yesterday…. and my wedding day.

as in the real yesterday I was feeling down when I started work. I honestly did not know what good I could be to anyone. Because of this I knew I needed something to cheer me up. Plus now I don’t need waist length hair I booked myself in for a haircut. It was well worth it and has left me much happier and feeling more like Mrs M and less like Miss T. It is amazing how much a simple thing like a haircut can spruce up your feelings.

So yes, I suppose now it is on to the most important day of my life so far. I’ve been wanting to blog this for over a month now and yes, we’ve already reached our 1 month moniversary (?). Date wise, that is today. Week wise it was on Saturday. Now appears to be the best time to do it. I’m going to wibble on about the finer points of the day for ages. If you cant take that much text the link to the photos of the day will be at the bottom. I’ve collated them all in to one big album.

I do not have any images of me getting ready. It was not one of those sorts of weddings. I wish I could have had my family around me to get ready for the whole morning but it was not meant to be like that for me. Firstly I stayed home the night before the wedding. I wanted to make sure I slept well and no silly little superstitions were going to stop me having my own bed and my husband to be at my side. We woke early and snuggled for a bit, realising this was the day. We had a long holiday in front of us and a great big party to look forward to. As I stepped out of the house I decided from here on in there would be no stress, there was no point stressing and being happy with what I had was what I was here for.

I drove up to the office car park and made my way to my hairdresser in town. Emilia is her name, Polish in origin and very lovely and pretty woman. A touch on the wild side but mighty entertaining. The issue was this very morning she was very very hungover. She was late. This did put me on the back foot for a moment but when she was there she was very good. Emilia did go to throw up once because of her very hefty hangover but still managed to finish my hair before I was due at my next appointment. Wishing me all the best she dashed back off to the bathroom and a large glass of water.

As I was back early I got the car back in the garage and shouted up to Scott to see if he had time to sit down with a cup of tea with me before my nails and makeup. I felt very odd with my hair up and nothing else done. Luckily Scotty does not hold with traditions either and was happy to have a cuppa. He was rattling around the house on his own waiting for his brother anyway.

I walked around to my local beauty parlour which appear to be everywhere in a city like Norwich. The ladies there had seen me last Thursday and were super excited for me and built up the mood nicely. Between having my nails and makeup done they commented that the hair was fab and enjoyed going through my photos of my cats and family on the iphone. I’ve found the phone invaluable for holding photos since. After that it was almost 1pm I walked back home where my friend Di was waiting with stuff in her car. We picked up the flowers and everything else I needed and headed on to Dragon Hall.

When we got to Dragon hall I assisted setting up the flowers so that Di could copy and make all the small vases. I headed to the “event room” which was my private room for the evening. Everyone was getting things ready and it was all coming together better than I could have hoped for. My family turned up in stages, my sister first to assist with getting me dressed and ready. She also helped me put together my bouquet which was freesias in the middle with eucalyptus surrounding and around that my 6 felted tulips. Mum came in next and joined in with us watching as I got ready. The closer it got to 3pm the more I needed some lunch! finally my sister in-law turned up with a sandwich. I downed it and was then able to get my dress on. Di left and texted me she was all done, My family were here and it was all about to happen.

The bridesmaids all looked beautiful and they all had their felted flower each. I was amazed how much they all matched each other. Considering I’d given almost no instructions to both sides of the family just to get the girls dresses. Neither sides of the family speaking to arrange anything. They all matched in such a lovely gentle way we could not have planned better. My most heartfelt thanks to the girls mums for sorting all that out for me.

The rest of the day is almost a blur now. I do remember lots of small bits but not as detailed as before. I had to wait in the shop for a couple of minutes whilst being asked the questions like, how old is Scotty? can you confirm your name, age and foot size, well alright not really the last one but they were making sure we were who we said we were. The registrars were great. Very gentle and supportive throughout the ceremony. I was told it was time and apart from trying to send in all the bridesmaids before me dad then trod on my train and because my dress was poppered in to place several of the poppers popped. I spent most of the day popping in and out of place. It added to the fun. When I saw scotty all my happiness bubbled up and I was starting to get a bit shaky. I held it together, I wanted to say fancy meeting you here but it was so inappropriate. He looked stunning and very dashing. We recited our own ring words and I stumbled a little but they could be heard by all our close friends and family and loved by all.

We signed the register, got our certificate and moved down stairs to get a glass of champagne, well of cheap bubbly because I was not going to spend that much. By this point I got a chance to speak to my family and Scotty’s family and our close friends. It was lovely to see some of them because of distance and time many of them have been in minimal contact for some time. Around 6 Andy turned up with his drums for the kids. This went down an absolute storm and ALL the kids young and old enjoyed drumming, it went on most of the evening. The food was served around 6 too. This was also extremely tasty but I’m not sure if it was nerves or the tight corset or just because, I found it hard to eat anything even though I did try. More friends turned up, although not the numbers I expected. There were a lot of people who ducked out at the last minute, it did not worry me because those I wanted and needed close for the wedding were already there.

My best friend from college age Eve promised to make the cake. It was impressive, beautiful and just so very me and Scotty. Eve has known me for a lot of years and the description of 3 layers with descending blue shades to match the invites and cascading simple flower shapes in shades of blue from a few on the top to lots at the bottom as if they had been sprinkled. Also the cake was divine, I don’t normally like fruit cake but the fruit two layers and the top lemon sponge for the kids were all perfect.

Now all this sounds so sickly sweet and idyllic, in many ways it was but it was also because my close family knew that mum was fading fast. Everyone was relaxed and enjoying everyone elses company and taking a chance to interact and share. Although looking stunning and behaving almost as if nothing was wrong mum needed a wheel chair for the first time. When my family all decided to leave around 9 ish I tried talking to mum other than the pleasantries and group conversations earlier. It was not to be, Mum said one last thing to me. “Don’t worry, please go and enjoy yourself and I’ll be here when you get back” and with that she was whisked away to take some rest as the meds were kicking in.

From this point on, just about all the family evacuated in one big swoop leaving “us kids” which quite funnily was the adults too without kids or parents or grandparents to look after, to partay the night away. The disco was in full swing although not many were dancing. Thanks go to Edd who performed so very well for us and was the perfect disco host accepting all requests. We had our first dance which was Al Green lets stay together. Very romantic. Not long after I was starting to fade and the realisation that I was probably not digesting what little food I had eaten (and had a fair few glasses of wine with lemonade), seen everyone I love all in one place just for me and Scotty.

I retreated to the main hall and sat at a table holding court in Dragon Hall, dressed in my finest like a lady of high class I had friends all around taking in turns to chat about everything and I tried to explain why I was becoming drained. Then it dawned on me. I just made one of the best days of my mum’s life. People told me she was proud of me and that I had achieved everything and more I could have hoped for in a happy day.

Still I’ve had no chance to mention all the other people that helped make it a great day. we were escorted by friends to our home happy knowing that we got our fairytale wedding.

From My Wedding

Oh yeah… and that WAS all my own hair.