I've been married now for just over a week, but it really seems like an age away - it all went so fast but it was such a lovely day and when we got our photos back from the photographers, it was like reliving itall over again! Sorry if this report is long - I'm just gonna see how it goes.
We met, we got engaged
We both met at University in 2012 and were pretty inseperable after that. I can't say we're the most romantic and loving couple, but I've always felt loved so that's all that matters. I moved back home after Uni in 2013 and so did my OH - 10 months apart whilst we both worked and figured out where we wanted to live. Cue me moving to live with him and his parents for a little while, until we found jobs in our Uni town - and moved back there in July 2014.
Christmas morning (cliche, but I'm not complaining) we cracked open a cracker and out tumbled the ring into my hand. The rest is history ?
Planning & the week before
I feel like 18 months of planning was perfect - luckily, we already had some money saved which was a nice amount for us to use for the wedding, so we didn't have to worry about that. Although it's very un-British to talk about money, I'm always intrigued into what people spend on their weddings. We budgeted £4750 but only spend £3900 - just in case anyone else is as intrigued (or nosy) as I am ?
Thankfully, we didn't hit any mishaps on the way through the planning process - we stuck very close to our ideas and budget (although we did go over on some things - my dress!) and also had lots of help from family elves who were keen to help out whichever way they could!
Two weeks before the wedding though, I was struck down by the worst cold I've had in a long time - lots of panicking, cold and flu tablets and vitamin C and I was finally feeling better a week before the wedding. Which was nice as that's when I started my time off work! The first couple of days were spent by the river with a cup of tea - I was keen to get some quiet moments in before the madness began! then it all kicked off on the Thursday when my family arrived and it was all a blur from then (luckily, I have photos to remind me!)
The night before
I was staying at our reception hotel the night before, so go to it decorating our room with the lovely staff. It's so strange thinking of an idea in your head and then finally seeing it all put together and working! Here's some flashes of the reception room;
My OH (husband!) was taked with creating the table settings and table names etc. He came up with such a sweet idea - he researched mythical heavens and named each round table after them. I thought it was a lovely twist and it got people talking before they even sat down!
The biggest day of my life!
The morning started out stressful ? I couldn't eat a bit of breakfast (in fact, I didn't touch much food during the day!) and then when it came to setting up my tablet with the docking station to play our Spotify playlists, they didn't have an adapter that worked! Cue my amazing bridesmaid sister, ordering me upstairs to get my hair and make up done while she got the hotel staff to drive her to my family's hotel, where my cousin had an iPhone that would work.
It was pretty uneventful getting ready and I think I just appreciated that lull to compose myself. Our flowers were dropped off and they were everything I could have asked for!
And then before I knew it, I was in my dress, my bridesmaid was walking downstairs to get in our wedding car and I had a quiet moment with my dad (and his shot of whiskey!). Here was my handing my key card in to the reception desk before getting in the car - it made me laugh remembering tiny things like that. "Excuse me, can you keep this behind the desk.. I'm getting married and have no bag!"
All the while, my H2B was waiting for me to arrive - apparently, he was wringing his hands quite a lot until I got there!
We had been gifted with a wedding car by one of my OH's relatives, so I was so surprised when I found this waiting outside to greet me - it was absolutely amazing driving through the city centre and having people cheer (yes, they actually did) when they saw a bride in the back!
So we arrived at our beautiful church (poor H2B, I kept him waiting inside for 20 minutes while me and the minister chatted outside...) and had the most amazing ceremony. The church is the original Cathedral of Chester and has some really gorgeous features inside it, plus some amazing ruins.
I walked down the aisle to "Married Life" from Disney Pixar's Up and then me and my husband walked back out of the church with "Live Forever" by Oasis - both played on the organ! After the ceremony, we had out group shots and then let everyone make their way to the hotel so we could have our private shots together in the ruins - I had heard a lot of people say they hadn't had much time with their husband on the day, so I made a big deal out of this.
After lots more driving around (and drinking a whole bottle of prosecco between us before even reaching the party!!) we arrived to a guard of honour and lots of happy and talkative guests. We quickly slipped into our reception/breakfast room for our cake cutting, and found that my FIL had already had a couple of the guest photos printed as a surprise!
Our cake stand has been hand made by my FIL and I absolutely love it - it's been stashed away for now until we get a house big enough to display it! Our cakes were from M&S - carrot, chocolate, fruit and Victoria sponge - and went down a storm with guests. Unfortunately, I didn't try any of it 'cause I wasn't hungry, and I regret it! I tried some of the fruit cake the day after it was divine!
My husband gave a very lovely and unexpected speech - we had discussed him just standing up to say thank you as he was nervous - and the best man speech came with it's own slide show! My dad basically stood up and cried ?
Our photographers brought along some confetti cannons for our group photos- which went down great and provided some very interested facial expressions in the photos, which I think prefer to the fake, cheeks hurting smiles!
The first dance signaled the end of the photographers stay (which is probably a good thing, because everyone got a little bit rowdy and on the dancefloor then 
) and I honestly have never danced and laughed so much in my entire life. It was so good to see us laughing in almost every photo.
Good luck to all you planning brides, and I'm sorry this report has been horrendously long - I know you all just flick through and look at the photos anyway ?
Special & Highly Recommended suppliers we used
Photographers - Mr & Mrs B Photography (www.mrandmrsbphotography.co.uk)
Chair Covers - The Awesome Party Box (www.facebook.com/TheAwesomePartyboxCompany)
Artificial Centrepiece Flowers - Rooms & Blooms (www.roomsandblooms.co.uk)
Wedding Flowers - Cocoa Flower (www.cocoaflower.co.uk)
