 I
woke up on the morning of our wedding to bright sunlight
streaming in through the window. As I had been decorating
the marquee until after midnight I hadn't got much sleep
but I didn't feel at all tired! I was staying at my parents'
house and, as I was the first one awake, I took them up
a cup of tea.
Mum was the first one to go off to the hairdressers. I
had a bath while dad took the order of service and wedding
bubbles down to the church. I even had time to sit
down with a book for half an hour before it was my turn
to go and have my hair done. While I was out my sister
(Chief Bridesmaid) and my best friend Stewart (Bride's
Attendant) arrived. Most importantly, Stewart had brought
the blue nail varnish for my toes that I had forgotten
to get the day before - something blue!
My sister painted my toenails while I had a glass of champagne
and chatted to Stewart. Whilst we were doing this one
of the ushers, who was spending the morning with Robert,
arrived with a gift from him for me - it was the soundtrack
from My Fair Lady with instructions to listen to "I'm
Getting Married In The Morning"!
Mum was tying the tartan ribbon around the beautiful bouquets
which had been put together the day before by a family
friend. I had cream gerberas, cream roses and Singapore
orchids (mum had the orchids on her wedding day too).
Two more bridesmaids, my teenage cousins Kate and Eleanor,
arrived at about the same time as the make-up lady did.
Suddenly things began to get busy and I retreated to be
made-up in peace.
By the time I came out to go and get changed, Stewart,
my father and three of the four bridesmaids were dressed.
Mum was now dressing the littlest, my new 4-year-old niece,
Chloe. Goodness knows when she found time to get ready
herself! I got a bit of a lump in my throat when I put
the dress on - I really was a bride!
My hairdresser had come to the house to fix my veil and
tiara. Just as I was submitting to the finishing touches,
Chloe came into the room, beaming with delight at her
beautiful dress. That was the only time all day that I
actually cried. The pageboy, William age three, arrived
next with his mum and dad and we were into rushing around
for photographs, then the car arrived and suddenly the
first set of bridesmaids had left for the church. Mum,
Chloe and Stewart went in the second car. When everyone
except dad and I had gone we finished the last glass of
champagne. It was another brief moment of peace.
 I arrived at church on time but the photographs
made me just over five minutes late going in. The vicar,
my uncle who had travelled down from Staffordshire that
morning to perform the service, met us at the door. We
had worried a bit about whether Chloe and William would
be all right walking in infront of dad and I. William
was a little reticent - he wanted to go in with me! -
but Chloe persuaded him and they looked adorable!
The service went exactly as we dreamed it would. We had
managed to learn our vows and so said them to each other
rather than repeating them after the vicar - it made it
a bit more personal for us. We had two readings - Blessing
For A Marriage and a Bible reading.
A family friend sang "Amazing Grace" as a solo
and, while we signed the register, the High Wycombe Choral
Society sang Jesu Joy and Ave Verum.
We signed the register just before the end of the service,
in the tiny Lady Chapel where we also lit a candle in
memory of our grandparents.
The procession out of church is a bit of a blur but, when
we reached the door, a Scottish piper started to play
- a surprise arranged by my mum that was absolutely fantastic
and fitted so well with the Scottish theme.
After the usual confetti, wedding bubbles, a few brief
photographs (most were to be done at the reception) and
lots of smiles and hugs, we moved towards my surprise
for Robert. I had arranged for an old London bus, with
an open platform to take just the two of us to the reception.
It was one of the best things I did. It made the wedding
very distinctive and we have some absolutely excellent
photos. We drove off with Robert and I hanging from the
platform smiling and waving with everyone rushing after
the bus cheering.
Once we arrived at Chauntry House, our reception venue,
we went into the garden with the wedding party for the
photos. The guests were all inside with a drink and a
photo display made up of photos of the guests, some recent
some not-so-recent! We tried not to spend too long on
photos as we wanted lots of relaxed shots later. It wasn't
as warm and sunny as we thought it might have been but
it stayed dry and quite bright - good weather for pictures.
The marquee looked just as I had wanted - the white lining
and table linen was offset perfectly by the green McLean
tartan. The receiving line seemed to go on forever, but
I was really glad we did it - it really was the only chance
we got to speak to some people all day!
During the buffet a fantastic table magician kept everyone
amused. Lots of the guests were attaching their place
cards - luggage tags with a heart-shaped piece of McLean
tartan stuck on each one - to each other and I was pleased
I had gone to the trouble of making each one myself. Not
one was left at the end of the day.
 We had asked a friend to be
the Master of Ceremonies and that was a good move. Simon
kept everything running smoothly without being too formal.
Robert was a little nervous about his speech but I don't
know why. My father, Robert and the best man, Stephen,
all spoke brilliantly. We also handed out gifts to our
parents and attendants at this point. I got a bit emotional
during dad and Robert's speeches and was glad I had decided
not to do one too!
By the time the speeches were finished, the caricaturist
and some of the evening guests were starting to arrive.
We tried to greet everyone as they got there but we were
also keen to start the dancing quite quickly so that the
other guests weren't left hanging around. For our first
dance we had chosen "As Time Goes By". It felt
very strange to try and enjoy a romantic moment with loads
of cameras all around us!
We
cut the cake about 9.00pm so that there would be a formal
part of the day for the evening guests to share with us.
Stewart introduced it and said a few lovely words about
the importance of friendship - he said what I would've
said had I decided to speak.
Most of the evening is actually a bit of a blur. I remember
turning to Robert at one point and saying that this is
exactly what I wanted. We were surrounded by all of our
family and friends, the atmosphere was great, everyone
was enjoying themselves and it was just perfect! I also
remember sitting down in the lounge of the hotel with
some of the guests and being asked if I'd like a glass
of champagne and saying that I'd prefer a cup of tea (which
I got)!
 Robert and I had our last
dance at around 11.30pm - to Celine Dion singing "The
Colour of My Love" - then we said goodnight to everyone
and went upstairs to the bridal suite.
Fortunately, that wasn't the end of the party. We had
taken over the entire hotel and everyone had breakfast
together the following morning before Robert and I had
our "official" going-away. I made sure I saw
both sets of parents to say thank you to them again. Robert
and I walked down the staircase with everyone standing
round and I threw my bouquet, which was caught by Nicky
- a close, single, friend of mine. Then we rushed outside
where a car and driver were waiting to whisk us away.
We were covered in confetti and rice and there were lots
of hugs and smiles and a few tears and then we were off!
We had a few hours to kill before we needed to check-in
at Gatwick so we went up to London and sat in the Dorchester
drinking champagne and reading the Sunday papers. It was
a perfect way to bridge the gap between the most wonderful
day of my life and the most fantastic and romantic honeymoon
in Florence, Venice and Rome!
Do Differently: Start the ceremony earlier so the
day could last longer!
Groom's Comments: He has now conceded that The
Wedding Forum really helped with the planning - initially
he thought I was totally mad whenever I mentioned it!
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If
you would like to contact Amanda and Robert, you can e-mail
them.
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