Bit late, but here's a quick entry on our wedding two weeks ago. I'll add photo's at a later date!
As the wedding wasn't till 5pm, we had quite a leisurely morning with little panic. I think my friends Nat and Magic were pleased with this as they had travelled down from Aberdeen and Inverness respectively the day before! After a brief bonding session over some balloons randomly exploding in Nat's face, it was time to collect some of the other guests who Dad would be driving to the venue.
As we were about to head to Kitley House, it started pouring it down with rain! Fortunately it didn't last and we were able to have the photo's outside!
Once there, we went to the bridal suite and we totally blown away by the sheer size of the bathroom - it was bigger than my old flat! I put on my makeup, then the hairdresser arrived. My sister, her husband and my niece and nephew soon arrived and despite the numbers (Nat, Fin, Mum, Gerry and my sister and co., it wasn't crowded!
The time went pretty quickly and it was soon time to be strapped into my dress (thanks Nat!).
My niece was perfectly happy to be 'Princess Lily' for the day and was put into her dress with no problems. My nephew however was having none of it, so it was quite a challenge for my sister and Mum to coax him into wearing his outfit (both the kids' outfits were made entirely by Mum).
At about 17:10 (running late of course) my Dad led me down the stairs to the ceremony room. We entered to the music of Eels 'My Beloved Monster' and went and stood by my future husband. Unfortunately, I can't remember precise details of the ceremony as I was quite excited! But we signed the register with Eels' 'Beautiful Freak' playing then we went out onto the grounds for Pimms on the lawn! After copious amounts of photo's, it was soon time to head back in for the meal. We'd decided to opt for an alternate starter and dessert (pigeon or soup, and pancotta or lemon tart) which caused a little disagreement regarding the pigeon! (personally I thought it was fantastic)! The main (beef wellington) went down well though!
We had fortune cookies for our favours, and some of the fortunes were quite apt! The best man had 'people will be listening to what you have to say' and Nat had 'Be nice to pigeons, one day you will be a statue'!
My dad's speech was fantastic, as was Gareth's. Tom (the best man), despite his nervousness, gave what is probably the best best man speech - an opinion shared by many of our guests!
As we weren't having any dancing, the chocolate wedding cake was served in the evening with coffee before we had more photo's - Gerry did a fantastic job throughout the day!
We both had a great day, and hope our guests did too. Hopefully we didn't neglect anyone, as it was difficult circulating enough to make sure we spoke to everyone. If we did forget anyone we apologise!
When Gareth and I headed to the bridal suite, Gareth was equally amazed at the size of the bathroom before we exchanged gifts. I was totally knocked out by the surprise honeymoon to Paris Gareth had arranged (see previous post), and I think Gareth was happy with the nude photo's I'd posed for!
My sister's blog also includes a post on our wedding: http://podheim.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-08-16T20%3A07%3A00Z&max-results=7
Her blog makes an entertaining read about the day to day antics of my niece and nephew: www.podheim.blogspot.com
Saturday 30 August 2008
Tuesday 26 August 2008
Honeymoon
This is a somewhat unexpected post for me as until the wedding day I didn't even realise we were having a honeymoon! Gareth had been planning a honeymoon to Paris for some time without my knowing and revealed it at the end of the wedding day. I was totally knocked away as Gareth is not normally the best at keeping surprises! So it was quite a manic packing session the day after the wedding as the flights were that afternoon - I ran out of socks during the trip as most of them were still drying at home on the radiator!
On the first couple of days we got the stereotypical tourist trips out of the way and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower (although I think we spent more time queing than actually on the Tower itself), saw the Arc de Triomphe after walking through Champs-Elysees (we couldn't believe that a beer and an orange juice cost £10!). We also saw Notre Dame Cathedral, the outside of the Louvre (we didn't have time to properly enjoy the art so didn't go inside - apparently it takes 9 months to see everything allowing 5 minutes per piece).
The highlight of our trip was seeing the Catacombes. While we can't say that we enjoyed it as such, it was very atomospheric and illuminating.
At the top of the Eiffel Tower
Gareth looking for the Arc de Triomphe
The Catacombes - rows of skulls and femurs
We also enjoyed several pastries and crepes from the stalls scattered around Montparnasse (the street our hotel was on). Dangerously, our favourite place was just 2 mins from the hotel! We were also fortunate to be about 15 mins walk away from the Jardin de Luxemburg, which had some nice if not strange artwork throughout the grounds!
Weird art in the Jardin de Luxemburg
We ate in several restaurants, although we returned to Le Dix Vins for a second meal there as the food was simply fantastic. A lovely Irish couple who we'd only just met even bought us a glass of champagne when they found out we were on honeymoon.
It was a fantastic honeymoon, even the grumpy nightporter, and the dubious security of the hotel didn't dampen our enjoyment.
On the first couple of days we got the stereotypical tourist trips out of the way and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower (although I think we spent more time queing than actually on the Tower itself), saw the Arc de Triomphe after walking through Champs-Elysees (we couldn't believe that a beer and an orange juice cost £10!). We also saw Notre Dame Cathedral, the outside of the Louvre (we didn't have time to properly enjoy the art so didn't go inside - apparently it takes 9 months to see everything allowing 5 minutes per piece).
The highlight of our trip was seeing the Catacombes. While we can't say that we enjoyed it as such, it was very atomospheric and illuminating.
Our favourite area of Paris was the Latin Quartre, where we saw an old ampitheatre and just generally enjoyed the ambience (apparently the area is popular with students and down-and-outs!).
Gareth in front of the Eiffel Tower
At the top of the Eiffel Tower
Gareth looking for the Arc de Triomphe
The Catacombes - rows of skulls and femurs
We also enjoyed several pastries and crepes from the stalls scattered around Montparnasse (the street our hotel was on). Dangerously, our favourite place was just 2 mins from the hotel! We were also fortunate to be about 15 mins walk away from the Jardin de Luxemburg, which had some nice if not strange artwork throughout the grounds!
Weird art in the Jardin de Luxemburg
We ate in several restaurants, although we returned to Le Dix Vins for a second meal there as the food was simply fantastic. A lovely Irish couple who we'd only just met even bought us a glass of champagne when they found out we were on honeymoon.
It was a fantastic honeymoon, even the grumpy nightporter, and the dubious security of the hotel didn't dampen our enjoyment.
Sunday 10 August 2008
Reader's Digest
After spending the day doing housework to get it out the way before the wedding, Mum, Dad and myself were having a chilled evening cross-stitching, quilting and watching TV. The dogs were happy with Glyn and Molly playing tug together, and a contented gnawing sound could be heard from upstairs. Figuring it was probably a Nylabone, I didn't think anything of it until, on heading to bed, I discovered the delightful little git had been gleefully chewing the spine of one of my favourite books. She had completely eaten the binding so now the pages are just about managing to hold together - through sheer willpower on their part I'm sure!
I'm pretty gutted as the book is a fully illustrated hardback copy of Industrial Light and Magic that was a gift from my sister for completeing my A'Levels (at the time I wanted to do a degree in animation). Ironically, Willow was also an A'Level gift from my parents. Willow has never been fond of competition, but at least she literally has a good taste in books.
I'm pretty gutted as the book is a fully illustrated hardback copy of Industrial Light and Magic that was a gift from my sister for completeing my A'Levels (at the time I wanted to do a degree in animation). Ironically, Willow was also an A'Level gift from my parents. Willow has never been fond of competition, but at least she literally has a good taste in books.
Saturday 9 August 2008
3 day countdown!
My wedding dress is back from the dressmakers and fits fantastically! It has now been safely stashed at my future mother-in-law's as we have three rather hyper dogs. Hyper dogs and wedding dresses don't mix well - especially when the former shed hair just for something to do.
The weather in Plymouth is pretty dire at the moment, so we have given up hope of a sunny day this Tueday. However, it's the meaning of the wedding day, not the weather that makes it, so although it would have been nice to have sun, we're just happy that we are finally getting married after over 7 years of waiting!
Once again, exciting times are on the horizen as we've also decided to open up the locations we're prepared to relocate to for work. At the moment we have no ties (i.e. no mortgage or kids) so it's the best time to a different area to move to. In all honesty, Plymouth is not the best place for either of us regarding work - zoology is a somewhat dead degree here unless you do marine, and there are more accountancy opportunities further afield too for Gareth. So, we may be on the move again in the next few months.
The weather in Plymouth is pretty dire at the moment, so we have given up hope of a sunny day this Tueday. However, it's the meaning of the wedding day, not the weather that makes it, so although it would have been nice to have sun, we're just happy that we are finally getting married after over 7 years of waiting!
Once again, exciting times are on the horizen as we've also decided to open up the locations we're prepared to relocate to for work. At the moment we have no ties (i.e. no mortgage or kids) so it's the best time to a different area to move to. In all honesty, Plymouth is not the best place for either of us regarding work - zoology is a somewhat dead degree here unless you do marine, and there are more accountancy opportunities further afield too for Gareth. So, we may be on the move again in the next few months.
Thursday 7 August 2008
pre-wedding drivel!
I don't think my toe is broken after all my whinging - guess my pain threshold isn't as high as I thought!
I had my hair tinted this morning, so now my copious amounts of white hair (bear in mind that I'm 26) have been tamed. I started going grey when I was 14, so you can probably imagine how much grey coverage I had acquired! I normally dye my hair throughout the year but was putting it off till before the wedding in case different dyes reacted and I ended up with orange hair or something on the day.
I had my hair tinted this morning, so now my copious amounts of white hair (bear in mind that I'm 26) have been tamed. I started going grey when I was 14, so you can probably imagine how much grey coverage I had acquired! I normally dye my hair throughout the year but was putting it off till before the wedding in case different dyes reacted and I ended up with orange hair or something on the day.
Wednesday 6 August 2008
Do your worst...
With less than a week till the wedding I have now broken two nails after growing and tending them for 9 months. I'm not normally fussed over the appearance of nails at all, but I decided to at least attempt to make them presentable for the wedding. Typically, both breaks occurred whilst out with the dogs, so I will blame them entirely for it!
I have also got what I suspect to be a broken toe. I did a particulary good job of stumping it yesterday and now the nail is black/bruised and the toe itself has swollen quite considerably. It may just be the nail is bust, just to keep with the recent theme of kerritin abuse.
With any luck, this is the only thing that goes particulary wrong prior and during the wedding day - a couple of broken nails and a busted toe is not traumatic enough to spoil the day!
I have also got what I suspect to be a broken toe. I did a particulary good job of stumping it yesterday and now the nail is black/bruised and the toe itself has swollen quite considerably. It may just be the nail is bust, just to keep with the recent theme of kerritin abuse.
With any luck, this is the only thing that goes particulary wrong prior and during the wedding day - a couple of broken nails and a busted toe is not traumatic enough to spoil the day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
