After 14 years, a house, 2 kids and several foster children, my niece and her lovely partner, finally tied the knot last weekend.
Our daughter had already happily accepted the invitation to be the brides matron of honour. Then with the bride, three other bridesmaids, a page boy and the mother of the bride needing somewhere to get wedding ready, and having enough space, our house became a hive of activity the morning of the big day.
The hair dressers and make up artist arrived at 9.30. half an hour before the rest of the wedding party! 🤣 Despite the hustle and bustle of 6 heads of hair to be beautified and 6 faces to be made up, the glasses of bubbly kept the atmosphere very calm and relaxed. Having dropped his bride off earlier a slightly stressed groom returned to deliver the flowers he had collected, which was quickly followed by a delivery of lunch ordered by the bride to keep us all going.
With their hair and make up complete and lunch consumed the smaller bridesmaids and page boy were dressed in their finery and the excitement started to emerge. The two older bridesmaids, who had originally declared they don’t do dresses, were skipping and twirling around in their floaty skirts and happy to pose for photos.
With taxis ordered for the remainder of our household, we all got ourselves ready and took numerous photos, before we headed off to the venue, leaving the bride to step into her gown.
Our lovely neighbours are proud owners of a vintage bus and generously offered to transport the wedding party from our house to the wedding venue. The little ones especially were so excited, with the bride and her mum also enjoying the unique journey to the wedding.
The venue itself was also pretty unique, a huge lawn surrounded by woods with two beautiful lakes. A marquee housed our tables and the dance floor for the evening, but the ceremony was performed in the open air next to a gorgeous archway, the guests taking their seats on hay bales. The weather was kind to us with the rain shower holding off till later.
Having children of their own, the wedding was incredibly inclusive for the children of guests, with a ball pit and face painting for the smaller ones and inflatable sumo outfits for the older ones, not to mention a huge lawn to run around on. When they needed a break there was also ice creams on offer all day long. Quite a few of the adults took advantage of the ice cream too.
With the bar open and a hog roast for dinner, the party started. The cameras kept clicking as everyone caught up with family and friends, many of whom had not seen each other since before the pandemic. The fabulous venue giving spectacular backdrops to the pictures. When the photo booth arrived the camera snapping moved inside, with both adults and children queuing to join in the fun.
The Dj entertained the kids with games and dancing, before turning her attention to games for the adults. with everyone suitably warmed up,and the cutting of the cake, beautifully made by my sister (the mother of the bride), had taken place, the newly weds took to the dance floor for their first dance as Mr & Mrs.
With the adults now taking to the dance floor, many had kicked off their high heeled shoes and taken advantage of the flip flops generously provided and the kids continued having fun running around outside, interspersed with gorging on ice creams and occasionally seeking out their parents for a drink to cool themselves down.
The newly weds had thought of everything to keep all their guests, both young and old, happy and entertained throughout the day.
It was a glorious venue and a perfect day.
We wish them every happiness in their continued life together.
