Purple and Pearls

Friday 5th November

Once I’d admitted defeat and realised there was no way I was going to get back to sleep, I crept out of bed, tiptoed towards the bathroom, stubbed my toe on my case, cursed in whispers with pain as to not to wake Paul and waited until I was in the bathroom before turning on the light.  I waited for my eyes to adjust to the harsh brightness, then ran myself a bath, which I somehow managed to completely mess up.  First it was scolding hot, then freezing cold. By the time I had the temperature just right I had about 5 minutes to wash before I was due to meet at my parents room before breakfast.

When I’d finished in the bathroom, had changed into my “bride-to-be” vest the girls had made for my hen party I gathered all my belongings from my room ready to take to my parents, not before Paul woke up and said “Wedding!” and then fell straight back to sleep.

When I arrived, Suzie and Hayley were already in my parents room and I was offered a cup of tea and a biscuit. Leaving my Dad with a list of jobs we headed down to breakfast where my other two bridesmaids Sophie and Natalie and my Nan and Aunt were waiting for us. The waiting staff were lovely and had reserved a table for us so we could all sit together. I managed to force down half a bowl of Rice Krispies and a few bites of toast. The ladies serving us were very put out when I declined a cooked breakfast and brought yet another basket of toast (They must have given us a loaf already!) I can’t fault them though, all the staff at Nailcote were beyond brilliant.

Has: I woke up early as I couldn’t sleep either, I carefully shaved before carrying on where we left off from the previous night, playing Xbox with my nephew.  My brother made me a ‘Man v Food’ Style bacon sandwich and we watched trashy daytime TV.

We left the hotel at 8 to be at our 8.30 appointment at the hairdressers, we’d overlooked the fact that it was a Friday and that meant rush hour.  Hayley did her best to get us there on time, but I have to admit it did nothing for my nerves. It was at this point I began to feel shaky and there were definite butterflies in my belly. We made it there a little after 8.30, to find my hairdresser Jo, waiting for us with a big smile.   I was lead to the chair and the other stylists invited my bridesmaids to their seats so they could get started.

It took about an hour and a half for all of us to have our hair finished and we all left loving our new locks. The drive back to Nailcote was no less hairy than the drive there. Hayley suffered from a severe case of Road Rage as she raced to get us back to the hotel in time.

Once safely back at the hotel we headed to my parents room where we would be getting ready. We scoffed down a few sandwiches, crisps and other goodies before my godmother Dawn asked me if I wanted her to dress the ceremony room with the fabric hearts Has’ Mom Sue had made. I nodded and she disappeared, 5 minutes later she reappeared explaining that the ceremony room chairs had chair covers. We had asked for the covers to be on the chairs in the marquee and we would be using our own decorations for the ceremony room.

Mom told me that Has wouldn’t be at the hotel for at least another 40 minutes so I should go over to see what had happened. When we got there the people who had put all the covers on looked less than impressed and one of our coordinators Michelle o said “They’ve put your covers in the wrong place!” At this point I not about to start worrying about chair covers!  Michelle ordered the suppliers to remove the covers and take them over the the marquee, whilst I explained to Dawn, Hayley, Suzie and my Mom how they were to be tied on to the chairs.  They ordered me back into hiding and sent me to the room in case Has showed up.   From what I hear quite a few people got stuck in and helped tie the the hearts on, including a few early wedding guests!

Has: I spent the rest of the morning thinking about what the day would be like and practicing my speech, over and over. Me and Mos then made our way to the venue, joking about married life and listening to Flight of the Conchords. As we pulled up to the venue my other brother and best man Taz, my Mom and cousin Abdul (who had flew from L.A to be with us) were standing outside talking, we hugged and greeted each other and went into the bar area. I admit I was starting to feel slightly nervous and it really hit me when I started to see the guests arriving. I had planned to call Lauras mum when I got to the venue to find out where I could get changed but I had no signal and no one seemed to know which room I could use. This didn’t help my anxiety, but Laura’s God parent Trevor was on the job to find me a room.

I ran back to the room nervously looking around, not wanting to bump in Has and found Deborah Stott our photographer. She came with me to our room where Harriet was painting my Nan’s nails. From here on in it everything becomes rather hazzy. Whilst Harriet painted nails I flapped around the room making a cup of tea for Deborah and trying to force a few sandwiches down.

Image Credit: Stott Weddings

Soon after Suzie, Hayley my Mom and Auntie Dawn made it back from tying the hearts on the chairs.  Sarah from Blue Door Bakery also stopped by the room to say hello. As well as supplying our wedding cupcakes Sarah has become a really good friend, she came in with a box of “whilst you’re getting ready” cupcakes and a beautiful Cherry Pie Lane stone heart engraved with our names and wedding date from her and another good friend and cupcake lover Kerry. I gave her a small present to thank her for all her help over the last year, then we hugged and said goodbye.

Image Credit: Stott Weddings

At the point Harriet had finished making up the two youngest bridesmaids Natalie and Sophie and they left to get ready in another room. I couldn’t stand still, as glamorous as it sounds I was also sweating, I practically used a whole roll of deodorant and resorted to tissues. I did tell Deborah I was about to do something very unlady like and for her to not capture it on film, before shoving wods of tissues under my arms.

Has: After mingling with a few guests who had arrived early I had a look at the ceremony room and the marquee. Both rooms looked perfect and I was really pleased with everything. It was now time to get suited and booted. I made my way to Laura’s brothers room and started to get changed, my usher was already working hard and finding me my first pint of the day. Once changed I made my way back to the bar area to say hello to more guests and to find someone who knew how to pin my button hole!

I kept being told to sit down but I just couldn’t stay still for a second I paced the room, nerves filling my belly and my heart pounding in my chest. I mentioned to Deborah that I wanted to get a photo of Suzie putting on my necklace like the one we had had taken on her wedding day. It was at this point that the tears started. I looked at Suzie who had watery eyes and couldn’t hold back any longer.  We had to change the subject quickly, I have no idea to what but it worked and we managed to all calm down long enough to form a bridesmaid chain. I did up the back of Suzie’s corset whilst she did Hayley’s. This wasn’t the easiest of tasks with shaky fingers and I have to admit my language was a little foul!!

Image Credit: Stott Weddings

Before I finished lacing up, Harriet called for me from the bathroom (The room with the best light) to say it was my turn to be made up. The room we were getting ready in was right above the walk way to the ceremony room, I was a little nervous about being seated so close to the window in case anyone saw me, but Harriet sat me with my back to the window and told me to close my eyes whilst she attached my flutter-tastic eyelashes. She did her best to calm me, but I don’t think I said more than 3 words to her. I could hear the voices of people down underneath our window and tried to identify them, which was strangely calming.

Image Credit: Stott Weddings

I was soon finished and made my way back into the bedroom to find everyone was made up and Sophie and Natalie had come back to the room.

Has: Carol (our on the day coordinator) introduced herself and walked myself, best men and ushers to the ceremony room. After giving the ushers their orders she took me to a room to meet the registrar. I was asked the usual questions regarding names, dates of birth etc But they caught by surprise when they started asking me questions like “ Do you want the rings on a pillow?” and “Would you like me to say kiss the bride?” Me and Laura hadn’t talked about these things so I thought the safest thing to do was to reply  “I would check with Laura!”.

The time had come to put on my dress. Dressed in only my stockings and underwear I think it took 3 people to help me in, I was concentrating so hard on breathing at this point that I don’t even remember who! Suzie helped me put on my necklace and I struggled to hold it together.

Image Credit: Stott Weddings

Once the dress was on, I lost control of my emotions.  I found it hard to speak, breathe or focus on even the smallest task.  I struggled to put my jewellery and had to have help from my Mom.  The nerves really did hit me.

Image Credit: Stott Weddings

Then there was a knock at the door and I knew instantly who it was. It was my Dad. Someone asked me if it was ok for him to come in, I silently nodded as the tears streamed down my face, I couldn’t look at him, all I heard in a shaky voice were the words “Oh my god” we just hugged, crying on each other. I knew seeing my Dad for the first time would be hard emotionally, but it was more overwhelming than I ever imagined it to be. It is a precious memory I will never forget.

Image Credit: Stott Weddings

I think we broke the tension with a joke, and as we wiped our eyes, tidied up my make up and laughed at the situation, I started to feel a lot better.  The tension in the room had lifted and whilst I was still a little shaky I was definitely more focused.  All ready to go we waited patiently in the room for Carol our coordinator to collect us. We kept it very light hearted and even spied out of the window to see if we could catch a glimpse of any guests arriving.

Image Credit: Stott Weddings

We had a few photos taken, gathered up our flowers, spritzed ourselves with perfume and prepared ourselves mentally for what was about to happen.  Out of the corner of my eye, through the window I saw Carol making her way to collect us. I threw my phone at Mom with the order to take our photo “Quick, take our pictures!” I have had so much support on Twitter that I wanted to give everyone a little sneak peak before the day began.  I simply wrote “Show time” and sent it along with a photo of me, Suzie and Hayley.

Image Credit: Stott Weddings

Carol was here, checking we had picked up everything we needed, we made our way downstairs. It had been raining all morning, but thankfully for the short walk outside to the ceremony room it had stopped. The floor was wet so I had an army of people lift my train from the ground until I made it to the entry way to our ceremony room. The first person I saw was my brother Paul, he came over kissed me on the cheek, gave me a squeezed and told me I looked beautiful. I then noticed our two friends Ian and Geoff who we had roped into filming parts of our day for us. They both put in 110% and they didn’t stop all day. Ian came over to me and we joked about how our friend Geoff was wearing a shirt (unheard of!)   Carol told me that Has was still being interviewed and that they were “really grilling him” I asked her if Has was ok and whether he was nervous. She told me he was fine and about 5 minutes later she told me it was time for my interview.

Has: After going through various questions with the registrar, which seem to take an age, it was time to take my position in the ceremony room. I walked in to find nearly all the guests in their seats, it was a strange feeling to see all those people waiting for me. From this point to when Laura walked down the aisle seemed to last forever. While my nerves were there I soon started to relax as I realized I was with all my friends and family. My best men did their best to calm me, Mos at one point announced to the guests  “give it another 5 minutes, but then start to make your way home as clearly she’s had second thoughts”.   Also Laura had bought me a flask full of jagermiester the previous day, which was also helping the nerves.

Image Credit: Stott Weddings

From the interview room I could see the back row of our guests waiting for me, I peeked slightly to see who I could spot before being reminded by the registrars that if I could see them, then they could see me!  The registrars were lovely they offered me a drink of water, which I didn’t realise how much I wanted and questioned me to make sure I was who I claimed to be.  Once the interview was over I was walked back to join the others  and stood just out of sight at the top of the stairs and waited nervously until it was time.