 My
day started at 5.30am when my two cats decided to give
me a wake up call. I met the bridesmaids at the hairdressers
in the morning and then we went onto my parents' house
- not before sending the matron of honour off to buy some
diamonte hair clips, which the hairdressers had suddenly
decided I needed.
After a bath and sorting Kate and Caroline, my bridesmaids,
with some breakfast, it was off to the hairdressers who
specially opened for us at 7.30am! At that time of the
morning it was too dark to see exactly what the weather
was doing, but my heart sank when I saw the spots of rain
on Kate's windscreen. I had been checking the forecasts
on every channel all week.
Once in the hairdressers we were treated like royalty
and felt a million dollars when we came out. It took about
an hour and a half to do my hair - wiring in mistletoe
and red roses (to match my bouquet). When we left it was
cold but sunny - hooray!
When we finally got back to the house it was 11am. This
left us less than an hour to get dresses and sort all
the things out that needed to go with us. We broke with
tradition and Andy came with me - well, I have been married
before, we live together and the registrar wanted us there
at the same time. The best man, Darren, had arrived with
Sharon, his heavily pregnant girlfriend while we were
out but the guys just seemed to be more interested in
the new football game than getting ready. That is until
we sent Sharon up to see what they were doing. Poor Sharon
was doing so much running around it was a wonder that
she did not give birth! Sharon's car was loaded with our
going away clothes, various hire company bags and some
food for the evening. Kate (my chief bridesmaid) made
sure that I was strapped and laced into my mediaeval-style
gown which I designed myself and which was made for me
by a local dressmaker. I covered it quickly with my big
red velvet cloak so Andy would not see it.
The 1948 Bentley arrived, but there was no sign of the
friends who were going to take Kate and Caroline. In the
end we could wait no longer and Sharon stepped in - once
again! I have to admit to having a lump in the throat
driving up to Poole Court and I can remember thinking
how handsome Andy looked in his morning suit and the Wallace
and Gromit
cuff-links I bought him! I think his hand was blue
where I was holding it so tightly!
In a flash, we were at the register office and saw our
friends and Andy's relations outside. But I couldn't see
mine! I refused to go in until my parents showed as they
had come direct from home - over 100 miles away. Finally
they did arrive - they had been waiting in an adjacent
car park since 11.30 and missed the Bentley going in!
The next thing, Andy and I were ushered into the registrar's
office to check the details and pay the fee. I handed
over the CD for the music we wanted played while Andy
double-checked the former job titles of our retired dads!
By now things were happening really quickly. I saw the
friends who were supposed to give the bridesmaids a lift
from the registrar's window - where did they get to?
 Before we knew it the registrar
said that all our guests were seated and everything was
set. Andy and I nervously entered the marriage room to
Vivaldi's "Largo" from "Winter - Four Seasons".
Most apt for the time of year. The music stopped and we
sat down at the front.
We both made nervous errors - Andy forgot what the line
was and the registrar repeated it, and I could not say
Matrimony! The registrar then called for the rings to
be presented and Caroline, my little bridesmaid (Kate's
daughter) proudly stepped up and placed them on the cushion,
together with an antique eternity ring which was Andy's
grandmother's - a special wedding present. Then we exchanged
our rings and mine got stuck as my fingers had swollen
- Andy asked if anyone had any WD40! We were pronounced
man and wife and had our first married kiss - to a round
of applause from all of our guests. The familiar music
of Pachabel's
Canon in D started and we signed the register - Kate
and Darren being our witnesses.
 We had the run of
Poole Court as we were the only wedding that day. Plenty
of photos were taken inside and outside, although it was
starting to get rather bitter. I was glad for my cloak
and Andy was thankful for his heavy morning coat. With
confetti flying everywhere in the breeze, we hurried to
the Bentley and headed off to the reception, where a warm
welcome awaited us.
We had a welcoming sherry whilst waiting for guests to
reappear - most having dropped cars off and ordered taxis
- good drinkers our lot! At last I was able to take my
cloak off properly and display the dress in all it's glory.
It was the first time anyone had seen it and Andy loved
it. He said it was well worth every penny I spent on it.
Then when everyone was assembled in the hall the MC announced
us and everyone stood and clapped as we entered. We all
sat down to a Christmas dinner which was lovely and piping
hot! The sweet was lemon torte which everyone loved, but
Caroline made everyone jealous when she devoured a special
big chocolate ice-cream sundae. The speeches were short
and sweet, I did a little one too - just thanking everyone
- especially Sharon who was a star that day. Then we all
relaxed and waited about an hour for the first of our
evening guests to arrive.
 This part of the
evening became a whirlwind and I can only remember small
parts of it.
We managed to get about 20 minutes betweenthe day and
evening reception, where we weren't missed too much, so
we quickly got freshened up and managed to talk to each
other alone probably for the first time that day!
We then greeted our evening guests and the reception took
off with a real swing! We danced and talked the night
away and before we knew it it was 12.30am. I must admit
though, I was getting a little tired by then.
In all we had 60 guests to the wedding breakfast and 180
to the evening reception, and we managed to speak to all
of our guests at some stage. I don't know how we managed
it, but it was certainly enjoyable and with abolsultely
no doubt the best day of our lives so far.
We were called up for our dance which we changed at the
last minute on the grounds that we did not have the original
choice and nor did the DJ! Still, we settled on Robbie
Williams Angels and both
agreed it was a much better choice than our original.
Straight after that we cut the cake, which a friend of
my aunt's had made and which mum and dad had carefully
brought with them this day! It was an ivory two tier,
with a fruitcake base and sponge top, with handmade sugar
roses and ivy trailing round it. It had soft Australian
icing which was really nice and easy to cut - and eat!
Then everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to little
Caroline, as it was her 8th birthday in two days. The
rest of the evening was spent socialising and chatting
to all the friends that had turned up to wish us well.
Unfortunately, not everyone could come from work. We both
work for the Royal Mail - so you can imagine it was not
easy for everyone to get time off.
 Due to problems
with our first night venue we spent our first night in
our own bed. This was sorted out in the morning and we
set off on honeymoon in the New Forest.
Needless to say we had a fabulous time and the manager
of the place where we stayed was so sweet - he even was
really concerned that our Christmas lights weren't working
in our cottage - totally different to the previous night!Apart
from the one incident at the end of the day, we had a
wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed it. Many thanks
to everyone on the Forum who sent us their best wishes
and support - and for all the help and advice.
Do
Differently: Make sure we got the best hotel we could
for the first night - apart from that we would do nothing
differently. Except perhaps to have the day videoed as
a permanent reminder as the day went so fast.
Groom's Comments: The reality began to hit me the
week before the wedding, which came in fits and starts
of disbelief and almost being able to watch events unfold
around me - kind of like an out of body experience (or
denial!) Cut to the day, up at 5.30am due to our 'children'.
Anyway, the strangest part was the day itself - I felt
no panic whatsoever, it just seemed natural, so I was
a little surprised at this feeling to say the least. Despite
our little bouts of chaos throughout the day and night,
the day, in my opinion, was just great. Coralie looked
stunning, and the best bit is we can now hire out her
dress for panto (only kidding) :-) We both had a chuckle
during the day, so it was nice to know we were both relaxed,
calm and collected, ready for anything... and if you believe
that, then you'll believe anything!
Comments: Many thanks Mike and team for The
Wedding Forum and WGUK - I have made some wonderful
new friends - some only just up the road - and it looks
like they will be friends for a long, long time to come!
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If
you would like to contact Coralie and Andy, you can e-mail
them.
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