5 bridesmaids, their husbands/partners, the bride's family, R the photographer all descended on the Pretty Maid Guest House where Sue and Andy looked after us like family. We brought 3 tiers of wedding cake, favours made & iced by J, all the dresses including the bridal gown. J & J (Master of Ceremonies) and H1 & I decorated the barn then semi-undecorated it as it looked lovely without our muslin drapes!
I had taken down champagne and flutes for the nerve-calming while the hairdresser worked! H1 gave J the traditional, old silver (a 6 pence) for her left shoe; so she had 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue' (a tiny blue bow sewed in to her gown by M. the seamstress). E had made J a garter; J was set and ready to go!
Posies of roses and buttonholes arrived. 25 minutes before the ceremony we discovered we had left the veil in the North!! B, L and Andy sped to the rescue buying an identical veil!
We wended our way, behatted and posh-frocked, along sunlit, country lanes to a tiny, flint-encrusted church in Kent.
A white London cab brought J and her father to the gate. J's godparents joined the bellringers and rang the bells in the church tower to welcome us all. The organist played on to cover the longer than usual and traditional late arrival of the bride- while M remained calm?!!
The vicar declared " A miracle".....
B and I lit candles to symbolise 2 families coming together. Reverend Chris performed the marriage ceremony under a flower wedding arch then had everyone rolling in the aisle.
We sang; 3 of us read; we showered the married couple with petal confetti. L presented J with a traditional horseshoe (filled with luck) and 60+ of us strolled down to the wedding barn where we sipped on a sunny lawn.
It was a delight to be with our daughters, their partners and 8 friends who had travelled down. We had already met M's Yorkshire contingent in the pub after the rehearsal! There were people I missed but ' que sera, sera.'
The caterers, under Nina's expert guidance, kept us all supplied with aperitifs and hors d'ouevres. The venue belonged to an Elizabethan manor house with gardens; I was in seventh heaven exploring deep borders with my BBB, A - with bubbly in one hand, my hat in the other - and my shoes left somewhere on the lawn.
The barn was twinkly and birdcages burgeoned with flowers. After our meal (ending with cookies and After 8s of course!) and fab speeches by father of the bride ( yes to all the enquirers- he did SO well!), the groom and the best man- J & M cut the cake and had their 'first dance' then we danced and danced and danced.
J and M looked so happy- long may they be as happy!
Ah I'm feeling quite tearful,bless them bothxxx
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