Everyone had remarked on how organised and calm I was a couple of weeks before the wedding. That was before my H2B Mike lost all his bank and credit cards twice in 10 days, I reacted badly to the malaria pills I was taking which made me feel faint and have palpitations, and Mike sprained his ankle two days before the wedding and was hobbling around on crutches!

However, Saturday 21st August arrived none the less and it was a great start to be woken up by the sun shining in to my bedroom at 6am. After 14 months of planning and preparation, at last it was our Big Day. As I lay in bed with my mum, who was giving me away, I couldn’t wait to get up and get on with it. My two bridesmaids joined us in the bedroom, and we had a good girlie laugh at some of the old times we had shared. Jill and Angela are my two oldest friends and know me like no one else, and my main worry was that I would catch sight of their ‘trying to be serious’ faces and giggle during the service.

We had a relaxed breakfast and headed up to the hairdressers where we all achieved the splendid ‘bouffon’ hairdos necessary to accommodate our tiaras. We were no sooner back home when our flowers arrived – they were absolutely gorgeous and suddenly I felt like it was all actually going to happen. As the make up artist arrived and began her hefty task of glamourising us, my mum gave me a present from Mike. It was a CD compilation he had made of ‘our songs’ for me to play as I got ready. For the first time that day, I had a lump in my throat, as I listened to the first track, Time Of Your Life by Green Day. This day was going to be that for sure.

The service was beautiful with and went without a hitch, apart from the priest disappearing for five minutes in the middle, which caused bit of a stir. Mike and I just kept grinning at each other all the way through; I was marrying my best friend and soulmate. After our vows, the priest announced "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr and Mrs Michael Clingan." Everyone clapped as I pulled Mike towards me and gave him a big smacker!

After much admiring of our faces, changing into our outfits and practising holding the bouquets, a couple of glasses of wine were needed to calm the nerves. Suddenly the buzzer went and our car had arrived! As we drove through Glasgow in the 1956 Pullman, I have never felt so much the centre of attention as passers-by stared and waved in the window, and cars slowed down to have a look, tooting their horns.

We arrived at the church and as Wedding March from Lohengrin by Wagner started up, I made my entrance with my mum by my side. All I could see were a hundred smiling faces as we walked towards my H2B, who was looking straight ahead. I kept telling myself ‘whatever you do, don’t cry’!’ Then Mike looked round at me and smiled the biggest smile. There were no crutches in sight thankfully, as we walked up to the altar to begin the service.

The service was beautiful with and went without a hitch, apart from the priest disappearing for five minutes in the middle, which caused bit of a stir. Mike and I just kept grinning at each other all the way through; I was marrying my best friend and soulmate. After our vows, the priest announced "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr and Mrs Michael Clingan." Everyone clapped as I pulled Mike towards me and gave him a big smacker!

We left the church to Wedding March from a Midsummer Night's Dream by Mendelssohn and stepped out into the most lovely August day. Yes, the sun really does shine in Glasgow too! We had group photos taken in the little park next to the church and it was a great chance to mingle and thank everyone for coming. Everyone looked so smart and it really made me appreciate the effort they had made, especially as most people had come some distance. My husband and I got some time alone as we drove off to the Botanic Gardens to have more photos with Mike's best man and my bridesmaids.

The Botanic Gardens were a lovely setting for some romantic shots, but we couldn’t wait to get to the reception to start the party! We all came back together, drinking champagne from the bottle and congratulating ourselves at how well things were going!

Our reception was held the Glasgow Thistle Hotel, which was only two minutes walk from our church. As we arrived, it was clear that all our guests had been making plenty use of the free bar while they waited for us! We received everyone into the main room and it was the perfect opportunity to speak to all our guests individually. It took much longer than expected to complete the receiving line, but it was definitely worth it and one of the most enjoyable parts of the day.

After the sumptuous meal, which neither Mike and I could eat due to nerves about our speeches, my mother started off the proceedings with a very heartfelt yet witty speech. By this time our evening guests were arriving, so they came in to hear the speeches. I followed my mother with my speech during which I gave out gifts to the people who had played a particular role in our day: attendants, ushers, readers and in-laws. I thanked my husband last, describing the various stages of our courtship and how I knew he was ‘the one’ when he put up with me at my most pathetic and clumsy worst during our rather stressful first holiday together, skiing in Bulgaria.

Mike made many references to his Scottish roots in his speech, particularly that his unusual surname actually originates from Dumfries, and is a version of MacClingan! That endeared him to my Scottish crowd! Mark, Mike's best man, was hysterical and really did himself proud in probably the most difficult of tasks, the best man’s speech.

We had asked our toastmaster to invite anyone else to speak after Mark, to which there was much shuffling. Who would make an impromptu speech, after all? However, we knew a little secret: our usher was planning to propose to my 2nd bridesmaid, Jill. He stood up, walked to the top table, and very calmly announced: "Jill and I have been going out for 7 years, and in that time, Linzi and Mike have met, gone out, moved in together, got engaged and are now married.
I think it’s about time I did something about that!" Then he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him, to which she replied, rather aghast, "Yes!" It made our day even more perfect and romantic, and Jill was astounded when she knew that we had kept the secret since Christmas. For once in my life, I had known something she didn’t! The evening went from strength to strength, with a ceilidh to get everyone on the dance floor followed by a disco. Mike and I danced our first waltz, despite his dodgy ankle, and even managed a Samba later on to one of our favourites, As by George Michael.

We had been going to dancing lessons and we had to show off a bit! I spent all night chatting and catching up with friends and family – everyone seemed to be having a good time and it was a very lively party!

When the disco finished around 1am, one of Mike’s friends took the floor and played a few songs on his electric guitar, with Mike accompanying him on the harmonies. This added a really personal touch to the night. Eventually people began to leave the reception, but I was determined to stay up as late as I could to savour every moment of the most perfect day. At 3am we eventually called it a night, in need of some sleep to prepare us for our flight to Kenya the next day. The first week of our honeymoon would be spent on safari which wasn’t going to be exactly restful!

It was the best day of my life. All the planning and preparation paid off, and we put on the biggest party for all the people who mean the world to us, our brilliant family and friends.

Do Differently: Not a thing!

Groom's Comments: I always knew that Linzi and I would have a fantastic day, however what made the whole occasion something really special was the fact that everyone else seemed to have a great time too. When we came back from our honeymoon we had so many comments saying that it was one of the best weddings people had been to.