Less than 5 weeks to go ‐ I can’t believe it! We are getting so excited now that everything seems to be coming together finally and we’re in the last days of countdown. We’ve had a very “weddingy” few weeks, The weekend before last was the wedding of Jo, one of my best friends, and Nick, one of RT’s best men. It went brilliantly. The weather was lousy on the Friday, but it brightened up for Saturday and set the scene for an amazing day. At 3pm Jo walked down the aisle looking absolutely beautiful. The service was lovely ‐ I did a reading for them which was nice and then we moved on to the reception. It was great going to a wedding so close to ours as it really meant we were able to see the way things flowed. For example, we made a final decision on having a line‐up to greet our guests and came away with lots of things to think about ‐ how long to spend having photos, what time we want to leave our reception etc.
After lunch with the wedding party on the Sunday, RT and I travelled down to Oxford to Mum and Paul’s where my sister and her family were staying along with our friend Fiona (who is making the bridesmaids dresses). This was the official “measuring time”. It was also the time that we received our first wedding present, which completely bowled us over. Fiona and her sons have given us two stunning silver picture frames ‐ one large, which will probably hold our main wedding photo, and one small which I think will be perfect for beside our bed. I was having the week off work so on Tuesday morning I went to the Registrar’s office to register our marriage (we’re not having banns as RT is American), and then proceeded onto a health spa with my friend Sarah for 4 days of total pre‐wedding pampering and relaxation. Ever since Sarah and I lived together 5 years ago we’ve always said we’d have some sort of holiday before either of us got married and this proved to be the perfect way to spend a few days. We did very little whilst we were there, I managed a swim every day but apart from that it was massages and facials all the way. Something must have worked, as I’m now only 2 pounds from my target “wedding weight”. On Saturday I had a hair trial and after much debate and for some reason hysterical laughter we all agreed on what to do on the big day.
This is no bad thing as I’m having my first dress fitting in 2 days. Under 5 weeks before the wedding and I’ve still not decided on a veil (whether to have one or not) and what style to have if I do have one. This decision will be made when I’ve got the dress on, as I didn’t think I could make it before then. The place where I’m getting the dress from have assured me that whatever I decide they will be able to organise in plenty of time. At least they seem confident that everything will happen before the big day even if I think we’re cutting it fine. RT, as usual, has been working incredibly hard ‐ he’ll be more than ready for our honeymoon break when it finally comes. Before that time we’ve got a weekend away planned and I’ve one or two other surprise’s instore for him which will be great fun. His Dad and step‐mum are arriving on the Sunday before the wedding ‐ RT will arrive back from his Stag weekend on the Monday morning ‐ so we’ll have a good few days with them before going up to Oxford. We’ve decided to try and pack for our honeymoon before they arrive so that we can just relax and enjoy being with them ‐ that’s the theory anyhow. I’m told that the couple of weeks before the wedding can be pretty frantic, if nothing else because you’re running on nervous energy. The whole time sounds amazing to me I just can’t wait for the next few weeks to fly by so that we can get started.
This weekend we’re going to our reception hotel to finalise details of our menu, wines and the general flow of the day. Our biggest issue is how we are going to fit in our 89 confirmed guests into a place they say holds 70! We are all adamant that when we booked the hotel we were told 90 guests was OK, albeit it at a squeeze, so fingers crossed that this isn’t our selective memory and we can sort it out. Otherwise we’ll have people sitting on each others knees. We’re also hoping to see Rozza the Vicar to finalise our order of service. We’re virtually there ‐ we’ve decided all the readings, and hymns and are 95% sure about the processional and recessional music. I’m biased of course, but I think that it is going to be the best service ever. I try and think what I’m looking forward to the most about the whole weekend. Right now it is definitely the service, seeing RT for the first time, making our vows to one another and then walking out of the church as Mr and Mrs Thornton ready to start our new life together ‐ I can’t wait!
