The Wedding!

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My napkins on each place setting

After a lovely weekend it’s back down to earth – The Bloke is now back at work for a while before we go on the honeymoon and I have returned to the the online world. It’s been more strange than I expected in the fact that it hasn’t been strange at all – I was told by numerous people that I would feel different, but I don’t at all, apart from the fact that I greet him with ‘hello, husband!’ every time he walks through the door…

The wedding was lovely. I was told to expect something to go wrong, but absolutely nothing did – our duty manager for the day, Derek, kept things running like clockwork (he’s ex-military so that helped) and everyone seemed to have a great time.

The wedding was held at Highbury Hall, a Grade II listed mansion in Moseley and former Birmingham residence of Joseph Chamberlain (British statesman and father of PM Neville Chamberlain). The whole event took place there – we had the civil ceremony with the registrars in one room and then the wedding breakfast in the main hall. We did the decor ourselves – collecting tons of glass jars and creating floral displays and centrepieces, and we added in little touches with a mini photo booth, the biggest Instagram frame ever and a full dessert table complete with a cupcake tower (that my friend Gemma made for us as a wedding present), baklava (that my friend Marika made) and a whole selection of sweets in different sized jars. I had also made seating cards using keys and using faux-calligraphy to write everyone’s names. It was simple and looked beautiful.

The Bloke and I spent the day before setting up at the venue and we were joined by my mum, middle sister and her partner, who suddenly discovered a talent for flower arranging. It got competitive, reaching its peak as I was busy putting the napkins with flowers out, and at one point I heard some yelling about how fluffy one set of Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila) was compared to the other. Once we finished we went home to finalise a few last-minute things, and then spent the night at home together.

On the morning of the wedding I had my hair done, did my make-up and then The Bloke and I drove to the venue, where I went upstairs to the main bedroom that was set up for the bridal party, and he went into another room to get ready. All of my family then arrived, including my niece – Squidge – and we had a lot of fun getting ready and having pictures taken while I was secretly trying not pass out with excitement.

To be fair – it’s difficult to get too stressed when you have a Squidge playing with Peppa Pig and occasionally squeaking at you…

My mum, who looked extremely glam in her fabulous hat, walked me down the aisle to ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by Journey, and I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to run up and hug The Bloke (who looked incredibly handsome in his suit) when I saw him or slow down so we could all appreciate the awesomeness of the song, but I remember smiling so much that my face hurt.

The registrar was a hilarious guy – making little jokes throughout and at one point when Squidge made a noise he announced that this was a sign of triplets and then everyone promptly wet themselves laughing at the apparent look of horror on my face. Two of our friends – Marika and Ness – very kindly agreed to do some readings for us, and read beautifully. I couldn’t look at them while they were doing it – I would have cried…

There was also some slight confusion amongst my friends as to who I was marrying as The Bloke is known by his middle name, so when we were saying our vows a few of them confessed to me later that they were wondering who on earth the registrar was talking about. At least I said the right name…

The weather, despite the fact that it was a little cold, was glorious – the sun came out just as the ceremony started even though the reports had said all week that it was going to be cloudy – so we immediately went outside to get some group photographs in front of the building before everyone went to the bar. We were lucky to have a brilliant photographer, Andy Vokes, (who is a blogger himself) and I barked out a quick succession of who we wanted in the pictures one by one, which we got through really quickly without any hassle. It helps to have a teacher voice sometimes…

The food was a hot knife and fork buffet with a traditional seating plan, and I have to admit that when I first saw it I was mortified – it looked like a 1970’s school dinner – but thankfully each dish was gorgeous and everybody got up for second (and in some cases, third) helpings, which I was really pleased with, and as an added bonus I managed to eat without spilling food on my dress or my gorgeous bouquet without needing to put a bib on.

Winner.

The speeches were lovely too. They weren’t too long, all very heartfelt and my only annoyance was that I’d left my own speech upstairs (yes, I made sure that I spoke too… of course) so I had to wing it and ended up not only missing out half of the stuff I’d prepared, but was then kicking myself afterwards because I didn’t actually say ‘I love you’ during any of it. I did one thing right though – I didn’t cry and snot everywhere as I expected to… It was touch and go on a few occasions though…

As the cupcake tower was used instead of a traditional wedding cake we bought a single tier sponge just for the purpose of cutting, and on the top instead of having a traditional bride and groom cake topper we had a Wonder Woman and Batman set of figurines – a tribute to The Bloke’s love of all things superhero.

After it got dark we went outside to take advantage of the clear evening and the sparklers that we had bought to get more photographs. We spent ages attempting to get a lovely heart shape, but it ended up looking more like a ‘peach’ as Andy discretely described it. In actuality, it looked like a large bottom – and I loved it so much that I’ve asked for a copy. I plan on framing it and putting it on the wall…

While we were doing that some people were making full use of the Instagram frame…

And then, we put on the music, turned on the disco lights and had a dance! The first dance, done to a non-sweary version of Halestorm’s ‘Here’s To Us’ was awkward as, well, something really awkward… but I love the song, so I think in between swaying from side to side I was singing – how romantic! I then went and got my phone and took some pictures of the day myself… The dance floor was quiet at times – the venue was huge so there were people in all of the different rooms, but the minute I blasted Bon Jovi from the speakers everyone suddenly appeared…

Image by Andrew Vokes

It was perfect, a room full of my favourite people – my family, The Bloke’s family, our friends, all dancing and singing, eating hog roast and cupcakes. There were friends from my sixth-form and university days, work colleagues and even bloggers – it was awesome. The only regret that I have from the day was that I hadn’t invited at least 20 more people that I wanted to but thought that the budget wouldn’t allow for it with the evening food, but the guests ate so much during that wedding breakfast that a lot of them were still full a few hours later, so there would have been plenty to go round. (Click on the images for the full view)

And now, I have headspace and a honeymoon to look forward to in a few weeks. No more jars, no more lists, just a lovely husband to annoy!

My photographer has been very gracious in getting some photos to me really quickly, and I already have a favourite one:

Image by Andrew Vokes

Ever thine. Ever mine. Ever ours.

108 thoughts on “The Wedding!”

  2. Congratulations once again to you both. It looks like it was a positively joyful day for you both and you look radiant (the Bloke looks handsome too).

    • Thanks Allie! It was awesome, and yes he does haha! I wanted to say to him as I walked down the aisle ‘oooh, you look nice!’ But I didn’t think it would be appropriate haha!

  5. Congratulations Mrs. Bloke! I sit with tears in my eyes for joy. What a beautiful post for a beautiful couple and their day. Everything looks like so much fun, have to say, I agree with Bloke, superheroes are the best, and I love the keys… I have a collection of keys hanging in my foyer because I just love them. Thank you for sharing this perfect day with all of us. I am so happy for you and your hubby. ❤ Cathi (DAF)

    • Aww thanks Cathi! It was such a brilliant day – couldn’t have gone any better! We were so lucky to find those keys – it was a completely different idea to what I’d originally planned but it made it so much better!

  15. Oh Suzie it looks like it was a most wonderful day! So pleased for you! Congratulations! I think I’ve said it 10 times at least already Lol!!! 💜💜💜

  17. It looks like the most amazingly perfect day, Suzie! Thank you for sharing your photos with us. Does it feel weird not to have anything to think about now? I remember I felt a little lost (but relieved) at not having to arrange anything! Hope you guys have a wonderful honeymoonj!

    • Oh my gosh yes… I was feeling a bit guilty for feeling relief but I definitely have much more headspace now, and I’m so glad not to have to think about it any more! Totally worth it, but still…

  18. What an amazing day Suzanne and Highbury Hall is such a beautiful venue (my first “non-wedding” was booked there 😃). It sounds like everything went perfect and your photos are beautiful. Congratulations once more!

    • Thank you! Yeah, it’s stunning – we were so lucky to find it! The council team behind it were a little bit difficult to deal with at times but the day was fabulous!

  23. Oh, Suzie! What a fabulous post about your incredible day. You looked absolutely stunning and the venue, flowers, guests, and, well, everything, looked amazing!! I’m so happy for you and The Bloke, oops, The Husband 😉 LOVED the cake toppers – I’m sooo getting you a Wonder Woman Christmas jumper now lol. xxx

  30. Wait! You mean The Bloke isn’t his first name? Color me confused. LOL. That last black and white photo of you two is perfect. I was at a wedding on the same day, it was in a converted barn on an old farm that was turned into an educational center. The bride loves animals of all kinds. When it got really quiet during the ceremony it was as if someone queued the animals because the rooster started crowing and then the lambs started and then the cow. Quite funny, but also quite perfect for her wedding.

  31. Congratulations to you both Suzie, looks like a wonderful day and I wish you many happy days together 😊

  33. Sounds like the perfect day. Beautiful (and fun) photos. You all did a fantastic job on everything from centerpieces to seating cards. Love those keys.

    I am so happy for you. Congratulations! ❤

  34. What a fun day it looked like! I don’t remember much from my first wedding (and now I’m glad I don’t but to be honest nothing really went on or really as planned)!

    Congrats!

  38. This was lovely to read, especially as October was a month of weddings for me too!! Congrats to you both ❣️ You looked gorgeous and so happy. All the best for the rest of your life together.

  40. Oh so lovely! Reading the story feels almost as if I was there. And “Don’t Stop Believin'” could not be more perfect for a wedding song! Congratulations again. I’m so happy for you both. 🙂

  42. Big and belated congratulations Suzie..it looks like the perfect wedding!And thats from one who doesnt like them that much…such a wonderful way to celebrate (love the superhero cake), I think I would’ve loved to have been at it.

  46. Many congratulations on a wonderful day to you both, Suzie. It’s lovely to see photos of the day and to hear your firsthand account of how it all went. And, you look gorgeous. Wishing you both many happy years together.
    Hugs and all,
    xx

  47. Happy, joyous, fun – perfect. I myself am a huge fan of baby’s breath and glass jars. The other flowers were gorgeous. May you two have many, many wonderful years together.
    PS Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply –

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