My Blog: The Big Day!!!
Yesterday was the most amazing day and was the day that David & I got married. Everything went perfectly and the whole day was fantastic. We were surrounded by friends & family and couldn't have really asked for a better day.
For me, the day started at about 7.45am when my alarm went off and the preparations began. My sister had kept me company on my last night as a single woman and stayed over so we both hit the showers and I was barely out of the shower before people starting arriving. First to arrive was my Mum (bringing breakfast with her) and she was swiftly followed by the hairdresser who immediately got down to the business of creating a mass of curls for my hairstyle. The make-up lady arrived soon after and got started on my Mum. Within 2 hours all three of us were perfectly made up and had our hair styled. By this time the photographer had arrived as had my Dad and the two page boys who were all dressed in their perfect little outfits.
So it was time for me to get dressed and ready to go. It was so exciting to finally get to wear all of my beautiful underwear and then put on my stunning dress. It took a while for my sister to get me into the dress as there were lots of tiny buttons to be done up, but finally we were ready for me to make my grand entrance. As I walked down the stairs of my house towards my family (all of whom were snapping pictures) I was nearly overcome and came very close to ruining all the hard work of the make-up lady in getting my eyes made up (and it was hard work as my eyes are so sensitive that they water every time a mascara wand comes anywhere near them!). I made it down the stairs and found two very handsome little page boys waiting for me along with the official photographer who started off the formal photography of the day.
And then before I knew it we were on our way. We had a very nice silver Mercedes to take my Dad & I to the Palace and once my dress was well and truly packed into the car we were off. We arrived nice and early so had to drive round in circles for 10 minutes before going into the venue.
The first thing I saw was my youngest page boy running round the car park with my bridesmaid and he looked so big and grown up I nearly thought it was his older brother. Once I walked into the venue the first people I saw were John & Simon our two ushers who looked so cool in their suits and thats when I realised this was really happening and that David was waiting for me to marry him!
After a last reminder to my 4 year old page boy James of what he had to do with the rings, the ushers were off to usher the remaining guests into the Winter Garden where we were holding the ceremony and to get things started. As Pachelbel's Canon began to play from the room we waited at the end of a long corridor which was our aisle up into the Winter Garden. Ben was off first and ran up the aisle, he reached the door, turned around and ran back and then up again before deciding whether to go in or not and find his Daddy. James & Sarah went next, James carrying the ring cushion like a perfect little gentleman and my sister looking beautiful and then finally my Dad & I began our walk up the aisle to the beautiful music from the string quartet. Again, I was nearly overcome as I looked up and saw David waiting for me and then saw my friends & family all smiling at me (a few of them crying too) - it was the most amazing moment.
The ceremony was beautiful, we started with a reading from my new sister-in-law Jill which nearly brought David to tears before we started the marriage itself. It almost seems like a blur and I think we both need to see the video to remind ourselves of exactly what we said, but the rings were exchanged and the vows were said to each other and then David was told he could kiss his bride for the first time! Becca did our second reading, a beautiful sonnet from Shakespeare and then we signed the register, it was strange seeing David wearing his ring as we signed and I'm not sure he is used to it yet as he is still playing with it all the time! Then we were presented to the congregation as Mr & Mrs Float and walked back down the aisle together to the strains of the Wedding March.
At the end of the aisle we were presented with champagne and were able to mingle with some of our guests before being ushered off for photographs. We went outside and it was funny to see people gradually following us out and joining in all the photographs. I think we got some fantastic photos and based on the ones I have seen so far, they are going to be great.
The drinks reception was great, I didn't seem to see many canapes, but I certainly saw (and abandonned) a lot of champagne! It seemed like we had hours before the wedding breakfast and yet suddenly David was stealing me away for our receiving line. I wasn't sure whether I wanted the receiving line before the day but it was really nice and made sure that I spoke to everybody on the day. It was a good thing that the wedding breakfast came round when it did though as I was starving by then!
The food was all absolultely delicious, the tables in the great hall looked fantastic and people seemed to be having a great time, I certainly was although as the meal wore on David and the other speech makers were beginning to get nervous - I was nice & relaxed as the only thing I had to worry about was the first dance and that was hours away!
The speeches were all fantastic. My Dad was up first and despite recapping my whole life history, he made me laugh by pulling out my childhood teddy bear who they had kidnapped from my house that morning and dressed in his own dinner suit and then he made me cry by talking about my best friend James who died a few years ago and was really missed on the day. David was up next and made a beautiful speech (with a few too many sporting references for my liking - I think I am going to be a 'sports widow' before long as now we are married, there will be no holding back!!!). Finally the best men were up and performed a whole presentation complete with projector and powerpoint slides! I think my attempts to stitch him up by putting some of his friends in contact with the best men went quite well!
After the speeches, the partying began and it wasn't long before the children discovered the chocolate fountain and began to cover themselves with chocolate. Although to be fair some of the adults didn't do much better and there was quite a lot of chocolate around. It was absoltely delicious although it was a shame that I only visited it twice because I was so stuffed, later on in the evening I had to almost force myself to eat some wedding cake as I had to have some! The casino was a great success as well and was absolutely packed for the duration - I had great fun on the roulette table and lived up to David's billing during his speech of being the lucky one and won loads, I then gave most of it away as I wasn't eligible to win the prize...
And then the terrifying moment arrived of having to do the first dance. I was a little relieved that no-one could really tell what I was doing as my feet were well hidden by my dress but we did good. Quite a few people thought we had, had some lessons, but we did it all ourselves and performed a simple waltz with some fancy moves thrown in to impress the audience! And then after that it was pure partying & dancing until 11pm when it was time for us to leave the party and head back to our hotel for our first night as husband & wife.
A truly amazing day that I shall never forget.
30 Oct 2005 at 10:21PM
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