 "You'll
still be decorating the day before!" was the reaction
my Dad received when he announced his plans to re-vamp
the whole house prior to the wedding. Lo and behold, the
night before my wedding, when I had envisaged we would
be sitting down to watch Father of Bride to get us in
the mood, Dad was still decorating and Mum was putting
the finishing touches to the wedding cake!
I woke up at around 8.30am and Dad had already left to
play golf with Werner and his Best Man, Michael. Mum was
really excited as, after a week of grey skies and April
showers, the sun had put his hat on! The hairdresser arrived
early and, while mum nervously ironed the train on my
dress, I dashed out to buy a supply of chocolate biscuits
big enough to feed a small army.
When I arrived back at the house everything was in full
swing, Mum was having her hair styled and my chief bridesmaid
and best friend, Jane, had arrived.
The morning and early afternoon were wonderful... the
house was buzzing with people rushing in and out, the
florist delivered the flowers and the wonderful smell
of lilies and orchids filled the house - I couldn't have
wished for more beautiful flowers and they were just as
I had imagined.
Dad arrived back from golf whilst I was still having my
hair done. He gave me a present from Werner, a beautiful
princess-cut diamond necklace to match my engagement ring.
This started the tears that I had been dreading and they
only stopped when my dad gave me a stern talking to upstairs
- as he was sitting on the bed eating his lunch wearing
only his pants, writing his speech with only a few hours
to go!
 Jane applied my make up for
me and then both of my small bridesmaids, Maisie and Jasmine,
arrived with their mums, Kate and Peni. I thought I would
be really nervous having people around me but there was
such a wonderful atmosphere of excitement that it took
my mind off the nerves and tears. Maisie and Jasmine were
so excited they would have been very happy wearing just
their tights, vests and shoes to the church as they were
so taken with them.
The wedding car turned up an hour early which sent me
into a blind panic but Dad spoke to the driver and he
came in for a drink so, at one point, my Mum's dining
room table was surrounded with the driver, photographers
and videographer - oh, and I was still not ready.
I quickly popped upstairs and put on my dress, veil and
tiara, did a very quick interview with the video man and
then it was all systems go. I had my photos taken in the
garden and the most difficult part was keeping the children
out of the dirt because they seemed fascinated with the
insects. How can two little girls who look so beautiful
be such minxes?!
We only had one wedding
car as the church is only around the corner from my
Mum's house, so Dad and I were left waiting as she and
the bridesmaids were driven first. Little did we know
that Maisie had taken a dislike to the car and driver
and so they all had to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
all the way to the church to try to distract her.
Soon enough, the driver was back for Dad and I. We knew
the neighbours were all outside but it was wonderful walking
out of the house and seeing them all there, most of them
are people whom I had known for the whole of my life.
I felt so proud, riding off in the car with my Dad, who
looked wonderful.
We arrived at the church on time and I was delighted to
see that some of my students from the evening class, which
I teach at a local adult college, had taken the time to
come and watch me go in the church. We were then joined
by my three year old nephew, Callum, who was our ring
bearer and page boy. He was so proud to be carrying his
cushion down the aisle, although Werner hadn't been brave
enough to give him the real rings so he had Teletubby
rings instead - just in case we had some problems getting
them back from him!
 Outside the church, I could see our friend Michelle
taking Polaroids. She married a few weeks before and thought
that we'd like some photos to take on honeymoon with us.
It was a brilliant idea! She gave several to my Mum and
Werner's Mum during the course of the day, which they
also cherished.
The walk down the aisle was not as daunting as I had imagined.
Callum walked in front of us and kept turning around to
ask my Dad - his granddad - if he should keep going. The
feeling of walking in the church surrounded by people
so happy to be there was wonderful! I felt so happy, and
from the photos I can see I was grinning like a Cheshire
cat.
I had always imagined that I would look at Werner all
the way down the aisle and he had been given strict instructions
to turn around, but because of the distraction of Callum
and just generally looking around, the first time I really
took in the full picture of my groom was when I reached
the altar - he looked fantastic. I had also always wondered
what he would say when I got to the top of the aisle -
he met me with the classic one liner from Pretty Woman:
"If I forget to tell you today, I had a wonderful
time".
The whole ceremony was perfect, my worries of stumbling
over my vows disappeared as I married the man of my dreams
and even the children behaved wonderfully, with Callum
playing a starring role as the ring bearer. I smiled constantly
throughout the ceremony and, for once, was the contained
one while my new husband's emotions got the better of
him. I felt as though I would physically burst as I walked
back up the aisle as Mrs Louise Bennett.
We quickly left for the reception as the photo opportunities
at the church were fairly limited, but it took longer
than expected to leave with everyone wanting to kiss and
congratulate us. The ride to Orsett Hall was slow and
we took full advantage of everyone looking at us in our
wonderful car, a dark blue, Daimler limousine and I waved
like a Royal all the way!
 We arrived at Orsett Hall to be greeted by our
Toastmaster,
Derek, who gave us a drink and herded the guests onto
the lawn to enjoy the harpist and refreshments whilst
we walked across our very special bridge to have our photos
taken exactly on the spot where Werner proposed. The photographers
were brilliant and got everyone into the spirit of things,
especially Callum who carried out a commando roll across
the train of my dress! During the pictures the ushers
handed bubbles
to the children which went down really well and kept them
amused for a while.
We were ushered inside to do the mock cake cutting and
that was the first time I got to see my mum's cake. It
was fantastic! After all the planning and worry the cake
looked out of this world - I was so proud. We had provided
cake boxes for the cake to be put into and I only wished
I'd bought stickers saying 'Handmade by Joyce Stitt'!
The meal was wonderful, it was great looking around and
seeing everyone tucking in and enjoying themselves, although
both Werner and my Dad were very nervous about their speeches,
which did put me off my dinner a little. There were four
speeches: my Dad made a very heartfelt speech about the
fact that my grandmother had six grandsons when she died
and she really wanted a granddaughter. The following year,
quite unplanned, I arrived, so he is sure that she sent
me! The Best Man's speech was brilliant, he asked everyone
to join in singing Doh A Deer for Werner as we saw a Sing
A Long Sound of Music earlier this year which everyone
felt was highly amusing - except Werner!
The
cameras and the fortune cookies appeared to be a hit as
did our mini eggs as favours - we really couldn't let
Easter Sunday go by without eggs. Just as the speeches
began, the ushers handed out colouring books to the children:
another ploy for a bit of peace!
Our first dance was to Ronan Keating's 'When You Say Nothing
At All', which I think our friends found hilarious as
neither of us are known for being quiet. We were then
joined by our friends and family to dance to 'Just for
You' and 'Perfect
Day' and, from then on, the dance floor was never
empty. Werner's Dad led the dancing for most of the evening,
putting all the youngsters to shame. There was a real
party atmosphere and everyone seemed to have a fantastic
time.
 At the end of the evening I looked around at my
bridal party - Jasmine was dancing in her vest and knickers,
Maisie's dress was completely ripped and she had fallen
asleep at around 9pm, Callum was covered in grass stains
and Jane's shoes were so sore, she spent the evening dancing
bare foot - but they all looked like they'd had a great
day.
At the end of the night all our guests formed a circle
and we went around separately saying goodbye to them all.
We had all the people we care for most in the whole world
in one room and they all had the most amazing smiles on
their faces, it was quite overwhelming.
Eventually, we left after long and emotional goodbyes
with our parents and set off for our wedding night hotel,
The Heybridge Hotel. The room was wonderful, complete
with a four poster bed, champagne, chocolates and, best
of all, a huge corner bath in which we sat for an hour
eating wedding cake, drinking tea and generally chatting
about the most wonderful day when we became Mr and Mrs
Bennett.
The following day we had a very emotional lunch at the
hotel. As we had missed breakfast, we were the only ones
in the restaurant, which was really romantic. We cried
throughout lunch purely because we were so happy to be
married - but the waiters must have though we were crackers!
The next day, just like Pretty Woman, I opened my bedroom
curtains to see a stretched limousine waiting outside
to take me to the airport, where my surprise honeymoon
destination would finally be revealed. When we got to
Gatwick we checked in for our two week holiday at Le Sport
in St Lucia which was fantastic, I really couldn't have
asked for anything more.
Do Differently: Nothing - it all went so well.
Like most brides, I wish I could have taken it in more,
but I guess that's all part of the territory when you
are soooo excited.
Groom's Comments: A round of golf + my family +
her family + my mates + her mates + loads of drink + great
weather + good food + dancing + laughter + A Beautiful
Bride = Top Wedding. I'd do it again tomorrow, with the
same bride of course! |
If
you would like to contact Louise and Werner, you can e-mail
them.
|
