The invitations have been sent hing is official now ‐ I can’t believe it. I suppose in the grand scheme of things we are fairly well organised, but there does seem a lot to do. I’ve got my underwear and shoes sorted out and had one disastrous trial for my hair. An hour of much pulling and tugging and the end result was I looked more like an alien than a bride. It was so bad that I couldn’t wait to take it out as soon as we left the hairdressers. Oh well, back to the drawing board on that one!
RT’s had his first suit fitting ‐ he looks amazing. When we saw the suit it was half way through being made and only had one arm. The trousers weren’t quite finished but he still managed to try on some shirt and tie options. He has decided from here on he will put together the outfit in secret on his own so that there are still some surprises for me on the day. Perhaps a little risky, but if it’s what he wants…
We spent the weekend before last with Mum and Paul organising this mammoth event. On Saturday we saw Rozza the Vicar to go over what we want on the day. He was brillian! Judging by some of the stories that we hear from friends we are really lucky to find someone who is flexible and open to our suggestions. We did joke with him that we might end up paying double for the service as I think it might go on a bit. We’ve lots of readings, but he seems more than happy to tailor the service exactly as we want it, which is great. We took the keys to the church from him and went in to have a good look at everything ‐ RT turned on the organ and played a few pieces of music whilst I envisioned walking down the aisle and the flow of the service ‐ we even had chance to practise our wedding kiss! It was a really special time, it made everything seem so personal to us. Rozza has suggested that at our rehearsal it’s just the three of us. That way we’ll have some time to make sure we are comfortable with everything before the wedding party arrive to be told what to do and when. We’re really pleased with this suggestion and think that it’s a lovely way to prepare for our vows.
On Sunday whilst Paul and RT played golf, Mum and I had an assembly line putting together the invitations. We included the actual invitation, an invitation to the Sunday lunch and also a map for between the church and hotel. They are absolutely stunning. One of my more brilliant ideas was to learn calligraphy to write the names on the invitations and the addresses on the envelopes. Of course this never quite materialised so we got someone to do them for us. She did a much better job than I ever would have been able to and we all love them.
As I took last week off work, I said I would post them. RT and I travelled back to London with our precious cargo and were relieved to get them into our house with no stains or sploges in sight! Actually posting them should have been the easy bit, but I’m embarrassed to admit that even this turned into a major event. I spent the Monday travelling around with them in my car stopping twice at two different Post Offices to buy the stamps and then rejecting them because they didn’t feel “special” enough. What has this wedding turned me into?! In desperation, RT offered to meet me at the post office near home and do the deed with me. It was lovely ‐ the man behind the counter was wishing us luck and many years of happiness. We left on such a high that we had to go to our local bar for a bottle of champagne to celebrate!!!
We now have a pretty clear idea of what we want our service to be like. We’ve chosen hymns and readings as well as most of the music. There is one slight hiccup with the music I’m sure we’ll run into however. I spent the previous week driving to work and listening to the one of those wedding music CD’s – RT and I had chosen one piece for me to walk into – and frequently I would have tears of happiness whilst sitting in rush hour traffic as I envisioned seeing him for the first time. Unfortunately when we played it to Mum and Paul at the weekend Mum remarked it was more like advertising music… whoops!! Big lesson here, there are some things that you’re never going to get everybody to agree on. Iin our case with the music. We’re not opening that decision up for discussion – this way we’ll get what we want. However, Mum has redeemed herself and is going with our family friend to choose the material for the bridesmaid’s dresses. She and I have been to a few department stores and know exactly what we want colour wise, but she wants Fiona (who is making them) to help decide what is the best actual fabric to make the dresses in. Mum’s also looking after the flowers for the Church. Although I have given her some ideas, she is so creative that I’m certain she’ll do a lovely job. It’ll make walking into the church all the more special on the day. It’s actually quite nice to have bits of the wedding that other people have complete control of. It’s so easy to obsess about every little detail and forget about the real reason why we’re doing this – it’s not about the colour/size/smell of the flowers (though sometimes it feels that way), but about me committing to spend the rest of my life with the man I love.
RT and I spent Easter Weekend in Greece – he was out there on business and I joined him on Thursday morning – we had a lovely time just the two of us – we hired a jeep and went travelling around the Peloponese, stopping for lunch in little tavernas and spending the nights in tiny hotels. It was lovely. It seems the more time I spend with him the more I fall in love with him. When he proposed to me I didn’t think that I could be any happier or more in love, but the months that we’ve spent planning our wedding have been amazing. More than ever I really understand and believe in the commitment I’m making – now I just want June 15th to happen.
