Tuesday 27 August 2013

Tom and Laura’s Wedding ……

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Where do I start? 
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Well for one,  I am relying heavily on everyone else's photographs of the day, as I only took about a dozen or so, as I wanted to see the day as it unfolded through my own two eyes and not through the display screen of my camera. 
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So .... let’s get the crafty pictures out of the way first ….
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…… let's just say that all the “Wedding Craft Club” members received wonderful complements throughout the day for all their hard work, it all looked very pretty, without being over the top and over weddingy, if you know what I mean……
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…… and for all the teasing The Equally Lovely Denise had to endure ….. her 300 metres of bunting was only just enough!!
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The music all through the service was lovely, all specially chosen by Tom and Laura with their very individual quirkiness, each song had it’s special meaning and memory for them through their growing love and relationship and was beautifully played and sung by Laura’s friend Emma. 
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For me the most special and magical moment of the entire day was seeing Tom’s face as Laura came down the “aisle” on her dad's arm …… the love in his eyes would have melted even the hardest of stone.
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My two nieces Emily and Daisy read the story “Love Monkey” by Edward Monkton, during the ceremony, they were so nervous but were utterly brilliant and the sentiment of the story was just perfect knowing Tom and Laura.
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It really was a beautifully thought out and delicate ceremony   ….. right down to them leaving the room as a married couple to the strains of Pure Imagination from the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, one of Tom’s favourite films as a boy!
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Then followed the taking of many, many photos …….
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Then on to the reception ……
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…… where we could all relax and kick of our shoes, though I still can’t believe I replaced my fascinator for a pair of my reading glasses !!!!
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The speeches were perfect too and so funny ….. goodness knows where Tom got ability to just stand up and make what seemed to be an effortless, noteless speech, with comic timing ……. and as for Ed the Best Man .....  his speech was illustrated with photograph “evidence” of his and Tom’s friendship, going back to the day they first met on interview day at Durham University and up to Tom’s "It's A Knock Out" Stag Weekend, none of which I would be able to reproduce here!!!!!!!!!!! But again so funny.
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The wedding cake was topped by two very romantic sugar dinosaurs handcrafted by Tom.  Dinosaurs being the theme of the reception, each guest table being named after one of Tom and Laura’s favourite dinosaurs!!??  The table plan featured Laura’s beautiful writing and a dinosaur drawing by Tom to illustrate each table ..... see I told you they were quirky!!
Tom and Laura's wedding planThere were candy floss and pop corn machines in the conservatory for guests after the meal, served  by,  I am told on good authority, a very attractive young man, hence my nieces and daughter's frequent visits for both comestibles ….. and who, if he had wanted, could have made a killing on chatting up lovelorn, single and very beautiful young ladies after they had watched Tom and Laura’s tres romantic first dance to Tim Minchin's "It's Not Perfect" !!!!! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg3PberzvXo
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I have missed soooooo much out,  but I hope you have had a small flavour of just how wonderful it was. If I could have just one wish,  it would be to go through it all again but in slow motion .……… a perfect day, that will stay in all our hearts forever …… I wish Andy could have been there to see it all unfold ….. he would have been so proud, probably watching from quiet corner as was his style, not wishing to be in the limelight of being Father of the Groom. Tom talked about him very lovingly in his speech, telling everyone what a very happy childhood he had had …. and he said that a testament to this was the table full of Tom’s school friends who were ALWAYS round at our house, in our loft, and who all had very special memories of Andy.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA         Each came up to me separately during the day and said that they believed that how they had turned out was a lot to do with knowing Andy in their formative years and how nothing was out of bounds for them while they were with him, under our roof ….. and although they thought they had pulled the wool over his eyes over so many things, including sneaking in an inestimable amount of lager up our rickety loft ladder, he always knew exactly what they were up to, nothing went past him and that he always made them feel they were safe!  Hearing them say so many wonderful things and listening to so many of their memories made a perfect day, even more perfect and special! What more can I say?

14 comments:

Chris said...

Hi Helen, just stopping by to say how delightful your blog is. Thanks so much for sharing. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris
http://chelencarter-retiredandlovingit.blogspot.ca/

tilly said...

what a wonderful wedding, thank you for including us all in the preparation and letting us peek round the door on the day. A truly marvellous summer, I'm sure Andy has been by your side quietly taking in all your experiences. A wonderful tribute by Tom's friends to a loving family Man.
Your daughter is the spit of you lol.....look forward to the tales of 'the holiday of a lifetime' holiday
Tilly x

jc2711 said...

Hi Helen,

Thank you for sharing your fabulous day with us; I read your blog listening to "Pure Imagination" - just to get the feel of things :)

I loved the idea of the dinosaur tables, so different and memorable.

Andy was with you all, all day, he did not miss a thing. How lovely to have so many tributes paid to him, I bet he enjoyed listening to them all.

On a personal note I hope you do not stop blogging completely as cyber world will be a dull place without you.

Enjoy your day

Jackie and Bob

Anonymous said...

Oh Helen, what a beautiful day for everyone...the pictures are wonderful and you look lovely and so happy but I know you missed Andy....what a special day for you to remember your whole life through....Congratulations to everyone ....Dianne

lynda said...

I have 'followed' the wedding on here, on FB & Mum's Monkey Blog. You have all had a beautiful day Helen.
We have both lost our husbands much too soon. I have had a daughter marry & you have had a son marry. I empathise with all the feelings both happy & sad that you felt throughout the day Helen. My John was known as The Quiet Man - he sat watching & listening most of the time! I know that both our husbands were there for both our children's weddings. The day after my daughter married I kept saying that I wished we could do it all over again - I felt I missed so much of it. These are sad but also such happy times Helen. As difficult as it is - life goes on. We are both blessed to have such caring & thoughtful children. Xxxxxxx. I watched the Tim Minchin video - & dried my eyes from start to finish!!

lynda said...

I have 'followed' the wedding on here, on FB & Mum's Monkey Blog. You have all had a beautiful day Helen.
We have both lost our husbands much too soon. I have had a daughter marry & you have had a son marry. I empathise with all the feelings both happy & sad that you felt throughout the day Helen. My John was known as The Quiet Man - he sat watching & listening most of the time! I know that both our husbands were there for both our children's weddings. The day after my daughter married I kept saying that I wished we could do it all over again - I felt I missed so much of it. These are sad but also such happy times Helen. As difficult as it is - life goes on. We are both blessed to have such caring & thoughtful children.
I watched the Tim Minchin video - & dried my eyes from start to finish!!
Thank you for sharing the wedding with us all. Mum & Hamish send their love to you & the boys xxx

Lynda xxx

Pamela said...

What a wonderful post! And I managed up until the bit about Andy before I needed a hanky. I hope you hold these memories for a very long time. Thanks for sharing.

Di said...

What a wonderful and very moving post Helen. Andy will have been watching quietly - and so proud of you and his family.

What a wonderful wedding, great photos and my very favourite is of you and Lucy in your finery, complete with fasteners (err, fascinators of course!). She's a very pretty girl and is very like you, as someone else observed.

Hugs, Di xx

marc said...

fab wonderful post great family great friends big love marc

Jem said...

What a fantastic day it looked Helen! But then with all of the plans and preparations that we saw on your blog, how could it be anything else? Glad to see you've had such a fab summer break. ttfn Janex

VPlum said...

What a fantastic day! It all looks so beautiful and everyone looks so happy! Congratulations to the happy couple.

Merry said...

What a beautiful, beautiful post and such a loving couple in the photos. Thanks so much for sharing all the details. So glad that everything went off so well.

Nicky Stevenson said...

May I add my (belated) congratulations to the happy couple, on what looked to be a fabulous wedding! I love the way you had as many handmade items included as you could, I did the same for mine (many years ago!) and it adds such a great personal touch to the ocassion. I also love the way you have presented us with the photos, displaying them at different angles really adds something extra. All the best to you all. xx

Paula said...

Oh Helen, I am so very proud for you. Your Tom is gorgeous!!! Loks like the day was a true success, and some fabulous little touches along the way. Thanks for sharing and wishing the happy couple all the very best for the future. xxxx