 After 16 months of planning, our dream
wedding was almost ruined when our reception venue was
cancelled with just two weeks to go. We had arranged to
set-up our reception marquee in the grounds of a pub but
we were worried that the place had deteriorated since
our original booking so when the landlady became very
difficult we decided to cut our losses and move on.
We live 80 miles away so we both took a day off to look
for a new venue with help from my parents. Thankfully
we found a lovely landlady at a different pub that would
accommodate us. Phew! Luckily, we had independently booked
the marquee, disco and caterers so we could change the
venue without too much fuss with them.As if that wasn't
enough, the weather was horrendous in the week leading
up.
To the wedding and we had visions of sopping wet guests
huddled in the marquee without enough chairs to sit on.
But thankfully, despite a huge thunder storm the night
before, it turned into a beautiful day.
My wedding morning was a leisurely whirl of hairdressers,
make-up and nails. I was surrounded by my five bridesmaids,
members of my family including assorted aunties who kept
turning up to 'help' and Alan, the videographer, who constantly
popped in and out of the room to get candid shots of the
preparations. I was the calmest person around.
But I had one panic at lunchtime when the phone rang several
times and each time I picked up the receiver, the line
was dead. Dialling 1471 revealed it to be Chris' mobile
number and all sorts of worries went through my head.
Throwing caution (and tradition) to the wind I risked
eternal bad luck to ring him back and eventually got through
to find... he just didn't know which way up to wear his
buttonhole!
 The wedding was at 3pm and at 1pm the house
was full but it was time to get dressed. I started helping
the youngest bridesmaids who were soon sent back when
it turned out neither of them had washed! Then it was
time for me. However, another auntie had arrived and was
taking photos downstairs, which meant that everyone suddenly
vanished.
With infinite grace I stood at the top of the stairs and
yelled until someone came to help me. It's my day and
I'll have a strop if I want to...
After much double-knotting and swearing we finally managed
to secure my huge underskirt into place and then the dress
went on so easily - although I'm sure it wasn't quite
such a tight fit in the shop!
My gown is the second love of my life, after Chris, of
course. I found it purely by accident at the end of a
shopping trip. Having tried on all sorts of dresses in
any colour but white, I asked the assistant to find a
white dress because I thought the colour would suit me.
She grabbed the nearest one off the sale rail, it fitted
almost perfectly and I decided to have it there and then.
It's an Alfred Angelo design and I had the sleeves removed,
the bodice taken in and still had change from £500!
Our flowers arrived a little late and I couldn't get over
how gorgeous they were. The florist had been very sceptical
of my idea for a big hand-tied bunch with wiggly bits
sticking out, but she did us proud and created exactly
what I'd wanted. The only problem was that we couldn't
get rid of her as she insisted on telling us the whole
sorry tale of how difficult it had been, how the atrocious
weather had ruined all the delphiniums and how she wouldn't
do another natural bouquet for a long while!
Our wedding car was a beautiful, white stretch limo and
soon emptied the house again accompanied by shouts of
'look at the car!' The photographer arrived to find my
bridesmaid Katy and I tackling my veil. After a few photographs,
Mum and the bridesmaids set off leaving Dad and I alone.
We are both prone to being over-emotional so the safest
thing was to avoid talking. He went upstairs to make up
a bed for the overnight guests while I swigged from a
handy bottle of Rescue Remedy.
When the car came back for us we raced out of the house
and I promptly caught my train in the front door and off
it came! Fortunately it was attached with Velcro so it
was easy to put back on again.
Once we arrived at the church I had my second strop of
the day and refused to get out of the car while the guests
were still there. Bridesmaids and mums only, I decreed!
Oh, the power!
A few deep breaths in the church doorway and we were off.
I galloped down the aisle so fast that the organist had
hardly started The
Bridal March before I was next to my groom who gallantly
whispered that I looked lovely. He kept squeezing my hand
all the way through the ceremony - even my little niece
repeatedly shouting, 'Joanne', until I turned round and
waved didn't put us off!
 We chose All
things Bright and Beautiful, Immortal,
Invisible and Guide
Me, Oh Thou Great Redeemer as our hymns and Chris'
Dad read Corinthians 13.
Despite my fears that I would cry all the way through,
I made it through the service without a tear. The only
time I needed to compose myself was when we said our vows
to each other, at which point I did have to turn away
from Chris for a moment or two.
The service was over in a flash. We galloped back down
the aisle and were out of the door before the first bar
of The Wedding
March was over. We didn't mind but this speed earned
us a telling off from the photographer because the only
shot he could get has us hesitating for a second and pulling
funny faces at him!
After a few photos at the church we literally piled back
into the wedding car to start our journey to the reception.
Yes, I had to clamber in and rely on others to shove my
skirt in behind me! But at last Chris and I could relax
and talk to each other about the wedding and enjoy the
first of many glasses of champagne. The drive to the reception
was a fantastic 15 minutes because it was about the only
time we spent alone together all day!
We drew up at the reception and the marquee looked incredible.
Chris and his parents had spent the morning blowing up
balloons and adding decorations and candles to the tables.
Much of the wedding involved help from friends and relatives.
Our invitations and Order of Service were stained with
blood, sweat and tears, the candles had all been sourced,
painted and arranged by us and the bridesmaids' dresses
were the result of a lot of hard work from my relatives.
But to see it all come together on the day definitely
made it all worth it.
 Our official photos were taken in the gardens
of an old people's home opposite the pub whilst our guests
enjoyed a few glasses of Bucks Fizz and canapés.
Our photographer was great because he had done his homework
about the best places to take pictures and was very receptive
to our requests. For example, I wanted a special photo
of all the men in morning suits holding me as I lay across
their hands and it looks brilliant.
The poor chap also clambered onto the flat roof of the
pub for the group photograph I wanted because that was
the only vantage point from which he could get everyone's
face in the shot. All our worries about having too much
time standing around before the party started proved groundless
and, if anything, we had too little time! The receiving
line took ages but worked really well. As I was the only
one who knew everyone at the wedding we decided that I
should stand at the head of the line. I introduced each
guest to Chris, he passed them on to my mum, and so on.
Our only hiccup was when the best man came down the line
to meet us when we'd assumed he was standing at the other
end of the line!
Our guests tell us that our stand-up-or-perch buffet worked
brilliantly, although by the time the two of us got into
the marquee most of it was gone. Fortunately, we were
far too excited to eat anyway. One funny moment that sticks
in our minds was when an uncle walked past with two deck
chairs that he'd brought from home. Good thinking!
The disco started about half an hour later than we had
anticipated and our first dance was to Can't
Help Falling in Love by Elvis. Unfortunately I was
a little, ahem, tiddly by this point and the video plainly
shows me singing along off-key and beckoning everyone
else to join us on the dance floor, while ignoring poor
Chris! Still, it was great fun at the time.
We were enjoying ourselves so much that after what seems
like only a few minutes it was time to stop the disco
and cut the cake. I have to say that the cake was a phenomenon.
It had five tiers, although only three were real, and
was decorated with stars to match our purple, silver and
white colour-theme. Each star was shooting out on wires.
It was show-stopping! But it was also incredibly hard
to cut because the icing had to be tough enough to support
all this weight. In the end we just had to pretend to
cut it!
 I then went off to change into a silver evening
gown that I had made myself and proceeded to party the
night away until our last dance to Eric Clapton's Wonderful
Tonight. By this time I was bouncing off the walls
of the marquee from too little food and much too much
wine! But we both had such a fantastic wedding day, surrounded
by our loved ones.
Do Differently: Not get quite so drunk! Seriously,
eat some of the food we'd spent months agonising over,
spend more time with each guest and definitely spend more
time with my new husband during the day.
Groom's Comments: Organising everything ourselves
was hard work. Although it was worth it because we had
a fantastic day, it may have been simpler to go for a
reception package! |
If
you would like to contact Joanne and Chris, you can e-mail
them.
|
