Photos part 1

Table decorations

Setting up the marquee

 Thank you Joy for providing the photos - she was my photographer for the day so that I could enjoy every moment. Lucy provided the photo of the confetti throwing. 

see post below for part 1 of the wedding

The marquee in all its glory

The tables before cutlery and glasses

A table decoration

Centre of table

Tandem - decorated

Porch flowers

Decorated aisle

Window arrangement

Pedestal number 1

The church getting ready

A sneaky peak at the bride and groom

Me minus hat!

Wedding part 1 setting up!

We had a magical day on Saturday. Chloe text me as she and Ed travelled in the taxi to their hotel on Saturday evening and said - Mumlet it was perfect. I want to do it all again! 

I have decided to write about it in sections. For those of you who don't like detail you can stop reading now! I will put photos in a separate post.

Wednesday - Flowers collected, Chloe and Ed arrived along with Hilary and Kit, flowers arranged in wooden pots for the table decorations

Thursday - Flowers arranged in church (pedestal for the first time!), nails painted at Gilding the Lily 

Friday 
The day dawned with a beautiful sunny morning. Earlish start for breakfast - with Hilary (chief bridesmaid), Chloe and Ed. Then Ed, Chloe and Paul left to meet the marquee people before they began the huge task of erecting the marquee. Back to meet up with Kit and Talia and we left for the last dress fitting at Confetti (wedding dress shop). Talia had a lesson in lacing the dress (quite a tricky task) and all was well. The dress and veil looked beautiful - all neatly ironed. I also picked up my dress which had been adjusted for the last time. We were just about to leave when we had a text from Paul saying that the flowers had fallen over. We weren't too concerned as we thought he was at home and meant the flowers in a vase. Unfortunately we discovered he had gone to open the church and had discovered the very large pedestal of flowers had tipped over and was lying on the floor - the oasis shattered into a hundred tiny pieces!  So off we set on a mercy mission to rescue the flowers. On the way I phoned our flower arranger from church who (thankfully) was able to also come to the rescue. We decided to laugh about this as there was nothing we could do about it. We carefully removed all the flowers from the heap of broken oasis and ordered them and then using new oasis, which we attached very, very firmly to the stand, we re-arranged the flowers. Thankfully only a few had been damaged and only one rose had been completely destroyed.  An hour later - all was well. This wasn't part of our plan but had been one of Chloe's 'bits and pieces' that we had left gaps for on Friday!
Back home for lunch - thankfully prepared by Josh and Paul. Packed lunch made for the boys who were collecting the drinks from Henley and taking them in a horse box (yes there was that much) to the caterers to keep cool until Saturday. 
2pm rehearsal at the church with bridesmaids, ushers, mums, dads and best man and bride and groom. Lots of practice of SLOW walking! So hard not to speed up the aisle when you feel nervous. Ed's mum and I practised our crying! Then a lovely meeting on the grass, in the sunshine, where Chloe told best-man,  bridesmaids and ushers of their tasks for Saturday. It was great to see them all together. There was lots of laughing! 
Then all over to the marquee to set up. It was wonderful to see the huge marquee set out with the 100m of bunting that Chloe had made all ready, softly blowing in the breeze that was gently moving through the open doors. Although I had seen drawings of the marquee with tables etc... I couldn't quite imagine what it would look like. It was HUGE! Even on Saturday with 180 people in it, it was still huge, with plenty of space. I had worried slightly about the 'gorgeousness' ( our name for the swags until we found out the proper name) being too low and making it feel claustrophobic but it was fine. Under Chloe's direction we set up the tables with the wooden table decorations ( cut and carved out by Ed and his dad and flowers arranged by Joy, Clare, Hilary, Chloe and I), table numbers and little semperviviums (grown by Chloe) planted in little wooden pots ( cut and drilled by Ed). Each pot had a little flag with the guests name. They looked wonderful. We set up the tables and chairs etc... in the marquee and the church. With so many helpers we soon had it all done.
The boys left for a meal at Ed's dads house. We returned home to a fish and chip supper supplied by Matt and Joy - who had to stand for a very long time in a Friday evening queue. 
Earlyish night ready for the big day.

3 days....

So Wednesday is here at last. We are now in the days which we have been time tabling for so long! I woke many times in the night and had little things whirling around in my head. Eventually at 6 I got up and wrote stuff down! My first text from Chloe was ahhhhhhhhh... Which worried me slightly as I assumed that was an 'oh no' ahhhhhh not an excited ahhhh... But all is fine she was just VERY excited. The last 2 days have gone well - my sickness is a little better after an adjustment to my drugs and lots of prayer. The house is looking lovely and clean and tidy, the beds are all made in readiness for all the people coming today. The bath is full of greenery ready for the 18 table decorations we are making. Tea is cooked and out of the freezer and I am off soon to collect flowers for church and table decorations. And the sun is shining! Please pray for a little sunshine on Saturday - we can cope with some rain - umbrellas arrived yesterday - but would love some sunshine for photos. 
Thank you so much for all yor texts, emails messages etc.... It is so lovely to hear from you and share a little of our excitement with you. 
For all you young mums - what a joy it is to be part of your children's journeys and to be standing alongside them as they make forever promises and begin their new families. My mind turns to all those not with us to enjoy the day, grateful for the family life they gave us and the principles and joys they passed on which we in turn have shared with our children. Saturday will be a day which will shine in our hearts as a forever memory - speaking of the importance of family as the families join together to celebrate the wedding of 2 wonderful young people.  All is well and all will be well! 

6 days to go........

So here we are in the week before the wedding. I have thought so often of this week and what it would feel like and now we are here. All is calm - I think. Chloe and Ed are here for the weekend and seem remarkably calm but excited. Both looking forward to their day. Our house is already full of wedding 'stuff' - not much room for people. 
Unfortunately I am still being very sick which is such a nuisance and means that I am quite unreliable - as I may have my head in a bucket! Thankfully most things are done - it is just the flowers to be done this week and we can take our time. I am going to try and appreciate every moment of this week as I know how fast it will go. I am so glad we can make forever moments together. I am sure you can understand that in my quiet moments I reflect on how hard this would have been for everyone if I had not been here and I am so so thankful I am able to be here fully part of everything. What a privilidge! 

We have also discovered recently that Paul has to have his gallbladder removed. This explains the terrible pain he has been having on and off for the last 2 years. We are relieved they have at last found a reason and that it can be sorted. He has an appointment with the consultant on Tuesday and hopefully will be able to book a time for the surgery. Poor Ben will then be carer to both his parents for a while! 

The week looks a bit like this - with gaps for resting and unexpected 'bits and pieces' ( I am quite concerned about these abstract bits and pieces as I can't plan for them) 
Monday - house tidying and bed making ready for the week ahead with my lovely sister 
Tuesday - greenery obtaining for table decorations and resting in preparation for the week 
Wednesday - collecting flowers and making up table arrangements, Chloe, Ed, Hilary and Kit arrive - Ed has list of jobs 
Thursday - flower arranging in church and nails 
Friday - marquee up, tandem to church, last wedding dress fitting, collecting my dress, rehearsal, table setting, church setting up, abstract bits and pieces, fish and chip supper here, Ed having a boys night at his dads, 
Saturday - THE WEDDING! I am so looking forward to the morning of getting ready with bridesmaids, Ed's mum, aunts, hairdressers, make up lady, lots of giggling and laughter, singing and music...... The wedding is at 2pm followed by canapés and drinks ( hopefully in the sunshine), hog roast and salads, yummy puddings, speeches( must remember my tissues) cake cutting, live band, nibbles and ice cream maker...... And home by midnight! 

12 days to go!

Wow! Time is flying past so quickly. Ed and Chloe are working very hard finishing off all the bits and pieces. With so many guests it is a lot of bits and pieces. I am making sure we have everything written onto lists for next week. We have hairdressers booked, nails booked, make-up booked, flowers ordered, flower arrangers sorted, car booked, florist booked, caterers booked, marquee booked, hall booked, banns read, organist booked, vicar booked, weather booked, cake maker booked, singers booked, band booked, bell ringers sorted ( hopefully), bridesmaids dresses made, wedding dress fitted, suits bought, waistcoats purchased........ the list goes on! A few things are outstanding and will get done this week - we hope! 
I am so proud of Chloe and Ed and  the calm way they have been dealing with organising a wedding - while living in Kent and working very busy jobs. 
I have been really struggling with sickness caused by the drugs I take for the autoimmune diseases I have. It is really hard to cope with being sick so often and feeling nauseaous all the time. It seems such a little thing but it is very wearing. So near to the wedding I am not keen to change anything and end up with more side effects. Cooking and planning food is very difficult and poor Paul often ends up cooking tea and me not eating it. I am going back to my lists of joy to focus on all that is good in my life rather than focusing on the negative things which so easily fill my mind. 
We went to Savil on Saturday and amid the rain showers and saw the most beautiful roses. The perfume was fantastic especially after the rain. It was very quiet - people staying away because of the weather I think. What a joy to see such lovely gardens so peacefully. 
This week - plenty of wedding bits and pieces, coffee with friends, bookstall planning and buying for our church holiday club, bible study, flowers and getting the house ready for next week when we have a full house of guests. Ben finishes his exams on Wednesday - hurrah! Anna has finished her first year at uni and is 1/5th a Dr! All is well! 

3 weeks

21 days to go .......

Yesterday I watched a few of the 70th anniversary celebrations of The D day landings mostly with tears streaming down my face. It is the thought of those boys, many as young as Ben, landing on the beaches so scared about what was going to happen next. Then having to push through the bodies of other young men to get to the beach and on to the fighting. So many have never really spoken of those days but have lived with their memories shaping their futures. So many lives lost so that I can enjoy the freedom I have today. So many mums at home living with the loss of their precious sons. 

We had bible study yesterday and we are studying Deuteronomy, looking at the celebrations they had to remind them of what God had done. We got to discussing how important rememberance is and how we should remind each other what Jesus did for us when he went to the cross. It was the ultimate sacrifice one man who had done no wrong dying for us who have done so much wrong. Again a mother left to mourn the death of her son at the foot of the cross. It is good to remember. 

This weekend - more wedding stuff. Ed's dad and partner coming to church for the reading of the banns and lunch with us. Chloe and Ed having a photoshoot practice. Some sorting of bits and pieces. Hair cut hopefully using my hat to get the right shape and style. Then next week blood tests, coffee with a friend, ordering wedding flowers, bible study and hoping to start getting the house ready for the people who will be staying in the wedding week. Little by little we are getting there. 

26 days and counting

26 days to go! 

Weekend number 2 of wedding planning done and many, many boxes ticked! So glad to meet people who do their jobs well and can make such a difference to others. On Saturday we turned our house into a florists - and then made huge lists of flowers for table decorations and church flowers. Just need to order the flowers and hope that my descriptions of 'green spiky' foliage will be enough! On Sunday, Chloe and Ed's banns of marriage were read in church - it was really lovely to have Ed's mum with us. For her it made everything feel very real - being able to see the church and the field and imagine the day. J gave an excellent talk on how we should live our Christian lives at home - perfect for Chloe and Ed to hear as a reminder of what they are committing to. Over lunch we discussed a lot of the practicalities of the day and how various people would be getting to the service etc... and what to do with the tandem and what about wheelchairs. So many things to think about. Chloe, Ed, Paul and Claire then went to see Roy - the pigman. He was so, so, so helpful and had thought of everything that was on our list. They went and visited the pigs and had photos - thankfully not with the actual pig!!!! Chloe and Ed then met with J to discuss the service - again a great meeting with everything sorted. So this week will be full of emails to confirm and drawings of marquees etc....... 

My week is looking slightly calmer - more physio, more dress fitting, shopping for shoes for Ben ( laceless, scrappy, school shoes won't do), flower arranging, bible study, maybe hair cutting...... So thankful.