and life, at last, returns

to some sort of normality........ I have felt like I have been on a rollercoaster for the past two weeks, what with all the visitors and the wedding, life has been hectic.

So I finished work on Friday the 23rd and had a last minute rush around before the visitors started to arrive. Danni came up on the Saturday and we went to Hitchin to buy fabric for the table overlays. I new what I wanted but couldn't find it in the shop I knew had it, which was so frustrating! So we settled for something else and as we went to the counter to ask for it to be cut, I spotted the right fabric in a corner of the shop that we somehow managed to walk right past without seeing anything! Ho hum.....

Armed with the fabric we headed for home and spent the afternoon mooching about and doing nothing much, which was really not good as I had Stus dad and his wife arriving early Sunday morning. Danni and I had planned a little girls night of drinking but that didn't really pan out either so it was not a very productive day. Sunday started bright and early with a trip to Heathrow and then John, Brendalene and the girls came around for tea and cake and we had a day of catching up with the gossip from Cape Town and some hair raising stories about how badly the country is slipping into a very big hole. It is such a shame as it truely is a beautiful place :(

Monday I took Mary shopping for her wedding outfit, we checked Monsoon, Per Una and then John Lewis where she found a lovely skirt, top and jacket and then we went back into clarks for shoes. All in all it was a quick shop and I was thankful as I still had to take the girls shopping for their dresses!

Which is exactly what we did Tuesday after I collected them from Heathrow at sparrowsfart (very early!). We left Callum in the hairdressers to get his hair re-bleached and went to Monsoon, where they both found the most beautiful dresses. And then it was a mad hunt for shoes, which was actually the tough bit as Chloe had a broken big toe and could barely walk so was never going to get into high shoes although she still wanted some!

I was so shocked that we managed to get the girls sorted in one day, they really where easy to shop for, and as I wanted us all in different colours and styles, there was no arguing between them about what they prefered. We found some beautiful hair pieces in JL too. At this point in the preparations, I got so excited cause I could see my ideas start to come to life.

Wednesday night we had a pamper session at the lovely new spa in Hitchin and all had pedicures, which were an absolute treat! Then we went out for a girly dinner to Zizzi, which as usual was excellent. Oh and Wednesday afternoon, I snuck out to have my nails done as I thought Friday, which was when I was originally going to have them done, was going to be too busy.

On Thursday we hit the shops once more, now there is a good reason for this but I will tell that story in another post cause it's an epic tale on it's own ;)

And then the eve of the wedding......we waited for Danni, aunty Lin and uncle George to arrive and then headed down to the hall armed with a bucket of cleaning stuff and ready to tidy, sweep and transform the hall.

Leaving everyone there, heehee, Danni and I escaped to the hairdresser and to fetch Jeanie and Laurie from Luton. It was a bit of a rush as we hit traffic on the M1 but still managed to get there just as the baggage hit the hall, so had 5 minutes to catch our breath. We then dropped them at the hotel and went for the rehersal at the hall.

Danni then spent the next hour carting people to the hotel, organising rooms and basically getting everyone settled. I in the meantime had to finish off the order of service sheets, which was actually easy as I had it all typed up so just had to print them off (and the reason I hadn't done it earlier was because I as waiting to hear if John could play the hymn), and I printed off little thank you tags to attach to the heart favours we had on the tables. And once that was done we loaded the car and went to the hotel to relax!

And relax is exactly what we did! With a few bottles of champange and hen night goodie bags Danni had made up for us, lol. We had an awesome night, laughing, joking and running about the hotel like kids. At one point I thought we were going to get into trouble for leaving bits of purple 'hair' all over the place but luckily the hotel staff had loads of other people to look after so they left us to it.

We eventually went to bed very late, and as there was a wedding going on in the hotel the music went on much longer so I had a real problem falling asleep. And of course I was awake at 6 with a stinking headache....not sure if it had anything to do with all the alcohol I consumed! So as both mom and I were awake we decided to get up and start getting cleared up and everything that was going to aunty Lins room packed away and ready. And then it was time to wake the girls and go down to breakfast although none of us could eat much, maybe nerves had something to do with it!

Mom and aunty Lin got dressed and down to the hall early so they could do last minute stuff and make sure everything was happening as it should..........and that left the hotel room free for Nina, Chloe and I to shower, make up and dress which was such fun as we are all such divas and drama queens, haha. But poor Chloe, try as she might, she just couldn't get the heels on so and had to settle for wearing pink flip flops :(

Brendalene arrived at about 10.30 to take photos then we went downstairs to take photos and wait for the car and the big drive down the road to one of the most amazing days a girl can have in her life.............her wedding!

I cannot tell a lie and say I wasn't nervous because I was, I had butterflies about seeing Stuart in his kilt waiting for me to become his wife, and I was so sure that I wanted nothing more than to become his wife and live with him forever in a marriage that was conducted before God. For us to be joined and one for the rest of our lives.

When I entered the hall, I was taken aback, my mom and aunt worked so hard making it look so beautiful and everything I had bought and planned just seemed to work together to create the perfect atmosphere and exactly what i wanted! They also ensured that the whole day ran so smoothly, I had absolutely nothing at all to worry about and all I had to do was enjoy the day. It truely was a magical day, and I loved every minute of it!

Here are two pics in the mean time and when I get around to sorting through the other thousand I have I will upload more! My dress was from Monsoon as I had no intension of paying a fortune for a dress I was only going to wear for a few hours.

Late afternoon most people started to head off except those staying at the the hotel up the road so we made our way to the house for a drink before walking down to the pub for more drinks and supper and more drinks....although Stu and I had a cunning plan and make a sneaky escape to the Redcoats hotel to have a quiet dinner for two! It was so nice to be alone at last as having a housefull was starting to take it's toll and I was so tired and my head was buzzing.

And of course it was buzzing with excitement of the day and how well it went and at being a Mrs and embarking on this new adventure.

After a good nights sleep and a lovely breakfast on Sunday morning, we made our way back to the house as we thought it would be in chaos, but it wasn't - the kids were all still asleep and mom and Andrew were clearing the last of the stuff out the hall. So we could have stayed out a bit longer!! lol.

The week and a bit after the wedding till they all went home was a bit of a blur, trying to entertain everyone and spend quality time with the girls and get them down to London to see some of the sites. And then all too soon it was time for them to go and it left a huge void and a hole in my heart, as we had such a good time and I really felt a connection to my sisters who I have not lived with for over ten years.

Right and now I am exhausted from typing, so I will leave anything else to the next post :)

Later dudes!