 I
met Alec when he answered my personal advertisement in
the local paper’s partners column. I wasn’t
expecting to meet my future husband. All I knew was that
I wasn’t meeting men in my job as a part time nanny
and although I was now training as a counsellor, I still
found eligible bachelors hard to come by!
Alec, an analyst programer, was one of several replies
to my advert and we hit it off straight away. Infact,
we discovered that we lived literally around the corner
from one another. I had been walking past my future husband's
home for well over a year on my way to the bus stop!
Alec proposed to me on bended knee, over the Minnewater
(Lake of Love) in Bruges, Belguim at Christmas 1998 (16
months after we met). We set the wedding date to coincide
with the second anniversary of our meeting.
Alec stayed with his bestman the night before the wedding
and I stayed with friends (the parents of the pageboys).
On waking, after not really sleeping, I was delighted
to see the sun shining through the window. Every forecast
had said there would be rain. I daren’t let myself
hope that the sun would last, but I was so pleased to
see it in any case.
 My pageboys, James and Matthew,
are children I’ve been looking after for nearly three
years in my work as a nanny. They were bouncing outside
my room, “It’s Maxine's wedding day! Hurrah!”
I ate what little breakfast I could, then spent the rest
of the morning wishing the time by and trying to make
myself beautiful! I collected my bouquet of sunflowers
(the flower of the entire day) combined with purple statis
to match my dress from the florist during the morning.
I painted my nails five times with shaking hands, before
drinking Bucks fizz and trying again. Three hours after
waking the sun was still shining!
Once I was ready, I posed for a few photographs with my
pageboys in the garden and waited for the car to arrive.
I had only found out the day before what car it would
be, because it was a favour from a friend with access
to several cars. Finally at 1.30 a BMW seven series pulled
up complete with ribbon.
With the sun still shining, we left for the register office.
As we drove past the front of the register before entering
via the back gates, I saw many of our guests who were
wearing the sunflower buttonholes I’d made for everyone.
It was a wonderful sight and I felt so excited.
As the car drove through the gates of the register office,
I immediately saw Alec and his bestman. I had no idea
Alec scrubbed up so well! He looked so smart and I felt
so proud. At this point, I noticed that James, the youngest
pageboy, had fallen asleep in the car - the smooth journey
in the BMW had sent him off! We woke him and went into
the marriage room to meet with the registrar. I then waited
outside the doors to the marriage room while the guests
were ushered in via another entrance. Once the guests
were seated, I made my entrance into the marriage room
accompanied by my pageboys. I suddenly felt as though
I had stage fright!
 Before we took our final vows,
my ten year old neice beautifully read a piece called
What Is Real from The Velveteen Rabbit.
Then we were finally pronounced man and wife and Alec
was prompted to kiss me!
There was a round of applause and I could have cried with
happiness (I’m surprised I didn’t!). I felt
like the luckiest girl in the world.
At this point Alec's father read To
Keep Your Marriage Brimming in his wonderful northern
accent. To the amusement of our guests, we signed the
register to I Feel Good by James Brown.
 We were so happy with the register
office ceremony, particularly as they have a reputation
for being impersonal and quick. Ours certainly wasn’t
the case – so many guests said how wonderful it was.
The register office was beautiful, with spacious gardens
that provided the perfect setting for our photographs.
We decided not to get a professional photographer, we
were on a tight budget, but we managed to get a lovely
album together from the photographs taken by guests.
The sun was still shining, we were married, sunflowers
were everywhere, children were laughing and it was already
the best day of our lives… We felt like we could
really relax and enjoy the day now that the ceremony was
over. We climbed into the BMW for our journey to the reception
venue amid a sea of confetti.
We arrived first at our reception venue to discover all
the tables laid out for the sit down buffet. It was fantastic
to see all my ideas on display. The placecards were names
written on pebbles, terraccotta pots with a candle embedded
in sand and seashells, purple napkins, chocolate minieggs
as favours and multi coloured metallic confetti sprinkled
all over.
My new sister-in-law, Mei Lin, did the catering. She’s
half Chinese and integrated some food from that culture
into the catering. It was unusual and a refreshing change
from sausages on sticks! The guests were delighted with
the food. She also made our wedding cake, a three tiered
fruit/chocolate/sponge combination with lilac icing and
sunflowers. On the top were two sunflowers overlapping
and she had decorated the stand with gold and purple ribbon.
I was delighted with it and even the more “traditional”
guests complemented it!
 After the buffet, we had the
speeches. The bestman's speech was hilarious with several
tales about Alec that I was unaware of. Photographs were
passed around of Alec's paintballing stag night from the
week before and then we finally cut the cake. It was all
going swimmingly and we now had the night to boogy away.
Then the promised rain arrived - it was almost as though
the clouds had been holding it back all day.
There was an explosive storm with thunder and lightning
- very dramatic.
We cheered without really knowing why, maybe just because
it had managed to wait until we were all inside.
It was time for our first dance. We boogied pretty unelegantly
(but with feeling!), to You Never Can Tell by Chuck Berry
(from Pulp Fiction).
Alec and one of his five brothers let rip to Progidy’s
Firestarter shortly afterwards, amid much merriment -
I think he needed to release his pent up tension somehow.
We all danced for the rest of the night and said “thank
you for coming” to more people than we will ever
say it to again! We were asked loads of times when we
were going to start a family… At the end of the night
I threw my bouquet to the girlfriend of one of Alec's
brothers. She was thrilled.
We left for our hotel, where we sank into the large jacuzzi,
brilliant for our tired aching feet. Our voices were hoarse
from all the thanking and welcoming and our faces ached
from smiling and laughing. The next day we flew to Scotland
and spent a wonderful week in a cottage made for two on
the Isle of Skye. All I can say is: Wow! The best day
of our lives - so far…
Do Differently: Worry less!
Comments: Thanks to WeddingGuideUK.com and all
the forumites who provided me with so much help and support.
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If
you would like to contact Maxine and Alec, you can e-mail
them.
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