The wedding day part 2





The 'players' mentioned  are:

J - My hubby
Rach - bridesmaid
Emma - bridesmaid
JP - Rach's BF and my long time friend
Pete - best man
Marina - best man's wife and bridesmaid (she had to stay home)

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The plan for the wedding lunch meal was that my step dad Pete took me and J to the venue first, so we could make sure everything was tickety-boo there before everyone else came in. Plus, it's traditional that we should get in first. Unfortunately not everyone got the memo, so as me and J arrived and were posing on the stairs of the venue on the red carpet they'd put out, we had members of his family mentally willing us to hurry up as it was blowing a gale. If it hadn't been for the fact J's grandad was there looking cold and miserable I'd have insisted every bugger else wait, but as it was we hurried in. I think we only managed two shots on the stairs so I hope they came out OK.

We went in and I had a quick glance over the place cards as everyone spilled in behind us to make sure they were as I left them, then headed off to the loo. God alone knows how I was in such need of a pee, as I'd had no more than 2 slurps of Bucks Fizz and a small glass of water in the registrar's office (because my mouth was like dust with nerves) and I'd been up 5 hours by this point! Nerves, I guess. Anyway, I soon discovered it's very hard to pee in a meringue dress and it was a miracle my train didn't end up being dunked in the loo at some point during the day ;)

After my pee I grabbed hold of J and took him around trying to introduce members of his family to my family, but despite all efforts there were two distinct camps all day, with the 2 families at opposite ends of the large bar room, pretty much. That was my perspective of it anyway, I might be wrong - I was so busy doing the hostess bit I wasn't in one place for very long. We had about an hour there to mingle (and for me to cool down because wearing that dress was hot work) before lunch was served. Oh, and what a lunch it was! When it first came out I was distinctly unimpressed, as there was a chicken breast wrapped in bacon on a few potatoes. Then the veg came out - oodles of it, way more than anyone could eat - delicious oiled new potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower smothered in cheese (to die for!), peas, carrots and probably more I can't even remember.

Everyone (all bar one person, I think) loved it and commented on how good the food was. Because J is a chipatarian (he has lots of food phobias which mean his diet is mainly spud-based) and had a huge plate of chips for his lunch there, covered in tomato sauce. Everyone came to take photos of it as it was so funny. J started to go a bit pink in the cheeks and around the ears, so I reassured him they were laughing with him not AT him. The photographer Justin got a shot of the Heinz sauce bottle, as it was already on the table when we arrived at the venue.

After the main meal we had chocolate gateau. I don't like anything chocolate flavoured - milkshake, cupcakes, mousse, gateau (yet I love chocolate) so I didn't eat all of mine. No names mentioned, oh I lie, Rach's table had the entire rest of the gateau to themselves! :O Hahaha.

It was actually pretty hard for me to sit down in my dress as my tits were hoisted up so high in the corset of the dress, and there wasn't much room in there to eat or drink. It was worth it though to look so nice. I think my friend JP was the first person to tell me I looked nice after the wedding, when he said something like 'You look bloody amazing!' It was good to hear - as I said in my last note, I had literally 30 seconds to put a bit of eye shadow and lippie on and that was it so I felt like a minger until I got some reassurance. And did I get some reassurance!! I really did feel like a princess on the day. The dress was really flattering and made my boobs look awesome (sorry, it did!) and so many people told me I looked absolutely beautiful. I believed it too! My hairdresser Helen did an amazing job of my hair (which stayed in place all day), my dress was beautiful, my jewellery from Sarah (link here) was lovely, Rach had done my nails and eyelash extensions, and I had a lovely bridal glow which was part blissful happiness and part sweat, hahaha!

After lunch came the speeches. My dad went first and I was really proud of him as he didn't make any notes and just spoke from the heart. I hope someone videotaped the speeches as I would love to hear them over again. J was next and he's written bullet points down to remind him. He did a really nice speech thanking the bridesmaids and flower girls, the parents, the best man and thanked me for being gorgeous and arranging the wedding on my own. Awwwww. Mind you, I had told him if he didn't thank me in the speech I'd rip his nuts off ;) ;)

Next it was my turn and I was shaking like a leaf. I was so nervous my speech started off as normal and sped up until I must've sounded like one of the Chipmunks! :)

Then came the best man's speech and I was very impressed that Pete remembered the day, date and year he and J first met. Wow! There was lots of computer-y talk that went over my (and a lot of other people's heads!), but that's OK as this was J's and Pete's moment and it made me laugh knowing those two are peas in a pod. They both work in IT, it's their thing. Pete also mentioned J's musicianship, which I was really happy about as J is an awesome musician and it's a big part of his life (and his drum kit is a big part of our spare room, hehe!)

Pete also said that J only really came to life when he met me, which was lovely. Obviously Pete knew J as a single fella, and I'm guessing there were some miserable times alongside the fun times, like when they traversed Europe together. I know J had no confidence in himself when we met, and it was my not-so-gentle prodding and belief in him that led J into his current job, which is quite frankly an awesome job. I knew he could do it with his eyes closed and pretty much insisted he apply. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Pete gave a lovely speech and it was nice of Pete to come over from Sweden and do his duty as best man. It's just a shame Marina had to stay behind :(

Then there was a bonus speech, where the mood took my uncle and he did an impromptu speech, urging everyone to toast us. Twice ;) We nearly ran out of booze (nah, just kidding!)

After the speeches everyone inevitably deviated back to the bar and the lovely Chesterfield armchairs (one of which I got pretty much wedged into in my meringue later on!) and settees. We did more mingling then decided to go and check into the hotel. We had about an hour to 90 minutes there, where I kicked off my shoes and had a lay down. It was so nice to be alone together for a while and just take a breath! I kept looking at J's ring finger and thinking how I fancied him even more with a ring on his finger! We held quite non-traditional views about wedding rings before the ceremony. We were just going to wear our rings for the ceremony then not bother any more, but we've both since changed our minds. J needs a slightly bigger ring, and I need a slightly narrower band as I can't bend my knuckle properly wearing my engagement ring and wedding ring, but we will both be wearing our rings, I'm very happy to say ;)

When we got back, Rach had put the 3 tier cake out and decorated it with the flowers I'd left, and she did an AMAZING job. Emma had put all the petals, diamanté and LED tealights out on the tables ready for the evening and they looked absolutely AMAZEBALLS. They both did far better a job than I could've done and it was so nice to have some pressure taken off me.

Since I had talked to everyone there at this point I decided to sit down and spend some time with my family. I also gave out the presents to the flower girls, bridesmaids, mine and J's mums, dads and my step dad. Everyone seemed to like their gifts, so that was good :) Then it was a case of clock watching, relaxing and drinking lots of non-alcoholic fluids while waiting for the evening guests to start arriving.

4 comments

  1. I can not wait for photos. x.

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  2. You should write a book,some of this made me giggle and i can picture the day!It sounds like it was such a fun.

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    1. Thanks hon. So many people have told me I should write a book, either of my life experiences (all booze-fueled and mad!) or something else. My childhood dream was to be an author, so maybe some day ;)

      It was SUCH a good day x x x

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