Talk About Tuesday: My Wedding

20May08

This is my first time taking part in “Talk About Tuesday”… a weekly blog carnival organised by Lisa Gallagher at The Lazy Organiser.

So… being that this is my first and in the excitement of it being Hubby’s and my first wedding anniversary on Monday I though I would talk about our wedding day.

The plans for our wedding changed so many times before we decided on the final arrangements.  Neither of us have large families or large groups of friend so we opted for a very small intimate wedding with only 35 guests.  Originally we had a list of 70 guests but decided that our day would be more special if we only invited those nearest and dearest to us.  Originally we had chosen a large venue in a Hotel but because we cut the list so much we were able to book a venue that we had come across, fell in love with, only to be told that 40 guests was the maximum.  We booked this original choice.

Our venue choice was Belle Isle Castle in Enniskillen.  The castle has been there since the early 17th Century and is surrounded by trees and gardens and the beautiful Lough Erne.  We hired it for a whole weekend, starting on the Friday and leaving early Monday morning.  I thought this would be a lovely idea considering a lot of my family were flying from England and also the fact that we were now having a wedding WEEKEND rather than a wedding DAY! :)

So… our wedding weekend began on the Friday.  Guests were arriving all afternoon and everybody took to one another very well.  Everyone brought an item for the barbecue and we all tucked in and chatted.  Everyone was so relaxed and pleased about having some time to unwind before the morning.  I on the other hand was feeling pretty nervous.  Our registrar had been to visit shortly after I had arrived, to do a rehearsal.  We were all so prepared that I’m not sure why I was so nervous!

I woke up on the morning of the wedding at 6.30 after having gone to bed late and not being able to sleep with excitement.  My mum and bridesmaid Dawn got up shortly after me and the three of us headed to the hairdressers in Enniskillen town so that I could get my hair put up.  The hairdresser wasn’t very nice to be honest, but my hair looked lovely :)

When we got back from the hairdressers my dad, (an amazing cook), made me my favourite breakfast of smoked salmon (that he caught and smoked himself) and scrambled eggs, topped off with some pink champagne.  Although breakfast was delicious, I was feeling so nervous at this point that I could hardly manage to keep it down and really felt sick.  The pink champagne seemed to calm my nerves just a little.

At midday, James sister Karen came to my room to do my makeup.  I’m so pleased she offered to do it because she did a really good job of making me look pretty!  I was so nervous by this point that I was shaking and had to keep taking big deep breaths.  The wedding was due to take place at one and at 12.45 I still did not have my dress on, then my mum went to get ready!  This made my nerves a million times worse, but then I remembered that I should be just a little bit late.  It would make everyone that bit more excited when I entered!

At 1.00 mum arrived back to my room to help me get into my dress, and my dad came up to take some pictures (I might mention at this point that my dad did my wedding photography for me because he is a photographer by profession).  Eunice, the registrar, also came to speak with me and see that I was doing ok.  She told me that James was standing downstairs very calm and cool.

As I made my way down the stairs to the hall where the wedding ceremony was taking place, I could see the catering staff poking their heads out of the kitchen and the castle owner, Charles standing beside them.  They all told me I looked incredible.  My dad, bridesmaid and I all stood to the side of the door while Charles opened it, so that we could not yet be seen… then the music started playing…. then Dawn walked in…. eek.  My part of the music came up and dad and I entered.  I swear my heart must have stopped the entire time it took me to walk up the aisle (not that it took long… I raced up there!).  I wish I could do that part again.  It felt amazing having everyone look at me and seeing James looking at me proudly made me feel happier than ever before.

Our vows went well.  Neither of us slipped up but you could tell we were both nervous by our wavering voices and slight giggles.  I nearly cried but managed not to.  I loved making my vows and i have never had a moment in my life feel so incredibly important.  James looked AMAZINGLY hot I must admit as well.  He locked eyes with me the entire time.  When I gave him his ring it got stuck slightly and we giggled.  When we made our vows and were presented to our guests as husband and wife everyone clapped.

The weather outside was beautiful and we were lucky to have such wonderful surroundings to take our photographs.  In the cow picture below you can see 2 cows to the left getting amourous!

The reception was a lot of fun.  The meal was delicious and our cake even more so.  We opted for a small top tier and each additional tier was made of mini cakes.  The pink ones were carrot and orange cake and the white ones were banana cake.  I danced so much (our first dance was hilariously embarrassing but one of those things you have to do) and I didn’t want the night to end.  I’m not sure how long the night went on but we were the first to leave and it really sounded like everyone was having an awesome time.

Now, nearly a year later, I can’t imagine us not being married.  Being married to James is the most wonderful feeling and being married has made us so much closer than we were before.

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Tags: husband, marriage, Talk About Tuesday, wedding, wife