Stu and Cathy's Wedding in Whiteley, Hampshire

Our Real Wedding

My husband, Stu, and I first met when I was 15 and he 17. Nothing other than hanging around outside the local snooker club (far from glamourous) with mutual friends.When I turned 16 and had just left school, he turned up in a car with a friend, having just passed his test. Offering myself and 2 friends a lift. For the next 2 years, we all hung around together and visited exotic places like the Southsea fun fair lol. It was over those two years that Stu and I formed a strong friendship, bond and then slowly became boyfriend and girlfriend. We parted ways when I was 18 and he was 20, for reasons we can not recall. However, fast forward 30 years, and he sends a friend request to me on Facebook. It took me 5 days to accept it, so I guess I kept him waiting a little,After talking on chat and reminiscing of more carefree years, we met up for a dog walk on the beach. Well....he was one end of the beach, and I was another, and the walk seemed to go on forever. I was also carrying a doggy bag as there were no bins close by, so it was not exactly romantic lol.However, the moment we saw each other, it was the strangest thing. It was like we had never been apart. From that moment on, we were inseparable.Stu and his son moved in the following Xmas, and he proposed on the same beach, in exactly the same spot on January 22nd, 2023. It was the most perfect moment and sunset. We did not waste much time and booked our wedding at a local Golf and Country club for a year later on the 12th Jan 2024. Unfortunately, my mum passed on Boxing day 2023, so rather than being in Wedding mode, I was planning her funeral, which was the 9th Jan.Apart from puffy eyes, which wouldn't calm down, our day went without fault. My dress was something I had not envisaged prior, it was lace and a blush underlay. However, I wanted the Bishop sleeve style which was not really in fashion at the time. It was perfect, the moment I put it on I knew. I had lost a lot of weight, so only a small alteration to the shoulder was required and she fitted like a glove. We hired the Groomsmen suits, mainly to keep the cost down, however, this proved to be the best decision, to fit all shapes and sizes of the 6 of them, ranging from 6ft 4 to 5ft 6 lol. The flowers were something else, I really wanted Cala lilies for my mum and they had trouble sourcing them near the time and ended up importing them from Amsterdam. The oranges and reds are my favourite colours, the Frescias for scent and sentimental as both our mums had them in their bouquets when they got married. The Thistle for luck. It really worked and the colours lifted a cold January day. The bridesmaids wore Emerald green, a classic beautiful colour in my opinion, and we had faux fur shawls for warmth. The hair and make up ladies worked their magic and despite the fact my skin flared up through stress and my eyes were puffy, the photographs came out amazing. We also hired a business linked to the florists to decorated the venue and they created the most beautiful balloon arch, the whole venue and barn looked stunning. I had one brother give me away and other do the speech. My Father passed years ago, so the quieter older brother just walked me down the aisle, while the extrovert one, drove me to the venue in his pride and joy Chevvy and did the speech.We had fun, the cake looked amazing, draped in the flowers mentioned above, the energy from everyone there buzzed through the barn where the ceremony took place and continued throughout the entire event. Oh did I mention we also lost our Celebrant 10 days prior to the wedding. So I had my friends husband step in, he works in theater, so he was made for the job! He did so so well, no one knew and delivered everything perfectly. In fact this made it all so much more personal. The planning for the wedding was easy. It was the 2 weeks running up to it that were hard for reasons mentioned above. Mums corsage was placed on the memory table and I had a pendant made for my bouquet for her to say 'walk with me today'. Hers and my dads pendants had their photos on them and were tied along with their wedding rings to my bouquet. This really gave me comfort. Oh and both my brothers left their buttonholes at the hotel reception lol. The worst part was I became ill in the evening, I think due to all of the stress running up, my medical condition decided to rear its head, so the best man ushered us out the back and back to the hotel. I wished we just announced we were leaving early and played our exit song. If I could redo anything it would be that. However we really had the best day ever and we really felt surrounded by love from everyone. We made sure all our suppliers knew what had happened and my days they were absolutely amazing. They really pushed the boat out. We are so grateful to each and every one of them. Oh, did I mention that Stu had been living a 5 minute walk from my house for 16 years?he had parked outside my home address doing the school run and used the mechanic 2 doors up for his car. We had never even bumped into each other living in the same village......sliding doors or what???Life truly has a strange way of putting you where you should be at the right time with the right person. What also made it great is neither of us ever married before, so it was all new for us. I also have 2 step children who welcomed me with open arms. I never had kids. We have had a tragic year, losing my mum, a dog, then Stu's mum and now my dear brother in law. I can not imagine for a second life without my husband, I like saying that, and neither would I wish to do this life without him by my side. So, that's our story.Sometimes all of the past, brings you to who you should be with.