A Day to Remember!
Wow! What a day Jessica and James's wedding turned out to be! I knew that it was going to be a great day, but I never realised just how good it was going to be!
First off, I owe my sister an apology.
From her description of things, I had visions of Jessica and James's wedding being a dodgy version of Peter Andre and Jordan's! I will hold my hands firmly up in the air and say how wrong I was! The reality is, that all the things I raised my (rather excessive) eyebrows at all turned out to be really nice touches! For example love heart sweeties on all the tables, which added an air of romance to the proceedings (if there wasn't enough already)! Passing "I love you" messages and "email me" to the girl on the next table made pulling for single fellas a little bit easier!
It must actually be said, the wedding very well nearly never happened! Jessica met Stephanie at the flat and together they walked into town to have their hair done. When they came back, Jessica pulled away right into the path of an oncoming car! If it had been 10 seconds later, impact would have unavoidable!
If that little near miss was slightly hairy, the next automobile catastrophe ended up being simply embarrassing. Driving to the church with your Father, ready to marry the man of your dreams, in a pink Cadillac is a picture straight out of a fairytale. However, the clutch going and being stranded at the top of a fairly major hill on a busy roundabout is a brides worse nightmare!
Us Bird's can take more of a step back than a broken clutch to rustle our feathers and so it proved as Jessica and Dad arrived at the church in the bridesmaid's car which had gone back to rescue them both.
It was at this very point, when I saw Jessica in her dress for the very first time I had the answer to the question I posed last time around when I said
Women are emotional at weddings, but so are the men, and so it proved time after time throughout the course of the day. My last wedding (before Nicola and Mark's) was years ago and so I was writing on a childhood memory. The reality is, and Nicola and Mark's wedding was proof as well, that marriage is not just a piece of paper. It is far from it. Marriage is the joining of people into a commitment of a life long relationship and a bond that binds not just the Brides with the Grooms, but one family to another. It is a time where raw and honest feelings are displayed and spoken about at the alter and in after dinner speeches. People are remembered and everyone takes a glance backward as well as looking long into the future.
Every wedding is different, and Jessica and James's wedding was no exception. The church service, was for some people a completely new experience. King's Church Medway, is not a 'normal' church, in the sense that you don't walk into a cavernous room, with high ceilings and an organ playing solemnly in the background. You walk into to be greeted by big colourful banners draped from the ceiling and the word's "Jesus Christ is Lord" across the back wall. An overhead projector with the song words displayed as a band plays live music in 'worship' to Jesus.
It may not have been everyone's "thing", but what was important that it was Jessica and James's. Sharing their day with family and friends, celebrating in the way that they believe is right. Being married by Jessica's uncle, being prayed for by people who personally know them, and joined in the congregation by many members of the church the whole ceremony had a very unique and a very personal stamp upon it, which was for me truly amazing and gave it something extra special.
Running around, doing Usher duties, coping with Stephanie having a "turn" and booking into the hotel room left me a little bit flustered (and very sweaty) and took me a little while to relax and chill out at the reception. Once we had sat down for our meal I had finally settled down and was decidedly peckish! Out came our starters, which was a salmonly/seafoody thing, which I thought "great, cos Steph don't like Salmon!" So I ate mine, then Stephs, which was accompanied by a bread roll, and seeing as Oliver was at the table and cannot eat bread rolls I had his too. Being greedy is not a particular pleasant vice, and I was soon in receipt of my comeuppance. I was unaware that we were not having a 3 course meal, but 4! So after our salmony/seafoody thing we were brought out bowls of soup! So by the time the main course arrived, I was unable to move and my very tight wedding suit was ready to burst!
I have already spoken about the emotional impact weddings have on people and the after dinner speeches were a key part of this, but they were also a great laugh and 'Lovey', James's best man did a great job in combining the two perfectly. As I said last week to Stuart and Gareth, who also did an equally fine job - it is one of the hardest jobs a bloke ever has the privilege to do, and Lovey's speech was delivered so well. A mention must go to my nan here, when asked if she enjoyed the speeches she said "oh, yes they were great, I couldn't hear a thing, I laughed and clapped when everyone else did, but couldn't hear a word!"
It is at this point things start to get hazy! A few glasses of wine, a couple of glasses of champagne, topped up with lager and JD and Coke! I had the sense to drop my camera back to the room before I lost it, but throughout the course of the night I had various conversations with people, most of which I cannot remember! If anyone is reading this and had a conversation with me that consisted of me talking a load of random nonsense I do apologise!
I do remember LOTS of people dancing, and Jessica murdering number after number on the Karaoke! I nearly ended up making a further arse of myself with an Oasis track along with Will, but for some very fortunate reason we never got a chance to sing!
I would like to end this blog entry by wishing Jessica and James all the very best in their new lives together, and would like to thank everybody coming and making the day what it was. Many thanks must also go to my mum and dad, along with James's mum for all the hard work they put in with the arrangements and everything else that comes with arranging a wedding.
First off, I owe my sister an apology.
From her description of things, I had visions of Jessica and James's wedding being a dodgy version of Peter Andre and Jordan's! I will hold my hands firmly up in the air and say how wrong I was! The reality is, that all the things I raised my (rather excessive) eyebrows at all turned out to be really nice touches! For example love heart sweeties on all the tables, which added an air of romance to the proceedings (if there wasn't enough already)! Passing "I love you" messages and "email me" to the girl on the next table made pulling for single fellas a little bit easier!
It must actually be said, the wedding very well nearly never happened! Jessica met Stephanie at the flat and together they walked into town to have their hair done. When they came back, Jessica pulled away right into the path of an oncoming car! If it had been 10 seconds later, impact would have unavoidable!
If that little near miss was slightly hairy, the next automobile catastrophe ended up being simply embarrassing. Driving to the church with your Father, ready to marry the man of your dreams, in a pink Cadillac is a picture straight out of a fairytale. However, the clutch going and being stranded at the top of a fairly major hill on a busy roundabout is a brides worse nightmare!
Us Bird's can take more of a step back than a broken clutch to rustle our feathers and so it proved as Jessica and Dad arrived at the church in the bridesmaid's car which had gone back to rescue them both.
It was at this very point, when I saw Jessica in her dress for the very first time I had the answer to the question I posed last time around when I said
"Weddings are emotional occasions, at least if you are a woman, I have never really understood why myself, but I think I am going to find out at Jessica and James's wedding!"Seeing my sister in her dress, a smile a mile wide and looking, I must say absolutely beautiful brought a lump to my throat. A huge sense of pride and a realisation that yes, my little sister was getting married and that she wasn't really my little sister anymore. She was a fine young women who was about to embark on the greatest day of her life.
Women are emotional at weddings, but so are the men, and so it proved time after time throughout the course of the day. My last wedding (before Nicola and Mark's) was years ago and so I was writing on a childhood memory. The reality is, and Nicola and Mark's wedding was proof as well, that marriage is not just a piece of paper. It is far from it. Marriage is the joining of people into a commitment of a life long relationship and a bond that binds not just the Brides with the Grooms, but one family to another. It is a time where raw and honest feelings are displayed and spoken about at the alter and in after dinner speeches. People are remembered and everyone takes a glance backward as well as looking long into the future.
Every wedding is different, and Jessica and James's wedding was no exception. The church service, was for some people a completely new experience. King's Church Medway, is not a 'normal' church, in the sense that you don't walk into a cavernous room, with high ceilings and an organ playing solemnly in the background. You walk into to be greeted by big colourful banners draped from the ceiling and the word's "Jesus Christ is Lord" across the back wall. An overhead projector with the song words displayed as a band plays live music in 'worship' to Jesus.
It may not have been everyone's "thing", but what was important that it was Jessica and James's. Sharing their day with family and friends, celebrating in the way that they believe is right. Being married by Jessica's uncle, being prayed for by people who personally know them, and joined in the congregation by many members of the church the whole ceremony had a very unique and a very personal stamp upon it, which was for me truly amazing and gave it something extra special.
Running around, doing Usher duties, coping with Stephanie having a "turn" and booking into the hotel room left me a little bit flustered (and very sweaty) and took me a little while to relax and chill out at the reception. Once we had sat down for our meal I had finally settled down and was decidedly peckish! Out came our starters, which was a salmonly/seafoody thing, which I thought "great, cos Steph don't like Salmon!" So I ate mine, then Stephs, which was accompanied by a bread roll, and seeing as Oliver was at the table and cannot eat bread rolls I had his too. Being greedy is not a particular pleasant vice, and I was soon in receipt of my comeuppance. I was unaware that we were not having a 3 course meal, but 4! So after our salmony/seafoody thing we were brought out bowls of soup! So by the time the main course arrived, I was unable to move and my very tight wedding suit was ready to burst!
I have already spoken about the emotional impact weddings have on people and the after dinner speeches were a key part of this, but they were also a great laugh and 'Lovey', James's best man did a great job in combining the two perfectly. As I said last week to Stuart and Gareth, who also did an equally fine job - it is one of the hardest jobs a bloke ever has the privilege to do, and Lovey's speech was delivered so well. A mention must go to my nan here, when asked if she enjoyed the speeches she said "oh, yes they were great, I couldn't hear a thing, I laughed and clapped when everyone else did, but couldn't hear a word!"
It is at this point things start to get hazy! A few glasses of wine, a couple of glasses of champagne, topped up with lager and JD and Coke! I had the sense to drop my camera back to the room before I lost it, but throughout the course of the night I had various conversations with people, most of which I cannot remember! If anyone is reading this and had a conversation with me that consisted of me talking a load of random nonsense I do apologise!
I do remember LOTS of people dancing, and Jessica murdering number after number on the Karaoke! I nearly ended up making a further arse of myself with an Oasis track along with Will, but for some very fortunate reason we never got a chance to sing!
I would like to end this blog entry by wishing Jessica and James all the very best in their new lives together, and would like to thank everybody coming and making the day what it was. Many thanks must also go to my mum and dad, along with James's mum for all the hard work they put in with the arrangements and everything else that comes with arranging a wedding.
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