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pandorasbox
Beginner August 2012

***PB's Sunflower-Filled Wedding Report 5/8/12*** (Now with new and improved flashy goodness)

pandorasbox, 22 of August of 2012 at 12:33 Posted on Planning 0 66

OK this may be a record for quicket report ever, and possibly our first Hitched August 2012 report. Clearly I have far too much time on my hands! (jet lag means I am sitting around doing not much except typing)

Well where to begin? I promised myself I wouldn’t bother writing a detailed report and just do flashes instead, but it has been really nice reliving all the little details. Feel free to skim through for pics though, it is a bit flash heavy! Dave and I had an incredible wedding day, so many things went extremely smoothly which made up for the hectic week we had prior to the actual day!

Background

Dave and I had unknowingly lived around the corner from each other for many years, but as neither of us ventured into local pubs and so on we never really ran into each other socially. We actually met at our local Post Office, but didn’t officially ‘meet meet’ until I saw him on Match and sent him a message, but we still say the Post Office is where we first laid eyes on each other and have been known to sing along to the Rihanna song ‘We found love in a hopeless place’ but change it to ‘found love in a post office.’ I used to get sick of him holding up the queue with all his eBay parcels when I was trying to flog my old uni books on Amazon, and he apparently used to perve on my bum in my work trousers, but never dared speak to me – even after I had made polite conversation with him! We tried to incorporate a few Royal Mail-esque touches throughout the day such as our postbox and postcards to commemorate our meeting place.



We have had our ups and downs and we can both be very firey. Despite this we moved in together into our first rented house in May 2010 and on Christmas Day 2012 Dave proposed, and shortly after I became immersed in the wonderful world of Hitched! After we got the wedding more or less planned, we found a house to buy, got our kitties and life was more or less sorted.

The Run-Up

The weekend before was crazy… Neither of us had managed much sleep as Noisy Next Door folk went away and hired a team of builders in, ones that actually turned up and didn't just slack off all day. So every morning from about 7 they were hammering, drilling, unloading vans etc throughout the day and so on, all day right up until the evening. We were both running on empty, getting frazzled and having little annoyances crop up everywhere.

Then Dave’s granny went into hospital after going on an anti-gay rampage and upsetting herself, along with Dave’s gay sister, and knowing full well we were having a very gay-friendly wedding day. I was worried about her, but also worrying about the fact she was going on a religious mission to ‘convert’ our gay guests. She recovered quite quickly, luckily, but Dave was trying to deal with all that on his own. His dad (his business partner) and both sisters were on holiday at this point so he had been left to run the family business alone, as well as look after his granny. He spent Sunday night driving all over Manchester to get the men to try their suits on (only 2 out of the 5 were right) and back up to MRI to check on his gran.

Turns out his gran’s illness was not just stress after the hysterical family row, but an actual vomiting/diarrhoea virus. By Monday night, Dave also had it, along with anyone who had been in contact with his gran, her house (where the business is based) so in the end it affected all of Dave’s family and most of his colleagues, all of whom were our guests. Dave spent all of Monday night up until Wednesday suffering. Luckily I did not catch it, scrupulously scrubbing my hands after I had tidied up the bathroom when he had been ill, changing the sheets every day, and generally becoming totally OCD about the housework. Tuesday mum and I went to the venue to practice the aisle walk and see how the music fitted; I kept everything crossed that I wouldn't spread the virus germs to her or any of the venue staff!

By Thursday he was fully better, but it looked as if at least 10 of our guests would not be able to come due to illness. Around this point of the week I was past caring about the guest list and table plans, save for hoping they would soon feel better. (As it turned out, all of our day guests were better and made it and only 6 of our evening guests didn’t turn up, 2 of which was down to the virus). Mum and I had been to pick up my dress and found there were pin holes, loose beading and threads, and a few suspect orangey make-up looking stains. It fitted fine, which was all I cared about, and mum and I told ourselves nobody would notice the little flaws, not to worry, nothing could be done at this stage and so on. I decided I would deal with it after the wedding as I really didn’t want to give myself extra stress at this point.

By Friday afternoon our favours still had not arrived despite numerous promises from the company (they still haven’t though the company claim they have been delivered) so I annoyed over that. So many lovely Hitchers offered to come to my rescue, I was so touched. I can never thank the lovely ladies for the 2012 group enough for their generosity and kindness. In the morning my mum had called the dress shop back, they immediately said they knew how to solve the problems and to go back right away. Back to town again in mental traffic. In the 15 minutes it took for them to steam the holes closed and spot clean the stains I managed to sort out replacement favours from Thornton’s over the phone, pack Dave off to the Trafford Centre to collect them, and pick up ribbon from the craft shop next door to the dress shop so we could decorate the chocolate boxes. Job done! The dress was hung up in my mum’s spare room to allow any other creases to drop out.

Later on that day Dave and I dropped off the cats at the cattery and crashed out ready for an early start on Saturday to get to the venue, who were allowing us to set up behind screens hidden from that day’s wedding. Everything went fine with the set up, far easier than planned. Some of the linen was a bit creased or stained and the venue swapped everything until we were happy. Dave and I had a nice lunch together on the way back home, then he had to pack for the honeymoon. We had tea together then he left to stay at his grandmother’s place as it was important to him that we kept to that tradition (I wouldn't have minded us being together the whole time, but he wanted to be surprised when I walked down the aisle), my mum came round for a bit to keep me company. Earlier that day I had hidden her gifts in her bedroom, so when she got home from mine she found them and sat up til 2am reading her ‘Beautiful Mum’ journal! Dave was in his old bedroom doing the same with his ‘Gorgeous Groom’ one, so both of them were texting me til the early hours to say thank you - nobody got much sleep at all!

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Latest activity by Deb11, 1 of August of 2013 at 22:09
  • pandorasbox
    Beginner August 2012
    pandorasbox ·
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    W-Day!

    Sunday morning came around, I woke up at 7.30am, half an hour before I knew I had to get showered. I lazed around for a bit, still feeling nothing in particular and musing on my lack of excitement/nerves. It seemed a bright day, but I knew from driving to the venue on other occasions that the 40 minute journey could make a huge difference to the weather so there was no point getting excited about sunshine at my house! Still, I decided to open the curtains and look out anyway – and at that point I saw Dave walking towards our drive with 2 massive bride and groom balloons! He and I both screamed ‘Arrgh!’ as we saw each other. He ducked and turned away, I dropped the curtain, but it was too late. I shouted out of the window, ‘What on earth are you doing?’ He replied, ‘Special delivery, see you later!’ and went back down the street towards his car. Oops! I decided to shrug it off, and take it as a sign we were definitely 'meant to be' rather than it being bad luck. After all, of all the hours of the morning we both chose that exact moment to put balloons outside the house and look out of the window, so I chose to think it meant we are very in sync!



    I got ready, making sure NOT to put a bra on for fear of strap marks, navigated my little trolley case past the building site next door which had spilled out into the street, and walked round the corner to my mum's where she was running late (of course) and freaking out madly running round the house. We had everything packed into boxes so we just needed to get them in the car, but this seemed to be a huge crisis to mum. She went off upstairs to panic a bit more, and I just sat down and found I had texts from Dave saying thanks for the gift. I thanked him for my card and gift, which was a locket with photos of my dad and granddad (both passed away) inside. I texted about a few more things about the suits, then told him I would see him later and put my phone away.

    We did fit everything in and eventually set off, a little later than planned. Mum had her sat nav set up, but decided to ignore it and me and took the wrong motorway junction for some reason, so we ended up across the other side of Manchester instead of heading south to Macclesfield! It only set us back by 10-15 minutes though, so no worries. I was completely relaxed about it, no big deal, but my mum was acting as if it was the end of the world and practically crying while driving, so I spent most of the journey trying to calm her down. We arrived about 10.45am with no further problems, all raring to get sorted, - and there was nobody at the venue's reception. This was weird, even for a Sunday, as we had been assured our co-ordinator would be on hand. I decided to just get going, one of the cleaners checked the suites were clear from the previous bridal party and said we may as well unpack.

    I went into the wedding barn to set up the flowers on the ceremony table and found one of the venue owners showing a couple around, he ignored me. Not a good start. I also saw that lots of our ivory seat cushions were stained and looked awful so made sure mum was aware we needed to grab a member of staff ASAP. My lovely make-up artist, Kerry Baker MUA, arrived early and started getting set up; we were based in my bridesman's room next door to the bridal suite, and had everything unpacked there. Kerry was just as chatty and lovely as she had been at the trial, and got to work on my mum, sorting out her face as well as trying to keep her calm.



    At this point I went into the other barn to check everything was correct for the wedding breakfast, and found my co-ordinator having a meeting with a potential bride and groom, sitting at our tables, the bloke had his arm up on our table and was jostling the stuff like favours, napkins etc out of position. The co-ordinator just sort of smiled and said 'All right, how are you feeling?' I replied a bit sharply saying something like I am very relaxed considering there are people creasing our name cards and wandering around the preparation area while we're trying to get set up. She said nothing and continued her meeting.





    Seeing the bloke slouching all over the table and my co-ordinator ignoring me was just unreal... I think I managed to keep very calm, even though at this point my blood was boiling. Luckily my friend Becki who was also my hair stylist arrived and calmed me down a bit as she is so cheerful it was impossible to remain annoyed. She had come up from Derby and left her husband in their car as the venue wouldn't let him check in before 12. I took her to our prep area and she got started with her GHDs and pins. I was still annoyed about the lack of consideration from venue staff when right on cue, another staff member whom I had never met turned up in the doorway of our prep suite with potential customers, asking if they could 'just peep in the room'! It was too late as they already were craning their heads around the door, so my lovely stylist deliberately stood between me and them, and I think Kerry did the same for my mum. I took the chance to complain about the disgusting seat covers, my mum made a few sharp comments about 'rubberneckers' and they left sharply. We were all stunned but I just decided to shrug it off; to me that creates a bad impression to their future customers who they were so desperate to impress, so IMO they shot themselves in the foot.

    Our lovely TOG Claire, from Ella Photography, arrived and went off to examine the grounds and refresh her memory, as apparently the venue had been done up since her last wedding there. She was great and sorted out the groom and the blokes with their ties and buttonholes! She, along with Kerry and Becki, were absolutely amazing and I was so glad to have them with me as my mum was just so flappy and my bridesman nowhere to be found - he had said he would arrive between 11 and 12 and it was now about 12.30!



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  • FaeBelle13
    Beginner April 2013
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    Amazing, cant wait for more!!

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  • pandorasbox
    Beginner August 2012
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    Kerry then started work on my make-up, my mum went off to flap somewhere and eventually Ian, my bridesman turned up late as always (predicted by all of us). We gave him his suit and gift and he went off with Becki to their room to get changed - and then just never came back! We had asked him to come back for some shots of us and instead it turns out his partner had brought a bottle of Bacardi with him so they were having some cheeky shots! Eventually he returned, we cracked the Cava open and Claire got some snaps of me having half a ham butty I had brought, whilst having eye make up done, then some of us all posing on the bed in our dressing gowns and with the flowers, just messing about. Mum got into her dress and nearly started crying because she had creased the skirt leaning over to fasten her shoes, so we had to calm her down all over again. Then she went off to find out what had happened about our cupcake tower, which was promised at noon and still hadn't arrived.




    At some point, my mum went into the bridal suite next door to put some of my things in and found Dave’s dad in there! The venue had shown him to that room instead of the room he had actually booked. He had booked a room for his stepson, partner and baby, and another room for his daughter and Dave’s nephew. The mind boggles as to why they think the groom’s dad would be sleeping in the bridal suite rather then one of the 2 rooms under his name, but luckily between him and my mum they sorted it and transferred all the suits, suitcases and baby stuff to the correct room.

    Someone from the venue came in to apologise for the dirty seat covers in the ceremony room and to assure me they had been taken away and replaced. She was also apologetic but grateful that we had let the other potential clients look in the room. Our co-ordinator herself had still not bothered to come and speak to me which was really irritating me considering the amount we had spent at the venue, and how lovely she had seemed just the fortnight before at our meeting. By about 1.15 it was time to get me into the dress, but my hairpins started falling out so we had to get Becki to come back to help. She wasn't answering her phone, and at this point our co-ordinator finally showed her face...so I sent her off to the rooms to track down my bridesman and stylist!

    I was too annoyed to really want to speak to her properly as I felt like she had been nowhere to be found when we arrived at the venue, and then had clearly set up meetings with new clients at the very time she knew I would be arriving to set up. I think she knew how I was feeling as she was very ‘sucky uppy’ when she came back to say she had asked Becki and Ian to return to my room.

    The TOG was snapping away and mum was still freaking out about anything and everything, we had put the dress on over my head when we practised getting it on at home, but hadn’t occurred to us that on the day my hair and tiara would be in place. My mum was nearly in tears when I said ‘I’ll just step into it’ as we hadn’t practised it that way and it might go wrong! I just ignored her and stepped into it fine, luckily Kerry had stayed to help and she got the dress up and corset back done in a jiffy with Becki, mum and Claire all lending a hand. I stood there finishing off my ham butty and pulling faces at my bridesman who was keeping me in stitches.







    (My something blue!)

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  • pandorasbox
    Beginner August 2012
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    I wish Hitched would let me upload more piccies! Very frustrating, I will add some more in as soon as I have figured it out. To continue...

    After the dress went on I realised I needed a wee, so me and mum went off to sit backwards on the toilet. We fiddled with hair and stuff a bit more, then tightened the dress again and apparently there was just no more corset left to tighten as I had lost so much weight since the original measurements! It was staying up OK though, so I sat down again to have my lippy touched up and then the registrar came in to chat with us. She explained where to stand and who would do what and who would say certain things and was generally lovely. She left, then we had a message saying the cakes had arrived and the lady had left, nobody had told us and we had the money! Mum said she would just pay her when she returned the cake stand for us, so no problems there, but it did mean nobody had time to go and check they looked OK.


    At this point it was getting on for almost 2, when the ceremony was due to begin. Kerry left after wishing me luck (mainly with my mum I think rather than the wedding!) and Claire the TOG went off to find out when we would be expected to leave the room as she wanted to set up some shots. She came back to say there was a small delay but not to worry. So we just stood around for a bit, drinking some more Cava! I couldn't believe I had actually got ready in time, but that is typical of me - rather than be 5 minutes late for something I would always be at least 20 minutes early...I just didn't expect to actually have time to spare on the wedding day!

    Our co-ordinator came in then to get us, we stepped outside the prep area and I still didn't feel like it was real - no nerves, no panic, no giddiness. It was very weird. I could hear Dave's Sigur Ros track he had chosen playing for the guests, then the co-ordinator cued up Canon in D and said 'OK? Go straight in!' I said 'Now?' and she nodded, swinging the door open. The music began and all of a sudden I was at the doorway, arm through my mum's and Ian behind us. Mum and I had not practised going through the door at the rehearsal and we suddenly realised 'We won't fit!' So we sort of jiggled a bit and fitted through then we were on the aisle. I was aware of a huge camera lens pointing at me, and just a sea of faces of Dave's guests and I didn't recognise any of them! I couldn't see Dave as there were so many people. There was a short bit of the aisle, then I had to turn to get to the main aisle. At the end of the little turn, the co-ordinator had told us previously to pause and she would sort my train out, however when I glanced back she was still standing in the doorway and I whispered to mum 'She isn't fluffing my dress'. I didn't want to pause waiting for her to come back from the doorway and have everyone wondering what I was doing, so just kept on going.


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  • kharv
    Beginner March 2012
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    Pandora I'm completely enthralled!

    Your bloody venue and coordinator!

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  • pandorasbox
    Beginner August 2012
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    By now I could see Dave, waiting for me at the end of the very short aisle. I had to try to remember to walk slowly. I can't even remember what Dave looked like as he saw me, I felt like my face would break I was smiling so much! I remember arriving next to him and I think he whispered 'you look amazing' and I think I said 'so do you', but am really not sure. My bridesman forgot to come and stand next to my mum, so he stood behind a bit in the aisle while the registrar spoke to us for a few minutes, then she seated everyone else except Dave and me. She said some more things to us but I honestly don't remember what they were!

    I just remember Dave and I kept glancing at each other and grinning and pulling little faces. At some points I didn't know where to look, as I didn't want to ignore what she was saying but also wanted to make sure Dave and I were looking at each other. I know we said our vows, repeating after her and sort of looking at her but back to each other, and we both spoke very clearly which was great as I was worried my voice would crack or something. The whole time if I stood with my legs together they started shaking like mad, so I had to keep swapping my weight from foot to foot which seemed to stop them wobbling.


    He stuck his bottom lip out in this pic (above) to indicate that he was near to tears, I was just smiling and felt so bubbly inside! Ryan the best man was asked for the rings, we had to hold them over the finger while reading our 'additional promises'. The registrar had taken my bouquet from me at this point so I could hold the card whilst holding the ring over Dave's finger and I hadn't learnt them but managed to say a lot of them while looking into his eyes, and he had also done the same for his which was fantastic. He hardly stumbled over his words at all, I think the only thing was 'thee' as he has trouble with his 'th' and ‘f’ sounds from a childhood lisp, so that made us both giggle a bit. When it came to getting the rings on, he was so hot and sweaty that his hands were quite swollen so I had a job sliding it on, I made a little comedy moment out of it and our guests were laughing. Sadly there's no pic of that bit!

    However at the 'any objections?' part in the pause, one of my friends did a very loud and prolonged clearing of his throat 'ah ah ahemmmmmm' style, which made everyone laugh and we do have a photo of that bit! It came from behind Dave and after we couldn't work out which one of his mates or family would have done that. If you had told me that would have happened at my wedding I would have been furious thinking about it, but at the time it was actually just really funny and didn't spoil anything. I think if anything little 'imperfections' actually added to the atmosphere of the day (except the major flaw with the catering which I will get onto later.


    I remember we kissed when they told us to, but couldn't tell you anything about the kiss or how it felt, it is a total blank. We had joked about how we would do the kiss, and I was very pleased he didn't grab my hair or bum or something which he had teased me about doing! At the kiss I just remember being unsure if to close my eyes or not. I didn't want it to go on for too long and look like I was really getting into it in front of all or families and friends but I also didn't want to look like I was really cold and uptight! I remember Dave was sweating so much and I was worried as he leaned in he would get his gross sweat on my lovely make-up! I found it difficult to be natural with all eyes and a massive lens upon us at such an intimate moment.

    After that we sat down to the sign the register and my legs finally stopped wobbling, it felt nice because even though we were on display we could have a little chat and just be normal and I had a chance to look around. I noticed one of my friends (the suspected ah-ahemmer) was sitting on Dave's side with our other 2 friends, which was weird, and the front row on my side had my mum, Ian, then my uncle - and 4 empty chairs! I couldn't understand why my auntie and cousins hadn't sat on the front with my uncle as it was exactly the right number of chairs (Dave later said nobody wanted to move once they were seated, so he and the usher left them to it. Weird and a bit annoying as I think it does look odd in the pictures, but never mind.)



    The registrar called for witnesses, so my uncle got up, then nobody seemed to know who the other witness was. It was OH's dad but he had forgotten. Dave was chatting to the registrar so I had to nudge him to say that his dad wasn't getting up. Eventually I said to the registrar it was Dave's dad, and he said 'I will do it then' and got up! It was a very bizarre moment, and as he was signing he said 'News to me' and Dave said 'Dad I asked you ages ago, one job I ask you to do!' Not sure what our guests thought but I was just laughing, it was so typical of Dave and his dad! Then they brought out the fake register and the assistant registrar went off to write up our certificates, the TOG and all our guests started taking pictures of us pretending to sign. I just remember chatting with the people who came up to pose and Dave, and then Dave’s grandmother grabbing me by the back of the head to kiss me and dislodging some of my lovely crystal hairpins!


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  • pandorasbox
    Beginner August 2012
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    The registrar then explained to us about leaving and how she would announce us, and asked everyone to stand. We walked down the aisle with everyone clapping and I could hear our exit song ‘Beautiful Day’ playing, and felt so happy. I like this pic below as we both look really happy to be announced as husband and wife, and also I can see my uncle in the background wiping away tears. (He was an emotional wreck by the end of the night!)


    We then spent what felt like hours being marched about different parts of the venue for snaps, we did a few outside with everyone, then some with each of our families, back for a few on our own and then just random ones throughout the day.




    In between the formals I was trying to drink my Bellini welcome drink but kept having it taken off me to pose, then we went off to ‘the secret garden’ for our private snaps. It wasn't private though as lots of the guests wandered down to the fence and were taking snaps of us having snaps taken. At one point I shouted 'We can hear you, you know!' and them all cheering.

    Just as we were finishing up the clouds crept over and it started to rain a little bit. Because it had been so wet for weeks before, the grounds were quite mushy so my little kitten heels kept sinking, Dave had to keep holding me up at the same time as trying to lift my dress. The co-ordinator dashed off the get a brolly and hovered around making sure I was covered. The rain went off again and the TOG did the shot that echoed the pose of my gran and grandad’s wedding photo, and she spent ages making sure I was happy with it. We were then taken back inside, given another drink and some canapés, and the time just flew by. We checked the wedding breakfast room and met the pianist who was setting up, and checked the cakes looked OK, then did a mock cupcake cutting with the TOG.









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  • pandorasbox
    Beginner August 2012
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    At some point Dave helped me go to the toilet, and we just spent a few minutes in our room having a quick chat, and then it was suddenly time to go in for afternoon tea. We were announced in and made our way to the sweetheart table. Speeches were announced and everyone did a brilliant job. My mum was so nervous but got through it, Dave had been worried but when he got up there he went totally off-script and loved it! He did get emotional at one point and I was naughtily chanting ‘Cry cry cry!’ but he managed to hold it together. He wanted to welcome me into his family, and brought out a personalised number plate with my new surname and initial on it, which just blew me away as I had thought the locket was my gift.


    Ryan the best man was so nervous, but did a great job, then Dave’s dad grabbed the mic and did a spontaneous speech which was brilliant, thanking me for organising a wonderful day and saying what a good man he and I both had in Dave. It was amazing as Dave doesn’t often get compliments off him so I know it meant a lot to him.



    Unfortunately our caterer had ‘forgotten’ that Dave and at least 3 of our guests had a nut allergy, and so served some of the sandwiches on nut bread. We asked the staff to check, and were told it was poppy seeds. Dave was a bit suspicious, as they definitely looked like nuts, so ending up leaving a lot of his food. The staff were great and took the nutty ones away, but we were worried they had touched the other sandwiches. The staff reassured us they definitely weren’t nuts. Hmm. We did a bit of mingling, chatting with people whilst the tea was poured. Wine was flowing and lots of people seemed very merry after that and the Prosecco we had used for the toasts. Desserts came out and Dave saw right away there was a nut-based biscuit on there, so we quickly went to warn our allergic guests. We spoke to the venue staff, who again took the nut based dessert away but as they may have touched the other scones and cakes, our guests and Dave just couldn’t risk it so ended up with not very much at all. The staff member in charge at this point was very apologetic, but she was venue staff not catering staff, so went to find out. Apparently our caterer wasn’t there, but her staff had put them on as ‘extras for the non-allergic guests’. Unbelievable. We were fuming and worried about our guests, but nothing we could do at that point and luckily everyone was OK (hungry, but not having a reaction). We are still trying to deal with the caterer about this now. Anyway the rest of the food went down well and everyone was mingling chatting and filling out the postcards we had laid out.



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  • P
    Beginner
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    Such a lovely report, can't believe how calm and composed you were with your co-ordinator, hats off to you, I'd have been bleeping! Can't wait for more.

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  • Sparkly Bride
    Beginner August 2012
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    Pandora this is lovely! Shocked at the wedding co ordinator! Look forward to more!!

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  • pandorasbox
    Beginner August 2012
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    The sun came out and the smokers had all gone outside, Dave asked if I would like to have a quick walk around the grounds so we did, chatting with our guests along the way. The TOG grabbed us again for some ‘messing about’ shots and the light was constantly changing so she wanted to get us with the countryside backdrop behind us. Some of the lads started playing football, and families were playing with our other garden games (although they were playing cricket with the croquet set and one of Dave's drunken mates actually hit one of the balls right over the venue! Thank goodness it didn't actually go through the venue or we would have lost a huge amount of security deposit!) I was so happy the games were being used despite the damp grass! It seems like everyone I spoke to was completely wasted and/or having a brilliant time. Lots more people came outside, others were still finishing their desserts and listing to the pianist, everyone seemed happy. I went back inside and mingled some more, I also called my gran, who was too ill to travel from Wales, and she was over the moon to hear from me. One of my uncle's had been calling her on the hour every hour to give her the low down on what had gone on.




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  • pandorasbox
    Beginner August 2012
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    The venue had everything set up in the bar area for the evening, and most people moved quickly from the wedding breakfast into the bar. I managed to sit down for a few minutes with my old uni friend then suddenly our evening guests were arriving! So then I was back up greeting everyone, and it felt like every moment from then on was saying hello to someone. I didn’t manage much time with individuals at all, just going from one to the next, and barely saw Dave as he was doing exactly the same thing across the other side of the room! We only had a small wedding, 70 in the day with another 25 in the evening, so I don’t know how brides and grooms go on who have hundreds of guests!

    Our co-ordinator was trying to get me to push our first dance forward (we had originally said 8pm with 8.30 buffet, but then pushed it back to 8.30 first dance followed by buffet) but I told her I felt too rushed, so she backed off. It was more or less 8.30 and they reassured me they would invite people up to dance with us halfway through, which we had requested. The TOG was backing me up too, saying not to rush people, then hugged me and said she would be leaving after the first dance and wouldn’t get chance to say bye, she really was so lovely. My mum helped me have another wee (TMI but only 3 in the whole day, an absolute record for me!) then bustled my dress up in the disabled toilets near the bridal suite and prep area.

    We came back out of the bridal area and I heard the music for ‘Stand by Me’ start up, we were announced as Mr and Mrs and everyone cheered as we walked onto the dance floor. We had attended a couple of dancing lessons but decided the day before just to stick with our sway, which we both felt more comfortable with. I just remember feeling so happy as we moved about, and the venue had a surprise bubble machine which we hadn’t known about and was fab! We were just chatting and laughing and kissing, then the DJ requested other couples join us and a lot of them did even if they were a bit slow to get up! I remember beckoning a few up but they were shaking their heads and laughing, then eventually did anyway.


    This is prob my fave pic from the whole day, I love looking at it and feeling all the warm n fuzzies I felt as me and Dave did our little sway.


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  • Zoomo13
    Beginner August 2015
    Zoomo13 ·
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    Lovely report x

    i cant believe the caterer would be so stupid as to put nuts on a plate knowing there was people there with nut allergies. WOW that is beyond stupid of them!

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  • pandorasbox
    Beginner August 2012
    pandorasbox ·
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    After that people were just up on the dance floor for most of the night, I stayed there but did manage to grab me and Dave a hot pork bap when the buffet opened at about 9pm, then went back to dancing. We managed a few dances together but then Dave’s cousin wanted to get some snaps of us with the sunset, so we were back outside posing for a while. Even though he took loads (he was acting like the second TOG for most of the day and had all his fancy equipment) we only have this one of us sharing our bap!


    The co-ordinator then told us she was leaving and introduced me to the evening staff in case we needed anything, and after that very quickly it seemed like people were leaving (a lot had work on the Monday morning, we were a long way out from our guests’ homes, so understandable). From that point on Dave was mainly in the outer barn giving out our cupcakes and saying goodbye to people, who had previously said goodbye to me on the dance floor!


    Our AMAZING rainbow lighting for the reception:





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  • pandorasbox
    Beginner August 2012
    pandorasbox ·
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    After a while I joined Dave in the outer barn and we said goodbyes together, then he went back in to spend some time with his friends before joining me again. The flow of people seemed to settle a bit so we went back to dancing, and one of Dave’s friends who was incredibly drunk started up a game of ‘not getting in the taxi’ and spent about an hour running round the dance floor evading all the other lads who were trying to get him to go home! I was laughing so much that I actually started to lose my voice.

    My stylist friend Becki had gone off for a rest after the wedding breakfast and didn’t come back for hours, she played it down but looked a bit poorly. They have been trying for a baby so I wondered if this was the cause of her tiredness, she said ‘no comment’ when I asked but smiled so I was made up for her. She managed a few of the slow dances, but spent most of her time resting. (The next morning I found out she had been bleeding and had driven herself to the local hospital in the night as her husband was drunk. She says she is fine, and it was a complication due to previous issues, but has still not mentioned a pregnancy so we are all just keeping our fingers crossed everything is all right.) Most of my other mates were up and dancing, and I kept trying to make sure I walked around the bar and seating area to chat to everyone and introduce others to new guests and so on, trying to ensure everyone felt welcome and wasn’t sat on their own.

    All too soon last orders were announced, the DJ was playing ‘Stand By Me’ again, followed by the last dance ‘New York New York’ at midnight with everyone circled around us, kicking out. Dave’s size 13s nearly landed in my friend’s face, but it was OK as her spiky-heeled shoe had flown off and hit my bum so it was fair! After that everyone had to say their goodbyes. My dad’s twin, who had been our witness, was crying his eyes out, and my cousins and aunty eventually got him in a taxi where apparently he cried all the way home. Most other people drifted off, and then Dave walked my mum round to the area where her room was, as it was set in a quieter part of the venue and a bit hilly for her to manage. My bridesman and partner, Becki and her husband and I were left chatting with the bar staff and finishing our drinks. I was exhausted but didn’t want the night to end.

    Dave and I were both shattered, but when we did go back to our room he managed to get my pins out and dress off (complete with mud and red wine stains!) in record time and then we just lay together sleepily chatting about the day, there was no energy for anything more strenuous than that!

    So there you have it, a complete report on our sunflowertastic wedding day and I can’t believe it has taken 10 pages in Word when I told myself I would just put up a few photos!

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  • I
    Beginner October 2013
    Irisbride ·
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    Am not getting much work done right now- but it's worth it to keep reading your beautiful report! You looked stunning! And I can't believe your co-ordinator- she is making me so angry just reading about her! Looking forward to the rest... xx

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  • pandorasbox
    Beginner August 2012
    pandorasbox ·
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    A few extra flashes just to finish off


    One of Dave's gifts:





    N and Ps go to:

    Claire at Ella Photography, Staffordshire, great lady, amazingly helpful on the day and photos on disc arrived just 2 weeks after the wedding.

    Kerry Baker, MUA, Preston, who runs her own mobile business, fantastic support on the day and went above and beyond make up.

    Mara at Silk Blooms, online silk florists, who sorted out everything flower-related, made sure I was 100% happy with everything, solved all my mini-dramas, and was fab.

    Helen Curtis Tiaras, ebay store, now cornishtiaras, for the wishbone tiara and matching diamante and pearl hairpins.

    Avril Flanagan at Creative Cakes, Warrington for the delicious cupcakes and amazingly thick and rich top tier.

    Pronuptia, Manchester, for helping me find my dress and then solving the issues.

    Lisa at Wickedly Innocent, online stationers, for doing and re-doing the print runs until we were happy, fab service.

    ...shan't mention venue/caterer here as we're still wrangling.

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  • pandorasbox
    Beginner August 2012
    pandorasbox ·
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    The most important flash of all: my granny and grandad's pic with ours...


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  • tortoise
    tortoise ·
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    Aww what a lovely report despite all the people trying to make you angry all day. Love the idea of copying your granny and grandads pose. Looks fab.

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  • Jalapeno
    Beginner October 2012
    Jalapeno ·
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    Read every single word of that. Excellent report. You're a calmer person than me. I'd have flipped at the couple leaning on my table let alone anything else. Wonderful comparison pictures.

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  • kharv
    Beginner March 2012
    kharv ·
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    Great report Pandora - you looked lovely!

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  • RedKitchie
    Beginner August 2013
    RedKitchie ·
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    Brilliant report, it really conveys the emotions of your day. I admire your composure, it must have really helped you enjoy your day rather than get stressed at incompetence/rudeness. Good luck with the complaints, be stern and demanding.

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  • sian-tiffany
    Beginner May 2012
    sian-tiffany ·
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    Amazing report! Everything looked perfect!

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  • FaeBelle13
    Beginner April 2013
    FaeBelle13 ·
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    Brilliant report, loved reading the whole thing. You look so happy throughout and I realy love the last picture, posing as your grandparents did. Congratulations xx

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  • rachel2012
    Expert June 2024
    rachel2012 ·
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    Wow you are one cool customer, some of the things you said had my blood boiling so well done on keeping a cool head, it looks like a really fantastic day and that you enjoyed every moment of it. Congratulations

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  • *gnashers*
    Beginner October 2013
    *gnashers* ·
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    Lovely report PB, and well done for keeping so calm!

    Sunflowers rock!

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  • unexpectedpenny
    Beginner January 2013
    unexpectedpenny ·
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    Amazing report! You were so calm! I really love the photo of your grandparents and your copy!

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  • *JLS*
    Beginner July 2012
    *JLS* ·
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    Fantastic report, well done on staying so calm!! Jx

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  • LittleMissP
    Beginner September 2012
    LittleMissP ·
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    Amazing report, loved every minute reading it and you and your husband look soo happy together x

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  • M
    Beginner August 2013
    Munstermad ·
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    Congratulations Pandora, your report is absolutely beautiful and you made a stunning bride. The picture of you and H posed as your grandparents were is so gorgeous and a really lovely special idea.

    As for your co-ordinator and caterer - ARGH! Well done to you for not losing it on the day....

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  • Kjay
    Beginner August 2013
    Kjay ·
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    Wonderful PB, from the bride & groom balloons to your beautiful photo replica-brilliant report Smiley smile

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  • Soybean
    Beginner March 2011
    Soybean ·
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    Huge congratulations you look very happy ? thank you for the lovely report!

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