We're Married!

Hello! When I started this series of blog posts, I figured that it would end once I got married. I knew there would be the option to start up a new post if I wanted, but this one no longer made sense once I became Mrs Holmes. However, I don’t think that the actual marriage ceremony is the end of the journey to become Mrs Holmes, so I will be carrying on this blog series until further notice (probably forever). 

So the big news for this post is that we did it! 394 days ago I started this post, 3 days after we got engaged. It’s now been 9 days since our wedding and I can honestly say I’ve never been happier. I don’t really know what this blog post should include, as there is so much I want to write about! But as I said, this is not the last post for this series. So for this one, I’m just going to run through what happened from the time I went back to Oxford for the wedding until the wedding. 

I had booked off from the 7^th to allow time for some bridal beauty prep, some family time, some chill time and time to arrange all the wedding stuff still left to do! I picked up my dress and the bridesmaid dresses en route (massive shout out to The Wedding Gallery in St Albans at this point, I cannot fault a single part of my experience with them!), got home in time to get my nails done, and then had a lovely chilled night with the family. My cousin Amy (also my maid of honour) also announced her pregnancy that evening which was very emotional! It’s been so difficult keeping it a secret but it’s now out for the world to see, and her little baby is the most perfect human ever. I even felt the little one kick the night before the wedding and it was the most magical thing I’ve ever experienced.

The 8^th was also a great day. I had some puppy cuddles in the morning, and then we went over to Milton Hill House to set up our reception, have last minute meetings with photographers and Fiona, and also check into our rooms. Seeing my dress hanging in the window was so surreal, and really bought it all home. Setting up the room was a real team effort, and it was so worth all the work – it looked even better than I imagined! (The photo doesn't include half the detail!)

We then had our church rehearsal that evening, where we practiced walking down the aisle, when we had to say what and what we needed to do for the rings, where photographers would be positioned etc. It was so weird going through the ceremony, it’s ridiculous but I think at this stage it still felt like a dream, it didn’t feel like it should have been happening to me! After the rehearsal, I said my goodbyes to Anthony (my bridesmaids confiscated my phone as I’d been so strict with Amy at her wedding!) and we went for a nice dinner. Then an early night, as I was so aware that I probably wasn’t going to sleep! Amy was a massive help – we were sharing a room, and we spent about an hour just talking about life, which was so grounding and kept me distracted from winding myself up about the wedding. When we decided it was time to sleep, I fell asleep straight away – I just wish it had stayed that way! Any time I stirred during the night, I’d wake with a start and it was so difficult to get back to sleep. The little sleep I had was very broken, and at 7 I admitted defeat and got up, and though I hadn’t slept much, I wasn’t expecting to sleep at all!

The morning of the wedding, I was a bag of nerves! I really struggled to eat anything (but did force a small pastry down on the advice of every married person I’ve ever spoken to!). I was so ready to be married to Anthony but was nervous about messing up during the ceremony, as well as worrying about the weather (it was raining at this point.) That being said, I loved the atmosphere in the room, and Mel did an INCREDIBLE job of all of our hair and make-up. The last 10 minutes was manic, everyone throwing dresses around, zips getting stuck, stuff absolutely everywhere, and the bus leaving very soon (which the bridal party needed to be on!). After the madness, I actually ended up at the church early – I’m probably the only bride ever to have got to the end of the aisle 10 minutes before the ceremony was actually meant to start! The service was so beautiful. I was a sobbing mess walking down the aisle; I just saw Anthony turn around, and I lost it. Pretty sure I ugly cried but we’ll have to wait for the professional photos for that joy! I was really emotional for the rest of the ceremony, but I managed to keep it together. Any time I looked over at Anthony, he’d catch my eye and give me a smile or a wink, and it melted my heart every time. I’ve never been surer of anything than I was about marrying Anthony in that moment.

When the ceremony finished and we left the church, we had a few precious minutes of privacy, in which we let the momentum of what we’d just done sink in. I barely remember it and I don’t think we even really said anything to each other, but the atmosphere and the chemistry in that room was something I’ve never experienced; it was beautiful. We did a walk back through the church where we got some confetti shots and some family photos, at which point it started to snow! So romantic (but very cold!) so we hurried up the photos and headed back to the hotel. However it didn’t get much warmer, as we went pretty much straight outside for our couple photos, which was basically a 20-30 minute walk in 2°C weather. However, I have no issues with the cold! I barely felt it because of the adrenaline, and I’m so grateful that it was sunny for our photos – it only rained in the morning while we were getting ready.

The dinner was amazing – both of us were still so high on adrenaline that we really struggled to eat, but the food wasn’t wasted; it was shared among the table (to some more than others!). The speeches were all also incredible, very emotional but again, I managed to keep myself together. The next time I lost control of my emotions was our first dance. It was such a perfect moment, and though Anthony picked the song, it really hit me hard on the night, it was such a good choice (“how can a moment last forever” by Celine Dion for anyone who is interested, you may recognise it from the live action Beauty and the Beast).

The rest of the night was just an amazing party – another shout out here to Visually Sound Events (our DJ) – Matt was so beyond amazing, people can’t stop complimenting us on the music, and he was so accommodating and helpful in the booking process! For any events requiring music or lighting, definitely give him a shout. I also highly recommend having Twister (the game) and pizza (the food) at your wedding – it was such a hit, and playing twister in my dress on my wedding day is something I will never forget!

The only other thing I wanted to talk about (here comes the inevitable) is my amazing husband. I don’t know how I didn’t see it coming, but of course he had a surprise planned for the evening reception. Little did I know, but while we were having night-time photos and mingling with our evening guests, Anthony’s work colleagues were working their arses off to put in several incredible instalments in the main room. We had a working fountain at the back of the room, which was also lit and created a beautiful glow around the room! We also had a small cinema booth (which played a selection of films close to us), a seated replica of Kings Cross Station, and a Disney colouring booth. I had no idea about any of this, and it was such a beautiful surprise! They were all such a hit with the guests as well, and I can’t wait to see the professional photos of my reaction!

I know this is a super rambly post, but I’m still so all over the place. I’m the happiest that I’ve ever been, and am really enjoying just spending time with Anthony. So on that note, I’m going to leave it there and go spend some time with my lovely husband, but rest assured that there will be plenty more posts to come!

Thanks to everyone for sharing this journey with me, I look forward to the future!

x