My Cousin Gets Hitched!

I went to my cousin's wedding yesterday, and it was great. I had such a good day. I've been pretty stressed out for the past couple of weeks, so it was really nice to be able to forget everything for a day and just enjoy myself. Hubby wasn't able to come along, so as always I look as if I'm a lone spinster amongst lots of happy couples. But people are used to it now; Hubby works; he doesn't play. I think my extended family have met him a grand total of three times in the 8 years we've been together, and only my grandmother and 2 aunts have met him from my family on the continent.

Anyway; back to the wedding. Here's a shapshot of the happy couple; my cousin and his new wife:
The wedding was in Kent, which is about 2 hours drive for us. It was a long day, but we were never bored. They said their vows in the grounds of a gorgeous country estate, and although it was a little cold, it was really nice. The ceremony was followed by a four course wedding breakfast in the main building, before retiring to the pavilion for the evening reception.

They'd hired a singer/guitarist for the early evening, and then a DJ for the disco afterwards. But something I particularly liked was that they also had a "Chill Out Room", where you could get away from the music if you don't fancy dancing all night. I don't know about you, but I don't do dancing. Not because I don't like it; because I love dancing. I just can't dance in front of people... unless I'm really drunk; but getting really drunk isn't something I'm prepared to do at a family wedding!

The cutting of the cake, the evening buffet (which I was too stuffed to eat), the chocolate fountain (which I found space for), and even the Pick & Mix was all in the Chill Out Room, so I was pretty happy for the evening!

Hubby, being a chef, and being obsessed with food hygiene, has banned me from having a chocolate fountain at our wedding. I wasn't really bothered, as I've never really been part of the craze. But this chocolate fountain may have changed my mind forever. Now, I know that they add oil to help the chocolate flow, and I know that the constant tepidity of the chocolate encourages bacteria growth, but it's still chocolate! This fountain setup was incredible. I always assumed they only used strawberries and marshmallows, but no! They also had melon, banana, profiteroles, Belgian waffle, fudge, and so much more. And being on Weight Watchers, I had the strawberries. If only! I actually made a point of avoiding the strawberries, and instead had the waffle, marshmallow and profiteroles. When I come off the diet, I do it properly!

The only downer to the wedding was that I fell head over heels (literally) down a flight of stairs! I've since been asked whether I was drunk or wearing high heels, but unfortunately I can't use either of those excuses; I had been drinking water, and I was wearing flats! I'm now avoiding all the bruises on my elbow, leg, knee, back, hip, and head! They had to be the stairs with the metal edges. Luckily it was only my brother that saw, so I was able to regain my pride by the time I got back to my family.

I'm not sure how you feel about weddings; I know some people hate them, or think they're tedious and a bore. My little brother, who's just turned 14, thinks that; and I used to think like that too. But when I was growing up, we didn't get invited to many weddings, and if we did, we would only be invited to the reception, so there was none of this sitting through ceremonies to worry about. I don't think my parents' divorce helped either, because from then on, I thought marriage was a waste of time. I probably wouldn't have been a good person to have around at a wedding ceremony!

But now I'm older, and probably because I'm in a relationship myself, I absolutely love going to weddings. It's such a cliche, but I love watching a couple get married, because you see how much they love each other, and you're lucky enough to be able to witness that moment that they're joined in marriage - a lifelong commitment; and they chose you to be there with them.

On top of all that, I'm planning my own wedding at the moment; a wedding which I never envisaged happening because of my view of marriage when I was growing up; and my friends are also starting to get married, so I'm being invited to a few, and I get to see their different interpretations of their "Big Day".

I knew from the start that my cousin's wedding would be much grander than ours; because both my aunt, and my cousin (the groom's sister) are organisers for wedding shows, so they have great contacts, and most probably great discounts to go with them. Because of this, there was actually a lot of discussion leading up to this wedding, as we tried to guess what would be in store for us, but at the end of it; it was nothing short of brilliant. It was grand, yet stylish. Nothing was overdone, nothing was showy. It was very tasteful; a wedding to be proud of.

People asked why I haven't asked them for similar discounts, but I'd started planning our wedding before realising that they were involved in this business, and we already had our ideas sketched out. Our wedding will be very different, and I think it will be interesting to have such different weddings in the period of ten weeks.

Are you getting excited? - I must have been asked that question about ten times yesterday. Of course I'm excited; I can't wait to marry Hubby, and start the rest of our lives together. I think about standing opposite him and looking into his eyes as I say my vows, realising that I have everything I want in him. But of course there are stresses too, and sometimes (or quite often at the moment), I find it hard to see through the chaos and remember why we're doing this. But I do remember, and I'm really looking forward to when it's our turn; in 69 days!