 I
really wanted a traditional style wedding so, although
we had been living together for two years, my day started
at Mum's house at 6am. It was a very leisurely morning
but my sister (Chief Bridesmaid) and I were a bit impatient
and, dare I say, bored in places. Despite my visions of
my Mum's entire family descending, everyone stayed away.
The arrival of the hairdresser therefore brought welcomed
relief as it meant that we could start being pampered
and she made a lovely job of putting my hair up.
We had chosen a royal blue and gold theme as I wanted
to have something bright and my hubbie-to-be wanted blue
and something not too girly! We'd also decided on a civil
wedding at Epsom Racecourse. I had wanted a church ceremony
but don't regret our decision at all as the day couldn't
have been better!
Whilst my hair was in curlers the flowers arrived and
I was so pleased. I had been worried that the cornflowers
would be too pale and there wouldn't be enough blue to
balance the white, but when they arrived I was over the
moon. The florist had found a really deep purpley blue
cornflower that complemented our fabric beautifully, and
then added a slightly paler blue orchid.
My two cousins, Bethany (aged 7) and Daniel (aged 5) who
were my bridesmaid and pageboy, arrived very late. We'd
said 12:30-1pm and they finally arrived at 1:30pm,just
15 minutes before the cars turned up. It was then a mad
panic to get them dressed, groomed and ready to leave.
We managed to set off on time at 2pm in our Triumph cars,
which were absolutely fabulous, but we arrived very early
at 2:35pm. Rob (my hubbie-to-be) and Gavin (his brother
and best man) only just had time to dive into the Queen's
Stand when they saw the bridesmaids' car appear!
 Most of the guests were already there and standing
on the steps outside whilst I had photos taken. One of
my friends afterwards said I looked very calm and composed.
Amazingly I was and just couldn't stop grinning!
After the photographer had finished we moved up to the
boardroom. Dad, Claire, Beth and Dan were taken inside
and I went next door for my interview with the registrar.
I also met the lady who did the ceremony who seemed more
nervous than me but they were both lovely!
Once the interview was over I joined my Dad and my attendants
in the boardroom where we waited to be given the okay
to walk out onto the balcony and through the French doors
into the royal box. It was full of people. One of the
first things I saw were the pedestal floral arrangements
and I could have cried. They were huge with great big
dark blue flower stems and large ivory roses - just gorgeous.
The processional music we chose was Dome Epais which is
probably better known as the British Airways theme tune
- but it was lovely. All of a sudden, as I got to the
front, I felt nervous. I hardly dared look at Rob and
during the vows I felt quite awkward but I stumbled through
as best I could! The readings were lovely and the registrar
said a special thank you to Daniel who carried the rings
on a little pillow to give to Gavin and, as he said afterwards,
"tried not to be shy!"
I didn't really notice the music whilst we signed the
register and did the 'pretend sign' shots with the photographer,
but when the recessional music The
Bridal March started I admit I was relieved! Rob and
I walked out onto the balcony for more photos before going
downstairs and out to the winners circle for even more.
We managed about five before the security guard said we
weren't to have more then a few people on the hallowed
ground with the Derby being in three weeks time! I was
a bit disappointed as the photographer had planned to
take a picture of everyone in there, but we had a nice
shot on the steps instead!
 What
I thought was one of the very last pictures was taken
in the weighing room where much to my disgust, the scales
said 10 stone 4! After all that weight-loss effort! Anyway
by the time he took the photo they actually said 15 stone
because Rob was leaning on them too! My veil had fallen
off for the third time by now so I gave it up for the
final few photos and went without.
We then went up to the boardroom for the receiving line,
which was really worthwhile doing as it meant we could
introduce people to our parents. Then, while everyone
enjoyed glasses of Buck's Fizz, Rob and I were indulged
with champers. On the top table was a horseshoe from everyone
at Epsom and all the family were giving us horseshoes
as well. The wedding
bubbles went down brilliantly too, and even the adults
were really keen to use them. By this time my cheeks were
killing me and unexpectedly the photographer had joined
us upstairs which I wasn't aware of until after the receiving
line.
 He
kept saying things like, "that's not your real smile",
and "show me the real smile once more". I must
admit he was very good but I did want to throttle him
by then! As you can see, the end result photos were well
worth it though.
Everyone gradually sat down and we had the buffet, which
was very good. Once we'd finished with the coffee and
mints we cut the cake and it was served straightaway,
which was nice. Gavin announced the speeches, which everyone
had been waiting for because my uncle (who was doing the
video) was running a sweepstake on the duration of Gavin's
speech! He'd collected £15 and the length of the
speech exceeded all the bets! My Dad was very nervous
but he made a nice job of thanking everyone and talking
about te meaning of marriage was about, then Rob went
on for AGES - thanking all our friends personally for
coming, which seemed to take forever. We then gave out
the presents to our bridal party, which were very well
received and right at the end I gave Rob a day's steam
train driving. We actually got round to doing that in
July and I can honestly say it was the second best day
of my life! We had a brilliant time.
 Finally it was Gavin's speech, which was also
long but terribly funny, so everyone enjoyed it. By this
time there was only 20 minutes left until the evening
guests were due to arrive so Rob and I dashed off to freshen
up!
The evening was just perfect. The DJ announced our first
dance to Starship's Nothings
Gonna Stop us Now (unfortunately calling Rob 'Richard')
but nevertheless everyone soon joined in and the highlight
of the evening was an impromptu line dance set up by some
friends.
At the end of the evening we had one last dance and the
DJ had everyone linking arms to create an arch leading
to the door for us to leave through, which was a lovely
way for us to end a truly wonderful day.
Do Differently: Nothing!
Groom's Comments: I couldn't have asked for a better
day. The venue at Epsom was perfect, ideal for the relatively
small number of people invited to our wedding. The weather
also helped to make the whole day one I shall never forget.
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