It was such a perfect day

I am sitting here reflecting on the past few days.  A warm glow inside at a job well done.  A perfect day from end to end.

To achieve that perfect day has been weeks (months) in the planning and lots hard work by me and Rachel, to get everything ready and looking just how she wanted it to be and for us to provide the perfect backdrop to what was a low key, relaxed wedding.  Rachel wanted colourful, whimsical, fun,  she and her sister spent hours on Pinterest looking up ideas, not that it was a chore for them!  I think we more than achieved the look she wanted.  There will of course be more blog posts to show you how we have been spending our recent weeks of preparation.

I warn you now it will be a long picture heavy post.......

We started setting up on Thursday evening, dry and fine after a turbulent week of rain and hail. With the help of Rebecca, Rachel and Stuart we got up all the gazebos and positioned all the lights and the beer in place for it to settle.

Friday, Rebecca and Peter went into town to collect the flowers, whilst Rachel and I washed all the glassware.  Rebecca had kindly offered to do all the flower displays (with the help of me in the end).  She had ordered from Adam of Stevens of Boston on Cambridge Market, here she is hard at work conditioning the blooms?!

The whole day was spent making everywhere look beautiful, it was a fun day, very relaxed, and not a cross word.  I think it helped that we had everything to hand rather than at a venue miles away, if we needed something it was just pop back into the house, we kept Peter and Stu busy running around.  The weather was great and in fact just a touch too warm at times. No time to cook so we enjoyed a fish and chip supper and bags of sweets for pudding, and sat around a discussed our day.

The finished flowers

Saturday dawned dull, but dry which was fine by us, so we dressed the tables and added the final touches in between getting our hair and makeup done by Lucy Ridley, she did a wonderful job on us all.  Disco equipment arrived, thank you to Charlie from Pro-Event and to Tim for organising it.  Gareth from Crucial Cuisine popped by just to checked in before setup whilst we were at the registry office.

Favours

and so I expect you want to see the bride? Here she is.........

The bridal bouquet was knitted by me at Rachel's request it has been a labour of love and I am more than happy with the result.  I will do a blog post soon with how I made it.

Pictures of the happy couple, most of the following photos have been culled from her friends pages on Facebook, so I will attribute them where necessary.  My hands were full with Miss J.

The bride and groom went for a photo shoot around Cambridge before the reception here are some of Phil's photographs

Some links were broken so have been removed

Meanwhile back at the ranch Rebecca and I added the final touches

great grandparents keeping the kids amused

Naked Wedding Cake by Stu's aunt Becky (it was yummy)

and then the party started....

After they all went home.......

I could go on and on.  We are so looking forward to seeing the rest of the photographs from Caroline - Caroline Loves Photography and Phil  - Lusam Photography , you guys make a great team.

A big thank you to everyone involved in the day - to our grandchildren for being so good, the guests for making it such a special time and for all the compliments on the garden, to our daughter Rebecca - Really Pretty Useful for her creativity and help, to Tim for keeping the boys away til the last moment and helping with the clear up, to Wendy at Shades of White St Ives for the dress and shoes, and to all those already mentioned throughout the blog post. To Peter for doing so much to help me over the last few months and for putting up with my demands. To the weather for giving us such a perfect afternoon. And finally to Rachel and Stuart, you make such a beautiful couple, wishing you a long and happy life together. I give you the bride and groom