relive the day, there’s not one thing I would change – it really was the most perfect day ever. All of the stresses of the week leading up to the wedding didn’t matter anymore, because we’d made it. We got past all the s*** and panics leading up to the day and, looking back, I’m glad I had to go through them because I think they made me appreciate the day a whole lot more. And now I’m in my 3rd week of being a Mrs. It doesn’t feel different at all really, sometimes I still sign things in my maiden name, but that’s just habit. I love being Mrs G and I love being a wife. I love the look in James’ eyes when he calls me his wife, but most of all I love the fact that I get to spend the rest of my life calling him my husband.
Here's some more flashes (in a random order), because I know that's the real reason you're here 
