This has been a surprisingly hard post to write. It is difficult to condense one incredible, jam-packed, eventful, significant day into one post! Indeed, I wondered for a while if I really wanted to try and do so, but whilst this blog isn't meant to be a diary, it has proved a useful way of marking important events in my life.
My wedding, clearly, is in the 'important' category and skipping over it just didn't seem right. Thus, we have a post. Given this isn't a diary, I have tried to be concise, but brevity isn't my strong point and I'm not sure how successful I've been! For those of you completely sick of wedding talk (to whom I apologise), we should have a return to normal broadcasting soon...albeit with a travel spin on things from next Saturday.
So.
One's wedding day.
I'm not sure how wedding days are meant to start, but mine started in my own bed in my own house minus my husband-to-be (who, to use his term, had been 'banished' to his Mum's the night before). Whilst I visited my family the evening before, I wanted to spend a last night in my house - the house I lived in before Mr Bite and I started dating - before starting married life.
I woke with the peculiar combination of nervousness and excitement that I know rather well (it is rare for me to have excitement without nervousness), and which I suspect marks most wedding mornings for most women.
By 8.45am, I was off getting hair and make-up done, despite originally thinking I wouldn't get hair and make-up done professionally. There were 3 things I hadn't planned on doing that I did do in the end: professional hair and make-up, bouquets of flowers, and a train on my dress.
The hair and make-up entered the picture when I realised that doing my own hair was a recipe for significant stress, and doing my own make-up was a recipe for looking like a ghost in all of my wedding photos.
The bouquets were a concession to tradition after discussions with my Mum and sister (and looked lovely), and the train on my dress was a consequence of not wanting to pay for alterations to cut it off the dress I found and liked!
Anyway. Hair and make-up were done as up and minimal, respectively.
I am pleased to say that I liked both, and could have achieved neither on my own.
From hair and make up I went to my parent's house, where my dress waited and the task of getting me into the dress was pending.
This may have been attempt 2 out of 3 in our lacing efforts
It was hard to do up tightly. My poor mother had to deal with my anxious notes of "it's not tight enough! it's not sitting high enough! it's going to fall down!" for a solid 30 minutes of lacing and re-lacing.
Eventually, I was laced, the dress was as tight as it was going to go, and I made a mental note to remind my sister of the perils of lacing if and when she ever chooses a wedding dress. Zips should feature on more wedding dresses, if you ask me.
My sister with her bouquet
We were incredibly fortunate with the weather, because today and yesterday have featured serious rain and wind and cold. Saturday was clear, sunny, and warm enough without being hot. We had a large pergola booked for the ceremony and afternoon tea reception, which was covered, but it would still have been less pleasant with cold rain in the background.
The ceremony was overseen by a celebrant, who did a wonderful job in guiding us and the guests through the various aspects of the day. We incorporated a sand pouring ceremony, which means we now have a bottle of mixed colour sand to keep and definitely not drop!, and a butterfly release, with Mr B, me, and Mr B's nieces and nephew each releasing a butterfly.
The ceremony is one of the things that has stuck in my mind most vividly. I could picture me in my dress, and the gardens, and the general atmosphere of the day, but couldn't see the ceremony in detail in advance. We didn't have a wedding rehearsal, and I was surprised at how intense and vivid the ceremony was. I think Mr Bite and I both forgot the guests in the background. It felt like a really significant event, and one quite laden with emotion, which I suppose is how it should be.
The ceremony lasted 20 minutes or so, we signed our marriage certificate, and the formal part of the day was done.
We spent about half an hour walking around the gardens having photos taken, which was more enjoyable than I had expected it to be. Usually I don't like being the centre of attention and I had expected posing in a wedding dress in public gardens to be a difficult scenario. However, on the day I didn't really think about it and indeed I quite enjoyed it (!).
From photos to food, and we had our afternoon high tea reception organised via Antiquitea. I can not speak highly enough of this company, which works to organise just about everything you could want organised for an afternoon tea event. I am so grateful for their efforts in making sure that part of the day went off smoothly. They also provide gorgeous vintage china which made the occasion seem far more special than standard white plates would have done.
I didn't pursue vegan catering because it seemed too difficult, and having the pre-wedding vegan high tea was enough to satisfy my own taste buds. The food for Saturday incorporated sandwiches (avocado and vegetable relish; avocado and chicken; smoked salmon and cream cheese), scones, lemon macarons, and savoury scrolls. That food came via Antiquitea, and we ordered cupcakes separately so that I could have a vegan variety for those. The variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian seemed to cater to everyone's tastes.
The cupcakes were in lieu of a wedding cake and included peppermint crisp and vegan vanilla flavours, from Kustom Cupcakes. They were fluffy and very well received.
They weren't presented in the box on the day...
In all, it was a beautiful afternoon, and one for which I am very grateful. Grateful for Mr Bite, first and foremost, and for this new stage of our lives; also grateful to our families for facilitating the day, and to our friends and extended family members who weren't invited but understood our preference for small!
This week is a return to normal life, before we head to Europe on Saturday night, but it doesn't really feel 'normal' and indeed feels very special.
Thank you again for the many congratulations and well wishes on my previous post. We both enjoyed reading through the comments and your kind words are much appreciated!
