Our Wedding

Just a few photos and a bit about our wedding in case you're interested!
We got married on the 1st of November last year. The weather was a bit cold, but it was a really lovely day!

Not all of these are our official pictures, most are from friends and family (thanks guys!). Our official photographer was a friend of ours, Martin Broughton who does photography. (Broughton Photography) You can find more about him and more photos on; http://www.broughtonphoto.co.uk/

My very talented Mum did quite a lot including; making my dress and two bridesmaid dresses, sorting out and arranging flowers for the bouquets, button holes and corsages and one of the church arrangements! She also made the cake, although she was persuaded to have someone else decorate it!

We also had help from a lot of friends and family, to whom we owe a great deal of thanks for making our day so special. The church was decorated by friends and family and looked really beautiful! Thanks to everyone who was involved!

The day itself went really well! We got rid of the men (Dad, Will, Jo and Tim) in the morning and they went off and had a 'men's breakfast' at The Armoury, (Dad's work who had kindly loaned them the use of it for a couple of hours) There they met up with the other ushers and Best Men. Then went to a friends flat to get ready. From what I've been told they were kept busy running around sorting everything out! Thank you Beth for the use of your flat and for sorting all the men out and making sure they were dressed properly!

Us girls meanwhile had a very calm and relaxed morning! My friend Amy, who was one of my bridesmaids, came round and did our hair and then we got dressed. Andy was so sure I was going to be late (to be fair I often am!) but in fact I was ready half an hour before Dad was due to some and pick me up! After I was all ready in my dress I couldn't really do anything, I was so determined to prevent getting anything on my dress!

Dad was very emotional when he came to collect me! He had avoided seeing me in my dress before the day when I had fittings with mum, because he wanted to save it for the day, so that was the first time he had seen me in my wedding outfit!

Then it was off to the church. Although I was sure about getting married to Andy, I had butterflies in my stomach right up until the moment I walked down the aisle! I arrived at the church fifteen minutes early and had to wait outside in the cold until they were ready for me! We did have plenty of time for photographs though!

Inside the church Mike and Reuben Penny, some friends of ours, were creating a lovely atmosphere with their beautiful music on flute and piano. It was just the right sort of feel for a church like St Julian's. I walked down the aisle to 'Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring', which is the same music mum walked down the aisle on her wedding day!

The bridesmaids went down the aisle first and then when the were most of the way down I followed. Andy didn't want it that way, but I wanted to give the bridesmaids their chance to be admired! Besides, I've always though that they're a bit stuck once the bride has got to the front if they're behind her! It also helps the build up I think!

It is quite a long aisle and I tried not to look at anyone else, but just kept my eyes on Andy, who was watching me!

I managed to get a bit mixed up when we had to hold right hands during the vows! At least I was loud enough for people to hear me though, which was my main worry!

The service was lovely, again it was good to have friends and family involved, and Ian gave a really helpful and thought provoking sermon.

We had close family and wedding party photos on the steps outside the church whilst everyone else had teas and coffees inside. We even had someone there from the local paper! Ours was the first wedding at St Julian's for over 20 years and they wanted to write a bit about it for the paper and have a photo! It was the first time I had to give my new surname! The man who owns the church building, Andrew rang the bells for us. We were glad we were outside because as the tower has been coverted into a house, the bells have been lowered. They are very loud and I think the people in the church got a bit of shock!

There is a pretty little public garden around the other side of church where we had all the group shots. The word wasn't 'cheese' but 'freezing', and it was! My fingers had all but frozen around my bouquet! everyone else could retreat to the warmth of the church but we had to be in every picture!

We hadn't hired a car because our reception venue, The Adam Ballroom at the Lion Hotel, was just a short walk from the church so it seemed a bit pointless! We did get some funny looks from the shoppers on the street when they saw us!

It was nice to get into the warmth of the hotel and to be greeted a warm fruit drink with pretty sugar frosting around the rim of the glasses. The ballroom is a really beautiful room, which is why we fell in love with it the first time we saw it.

After posing for cutting the cake photos and a phone call from the paper asking me about the day, how it was going, whether I was enjoying the day etc. Well, what was I going to say, really?! The day is horrible, I wish I wasn't here??? Well really! It was my wedding day! The best day of my life so far! I'd just married the man I love and shared it with friends and family! The day could hardly be bad after that now could it?!

When I finally managed to get off the phone, we could greet our guests!

We didn't have favours as such at the reception. Instead we had blue and ivory paper cups, which we had attached ribbon handles to and had a table with bowls of sweets on. People went had helped themselves to the sweets they liked the look of! The lady at the hotel who organised wedding there had said to us that she didn't think anyone would get up to get sweets, but the table was buzzing as soon as there were people there! We had a buffet meal and so it complimented the style.

It was a good meal, complimented by more music from Mike and Reuben, this time on piano and vibraphone. They played a selection of tunes, including some Disney ones, which I was pleased about! It was perfect for the day, everyone loved it and said it made a great atmosphere!


Of course after we'd all finished eating and they handed round the cake and tea and coffee it was time for the speeches! There was of course the customary embarrassing stories but also some really touching words from my dad and best man Gareth. There were also surprises in an extra speech from Andy's other best man Jon and then from a song by my Grandad! He wrote it himself to the tune of 'I did it my way'. It was a bit embarassing, but funny too, in all the perfect way to end that part of the day! In fact it's the thing about the day that most people have mentioned to me since!

We managed to talk to a few people before we had to leave in a suspiciously un decorated car! It was quite and emotional moment saying goodbye to friends and family.

We went back to mum and dads where we were joined by close family, one of the best men and his wife, and everyone who was staying at mum and dads house! There we had cakes and puddings and had a chance to catch up on what everyones experiences of the day. Andy had surprised me with fireworks in the garden, and giant paper lanterns out the front of the house! It was really nice having that time together before left for honeymooon.

It was then that we dicovered why the car wasn't decorated when we left the hotel, they had been saving it for now! Andy had stayed at the place we were staying in the night before so his bags were already there. Unfortunately mine weren't so they were filled with confetti! We only went down the road before stopping to sort the car out! I don't know who tied the string with the cans, but we had a terrible trouble getting it off! In the end I had to cut it off with a pair of scissors! But it's all part of the fun isn't it!

Altoghther it was a really wonderful day and a lovely start to the rest of our lives together!

Well! That was more than I intended to write! Oh well! Hope you enjoyed hearing about my wedding and it hasn't put you to sleep!