Champagne and crumpets, my November wedding blog *We did it! Photos included*
- Thread starter emyandpotato
- Start date
emyandpotato
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2011
- Messages
- 9,419
- Reaction score
- 0
Thank you all for the well wishes! It went really well, with a few little hiccups but the day itself was good I think! Obviously don't have photos yet but here are the instagrams from our hashtag: https://www.facebook.com/amyk.hamps...10153392285620541.1073741835.593935540&type=3
emyandpotato
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2011
- Messages
- 9,419
- Reaction score
- 0
Thank you Tasha! 
Okay, will update now as stuck in a hotel room in the dark and silence cos can't wake/leave Rory, so nothing better to do- great excuse for it
Basically, Tuesday and Wednesday were the most stressful days of my life. I was running around feeling as if I was literally having a seizure and couldn't think and felt sick just from stress and the sheer amount of stuff I had to do, it was crazy! Couldn't even see straight! Setting up took soo much longer than I thought, and my mum arrived with half of my set up gear 5 hours late which didn't exactly help! Did eventually get it all done on Wednesday and could hurriedly go and and fix my hair and makeup, and managed to only be ten minutes late for my vows!
A fair few bits went wrong, but it worked out okay I guess. The main mess ups were probably silly to everyone else but gave me heart attacks!
First of all, I had to wash one of my table cloths (I made four 5 metre ones and they joined in the middle of the 10 metre trestles) and on the day I realised it was a slightly different colour to the other, equalling a mini melt down and emergency placements of the world's largest cloche over the join to hide it. In the end though it wasn't noticeable by the candle light.
Then there were the tables. I got them from Virginia's Vintage Hire and they were all okay but the legs were so big they made sitting so awkward it was horrible! also you could see the legs which I wasn't happy about but with all the chairs around it wasn't too bad I guess, but not as perfect as I was hoping. Might have also shoved people closer together cos it would have forced people to be sociable! I felt that people could have talked more, but maybe I'm paranoid!
Also I didn't get time to do half the stuff I wanted getting ready wise. Was so rushed! My nails were chipped and didn't even care. Didn't do my body wrap, or tan, or even fix my makeup as I wanted, and I lost track of diet pills ages ago! Oh and I gave up on tattoo coverage, but looking at the photos I can't even see it. It was okay in the end and I felt nice but it would have been good to have some time to chill and just pamper myself and look pretty! Also wanted some alone time to get a good selfie in my dress Just cos I hate photos so I thought I'd at least get one I loved, but didn't have time! In fact when my photographer turned up I hadn't even brushed my teeth- Chris went off with the bloody toothbrush and paste!!!- and I was incredibly embarrassed at making her wait, as well as the mess in the room, as Rory had been pretending the sheep skin rugs were real, rideable, sheep...
Something else I am still stressing about- no idea why!!- is that my mum didn't use my five favourite platters for food, and used vile ones from the venue. In fact, she didn't let me set up the buffet table at all and said to trust her, which was fair enough, but I was kind of upset about it as they could have been used elsewhere, but never mind! I'm a bit worried about the whole set up actually, in hindsight, as it was nice but in the end I was so tired and stressed that I just did a half arsed job on the tables and I'm worried. Plus had to use white table cloths on the buffet tables (
), obviously the end of the world... But then the general look with the teepee and balloons and stuff I think worked well.
Probably my main concern was the general atmosphere. Obviously I never set it up in a traditional way, with the three courses and then a disco, as that's not us, but I did worry in the end about our way not being 'right'. I dunno... People were just doing their own thing after the buffet, with some sitting at tables talking, some playing pool, some in the cinema, some toasting crumpets (which we had to move to the library as the fire in the ballroom didn't work ), and some in the basement disco room. It was cool but strange as it felt more like a house party than a wedding, but I personally enjoyed it, just was a bit worried about everyone else, as rooms looked kind of empty when 40 people were spread across the whole house! Someone also made a comment about the disco being a flop, but I never planned for a disco, people just went to use the room themselves! I guess it would have been cool if everyone had stayed in the ballroom and danced to the records but hey ho, was good anyway! At one point we all ended up in the playroom and my friend's little girl, Raphi, insisted I ride the rocking horse I am just hoping no photos of that surface!
Oh yeah, and we couldn't have Fantastic Mr Fox! After buying it on iTunes especially, apparently there's copyright thingies on the film itself so it won't play on a projector, which sucked! Plus the projector hire guy was sooo rude and unhelpful to me. In the end we played the 70s The Great Gatsby on silent during the drinks reception with jazz on over it, which made for cool photos, and later put the sound on the film. Around 10 I think we ended up watching Pulp Fiction! 
Oh yeah, and our wedding cake- the one I made- broke in transit! So we improvised with a chocolate cake, but to be quite honest I was more upset about the table cloths!
Possibly the worst thing, and something I'm still angry about, is the attitude of Chris's uncle. He's a huge Arsenal fan, and travels to all of their home and away games- fair enough. The room I had set the cinema up in also had a large Sky TV on the wall, which I'd carefully hidden with a giant ornate and very heavy screen. The TV was on the wall adjacent to the projector screen and the sofas had been moved to face the projector screen and not the telly, obviously. At about half 7 I was sat in the cinema room talking to people and half watching the film, and just enjoying the atmosphere. Plus the kiddos were watching the film and it was just lovely- how I pictured it basically. Chris walked in with his uncle right next to him- I later found out Chris had basically been pressured in to asking- and asked if we could move the ornate screen out of the way so his uncle could watch Arsenal. So basically, ruining the room set up, ruining the film, and ruining the atmosphere. Plus it's my bloody wedding! I felt sooo awkward cos I'm such a push over in situations like that but I actually did say no, cos I paid £150 for my cinema and I was bloody well keeping it! Plus I didn't want the wedding to turn in to a football screening. So his pissy uncle then didn't speak to me all night and insisted on watching the football in the kitchen, so guess where 20 of the wedding guests ended up for half the night?! 
There's even photo evidence, which makes me sooo mad! Apart from that though, it was brilliant!
Okay, so gotten all the bad bits out of the way, here are my highlights!
The actual ceremony itself was lovely. My uncle did it and did it so well. It was very simple. I'd written it in an antique book and he just read it and it was casual and personal and lovely. We also had three readings which were lovely, especially the Dr Seuss quote, read by our friend Ben, which he made so funny it just made the day. Then we did our own vows, which I was nervous about, but it was easy really, just reading them to Chris. I cried, which I didn't expect, and half the room cried too! Afterwards people kept coming up to me and saying how lovely the vows were, which made my day! Chris's were gorgeous too. Short and sweet and funny, and very 'him', you know? I'm so glad we did our own ceremony. These were mine:
When we first met, I wasnt looking for you, but you found me anyway. And you were everything that I didnt know I needed- you were, from the first moment, a friend. Inevitably, I fell absolutely in love with you, and we have since laughed together, cried together, lived, struggled and even hated each other, but you are still, and always will be, my very best friend. You are there to laugh at me when Im being completely irrational, to encourage my weirdness, to make me smile when Im about to scream. You put up with me at my worst, but, most of all, your kindness and easy nature put me at my best.
But it isnt just two that makes up our family. To our little boy you are the whole world. Where I falter, you are there. Your devotion to him, and to our family, inspires me, gives me strength, and melts my heart.
And so, I want to invest my love in you, to honour you, and to cherish you as your wife. I promise to continue to annoy you, to steal your clothes, to take too long getting ready, and to always eat all the Doritos. I promise to hurt when you hurt, and to laugh when you laugh, to listen to you and learn from you, and to guide you through hard times as you guide me. I promise to forever be your confidant and you mine, and to take you as you are and cherish you and our family for always. I love you.
After that we did a joint 'we do' to some simply promises, and that was that! Oh, and my sister sung as we walked in, which was fantastic, everyone thought we were playing a CD and were so shocked! But it made it that bit more personal. Rory even walked down the aisle, which was a shock! But yeah, ceremony was absolutely amazing!
After that we had the drinks reception with the speeches. My dad's speech was wonderful, it really was lovely and everyone commented on it. Chris's was very sweet too but he had to cut it short as he couldn't stop crying, but it was so lovely to see him so happy and emotional. Then we had photos with our very lovely photographer, which was actually much better than I was expecting, and wasn't too awkward! She made me clamber in to the teepee for a photo which was difficult in my dress but I'm actually glad she did because shortly afterwards Raphi commandeered the teepee and our Edwardian deckchair to make a fort and no one else were allowed anywhere near
Actually, the children made the wedding. They were so sweet and lovely and lively! I don't understand why anyone bans them from the day?! Both Rory and Raphi, and at times my 11 month old niece, Steph, were running around with the huge balloons, dancing, and generally being the life and soul. At one point we found them both alone in the disco room raving with the blow up air guitars! They all stayed up as late as we did and were so cheerful the whole time, it just made everything that bit more special, and of course the day was Rory's too- I've never seen him happier, and his speech came on loads just in those two days!
To be honest, I don't even know where the time went or what we did, but it was a really lovely day! Have so many memories of just little things that I'll be able to cherish forever. And then we have our cards and gifts- which we didn't get many of as he stated that we didn't want any, but people brought regardless to our surprise! Felt completely overwhelmed with love and gratitude with the gifts and cards, as it was so unneeded but so lovely- it was enough for people just to show up! There was also the guest book- the dictionary one (circling the word and note and name in margin) and loads of people used it. It's packed at the moment but cannot wait to unpack it and have a read!
Overall it was really good. I feel really happy and chilled out and loving seeing all the photos. Having everyone I loved there and being able to show Chris how much I loved him was just wonderful, and it was much more emotional than I expected. Truly was (from ceremony onwards, we won't talk about the morning ) the best day of my life! Might not have been the sort of wedding everyone would go for but it was perfect for us.
I'm sure there's loads more but for now I can't think of anything. Will update when I get my proper photos! Thank you all so much for the help in putting it together!
Okay, will update now as stuck in a hotel room in the dark and silence cos can't wake/leave Rory, so nothing better to do- great excuse for it
Basically, Tuesday and Wednesday were the most stressful days of my life. I was running around feeling as if I was literally having a seizure and couldn't think and felt sick just from stress and the sheer amount of stuff I had to do, it was crazy! Couldn't even see straight! Setting up took soo much longer than I thought, and my mum arrived with half of my set up gear 5 hours late which didn't exactly help! Did eventually get it all done on Wednesday and could hurriedly go and and fix my hair and makeup, and managed to only be ten minutes late for my vows!
A fair few bits went wrong, but it worked out okay I guess. The main mess ups were probably silly to everyone else but gave me heart attacks!
First of all, I had to wash one of my table cloths (I made four 5 metre ones and they joined in the middle of the 10 metre trestles) and on the day I realised it was a slightly different colour to the other, equalling a mini melt down and emergency placements of the world's largest cloche over the join to hide it. In the end though it wasn't noticeable by the candle light.
Then there were the tables. I got them from Virginia's Vintage Hire and they were all okay but the legs were so big they made sitting so awkward it was horrible! also you could see the legs which I wasn't happy about but with all the chairs around it wasn't too bad I guess, but not as perfect as I was hoping. Might have also shoved people closer together cos it would have forced people to be sociable! I felt that people could have talked more, but maybe I'm paranoid!
Also I didn't get time to do half the stuff I wanted getting ready wise. Was so rushed! My nails were chipped and didn't even care. Didn't do my body wrap, or tan, or even fix my makeup as I wanted, and I lost track of diet pills ages ago! Oh and I gave up on tattoo coverage, but looking at the photos I can't even see it. It was okay in the end and I felt nice but it would have been good to have some time to chill and just pamper myself and look pretty! Also wanted some alone time to get a good selfie in my dress
Just cos I hate photos so I thought I'd at least get one I loved, but didn't have time! In fact when my photographer turned up I hadn't even brushed my teeth- Chris went off with the bloody toothbrush and paste!!!- and I was incredibly embarrassed at making her wait, as well as the mess in the room, as Rory had been pretending the sheep skin rugs were real, rideable, sheep... Something else I am still stressing about- no idea why!!- is that my mum didn't use my five favourite platters for food, and used vile ones from the venue. In fact, she didn't let me set up the buffet table at all and said to trust her, which was fair enough, but I was kind of upset about it as they could have been used elsewhere, but never mind! I'm a bit worried about the whole set up actually, in hindsight, as it was nice but in the end I was so tired and stressed that I just did a half arsed job on the tables and I'm worried. Plus had to use white table cloths on the buffet tables (
), obviously the end of the world... But then the general look with the teepee and balloons and stuff I think worked well. Probably my main concern was the general atmosphere. Obviously I never set it up in a traditional way, with the three courses and then a disco, as that's not us, but I did worry in the end about our way not being 'right'. I dunno... People were just doing their own thing after the buffet, with some sitting at tables talking, some playing pool, some in the cinema, some toasting crumpets (which we had to move to the library as the fire in the ballroom didn't work
), and some in the basement disco room. It was cool but strange as it felt more like a house party than a wedding, but I personally enjoyed it, just was a bit worried about everyone else, as rooms looked kind of empty when 40 people were spread across the whole house! Someone also made a comment about the disco being a flop, but I never planned for a disco, people just went to use the room themselves! I guess it would have been cool if everyone had stayed in the ballroom and danced to the records but hey ho, was good anyway! At one point we all ended up in the playroom and my friend's little girl, Raphi, insisted I ride the rocking horse I am just hoping no photos of that surface! Oh yeah, and we couldn't have Fantastic Mr Fox!
After buying it on iTunes especially, apparently there's copyright thingies on the film itself so it won't play on a projector, which sucked! Plus the projector hire guy was sooo rude and unhelpful to me. In the end we played the 70s The Great Gatsby on silent during the drinks reception with jazz on over it, which made for cool photos, and later put the sound on the film. Around 10 I think we ended up watching Pulp Fiction! Oh yeah, and our wedding cake- the one I made- broke in transit!
So we improvised with a chocolate cake, but to be quite honest I was more upset about the table cloths! Possibly the worst thing, and something I'm still angry about, is the attitude of Chris's uncle. He's a huge Arsenal fan, and travels to all of their home and away games- fair enough. The room I had set the cinema up in also had a large Sky TV on the wall, which I'd carefully hidden with a giant ornate and very heavy screen. The TV was on the wall adjacent to the projector screen and the sofas had been moved to face the projector screen and not the telly, obviously. At about half 7 I was sat in the cinema room talking to people and half watching the film, and just enjoying the atmosphere. Plus the kiddos were watching the film and it was just lovely- how I pictured it basically. Chris walked in with his uncle right next to him- I later found out Chris had basically been pressured in to asking- and asked if we could move the ornate screen out of the way so his uncle could watch Arsenal. So basically, ruining the room set up, ruining the film, and ruining the atmosphere. Plus it's my bloody wedding! I felt sooo awkward cos I'm such a push over in situations like that but I actually did say no, cos I paid £150 for my cinema and I was bloody well keeping it! Plus I didn't want the wedding to turn in to a football screening. So his pissy uncle then didn't speak to me all night and insisted on watching the football in the kitchen, so guess where 20 of the wedding guests ended up for half the night?!
There's even photo evidence, which makes me sooo mad! Apart from that though, it was brilliant! Okay, so gotten all the bad bits out of the way, here are my highlights!
The actual ceremony itself was lovely. My uncle did it and did it so well. It was very simple. I'd written it in an antique book and he just read it and it was casual and personal and lovely. We also had three readings which were lovely, especially the Dr Seuss quote, read by our friend Ben, which he made so funny it just made the day. Then we did our own vows, which I was nervous about, but it was easy really, just reading them to Chris. I cried, which I didn't expect, and half the room cried too! Afterwards people kept coming up to me and saying how lovely the vows were, which made my day! Chris's were gorgeous too. Short and sweet and funny, and very 'him', you know? I'm so glad we did our own ceremony. These were mine:
When we first met, I wasnt looking for you, but you found me anyway. And you were everything that I didnt know I needed- you were, from the first moment, a friend. Inevitably, I fell absolutely in love with you, and we have since laughed together, cried together, lived, struggled and even hated each other, but you are still, and always will be, my very best friend. You are there to laugh at me when Im being completely irrational, to encourage my weirdness, to make me smile when Im about to scream. You put up with me at my worst, but, most of all, your kindness and easy nature put me at my best.
But it isnt just two that makes up our family. To our little boy you are the whole world. Where I falter, you are there. Your devotion to him, and to our family, inspires me, gives me strength, and melts my heart.
And so, I want to invest my love in you, to honour you, and to cherish you as your wife. I promise to continue to annoy you, to steal your clothes, to take too long getting ready, and to always eat all the Doritos. I promise to hurt when you hurt, and to laugh when you laugh, to listen to you and learn from you, and to guide you through hard times as you guide me. I promise to forever be your confidant and you mine, and to take you as you are and cherish you and our family for always. I love you.
After that we did a joint 'we do' to some simply promises, and that was that! Oh, and my sister sung as we walked in, which was fantastic, everyone thought we were playing a CD and were so shocked! But it made it that bit more personal. Rory even walked down the aisle, which was a shock! But yeah, ceremony was absolutely amazing!
After that we had the drinks reception with the speeches. My dad's speech was wonderful, it really was lovely and everyone commented on it. Chris's was very sweet too but he had to cut it short as he couldn't stop crying, but it was so lovely to see him so happy and emotional. Then we had photos with our very lovely photographer, which was actually much better than I was expecting, and wasn't too awkward! She made me clamber in to the teepee for a photo which was difficult in my dress but I'm actually glad she did because shortly afterwards Raphi commandeered the teepee and our Edwardian deckchair to make a fort and no one else were allowed anywhere near
Actually, the children made the wedding. They were so sweet and lovely and lively! I don't understand why anyone bans them from the day?! Both Rory and Raphi, and at times my 11 month old niece, Steph, were running around with the huge balloons, dancing, and generally being the life and soul. At one point we found them both alone in the disco room raving with the blow up air guitars!
They all stayed up as late as we did and were so cheerful the whole time, it just made everything that bit more special, and of course the day was Rory's too- I've never seen him happier, and his speech came on loads just in those two days! To be honest, I don't even know where the time went or what we did, but it was a really lovely day! Have so many memories of just little things that I'll be able to cherish forever. And then we have our cards and gifts- which we didn't get many of as he stated that we didn't want any, but people brought regardless to our surprise! Felt completely overwhelmed with love and gratitude with the gifts and cards, as it was so unneeded but so lovely- it was enough for people just to show up! There was also the guest book- the dictionary one (circling the word and note and name in margin) and loads of people used it. It's packed at the moment but cannot wait to unpack it and have a read!
Overall it was really good. I feel really happy and chilled out and loving seeing all the photos. Having everyone I loved there and being able to show Chris how much I loved him was just wonderful, and it was much more emotional than I expected. Truly was (from ceremony onwards, we won't talk about the morning
) the best day of my life! Might not have been the sort of wedding everyone would go for but it was perfect for us. I'm sure there's loads more but for now I can't think of anything. Will update when I get my proper photos! Thank you all so much for the help in putting it together!
wishuwerehere
dh, me and 2dds
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2009
- Messages
- 3,827
- Reaction score
- 0
Congratulations!
lovelylaura
3 little girls
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2010
- Messages
- 3,521
- Reaction score
- 1
Congratulations! sounds really lovely! xx
emyandpotato
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2011
- Messages
- 9,419
- Reaction score
- 0
geordie_gal
Mam of one baby boy!
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2013
- Messages
- 766
- Reaction score
- 0
I cant wait to see all your pics you looked gorgeous xx
emyandpotato
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2011
- Messages
- 9,419
- Reaction score
- 0
Thank you! Me too, so excited!
I love the pics xxemyandpotato
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2011
- Messages
- 9,419
- Reaction score
- 0
Thank you! Just spoke to our photographer, get our photos this weekend!!!! 
