Our Wedding Day – Part 3

We had originally intended to go to the beach for photos after the church, but along with the sunshine came wind and it would have been silly to trundle down the precarious steps for windy machine style photos! Instead we went straight to the pub and had our photos in the beautiful pub garden instead. 

This meant that we could then greet our guests as they arrived which was really lovely. The staff at the pub were brilliant as they had Prosecco, Pimm’s and sparkling water waiting for thirsty guests and canapés were also being offered. We said hello to each and every wonderful friend and family member whilst we guzzled a glass or two of something fizzy and fruity and a canapé. 

After the last guests had arrived I guzzled two glasses of water (I am a total water fiend and I never go anywhere without a 2 litre bottle of Evian so you can see this was a challenging day for water consumption!) and we made our entrance for the very first time as Mr and Mrs Hill. It was a wonderful moment that became infinitely more wonderful when I saw the incredible cake that our dear friend Kim (Mark’s partner) made for us. It was so pretty with delicate pink glittery flowers and butterflies tumbling down the front like Rapunzle’s locks. Kim had topped the cake with peonies and more flowers and best of all a little fondant Poppy! Nathan had already seen the cake whilst checking last minute details earlier in the morning and just knew that I would be in love the minute I saw it. When Nathan told me to look at the side of the cake, I wondered why and then I glimpsed the unmistakeable little Cavalier cheekies, the liquorice black nose and the ruby on white markings of our little baby Poppy and I shrieked with joy, much to everyone’s amusement!

We chatted merrily to our guests for the next half hour or so before we sat down for speeches followed by afternoon tea. Nathan is not one for public speaking so he said a few words of thanks so it was short, but very sweet. 

Due to the nature of my family unit on the day (my family is rather complicated, so I shall save that for another post!) the usual father of the bride speech was a team effort by Brooke and Mark. Brooke said the most beautiful speech that she has had prepared for the past 10 years since she was a teeny tiny 10 years old and there was not a dry eye when Brooke finished.

Then Mark said some truly lovely heartfelt words which meant so much. This finished the father of the bride speech nicely and it was onto Nathan’s best man Ian who delivered some giggles and Poppy got another mention. For the guests who did not know about Poppy or who did not know about the impact those big chocolate brown eyes and the incessantly happy wagging tail have had on us, they sure are now!

Then it was time for everyone to enjoy and indulge in the savoury and sweet treats that we had to offer for our afternoon tea. We served the usual fare that you would expect, crustless finger sandwiches, quiche, sausage rolls, mini Melton Mowbray pork pies with pickles, chutneys, mustard, scones with Rodda’s clotted cream and Tiptree jam, cupcakes and fondant fancies. I naturally wanted to make everything, but my wise Mother in law advised me against it, and I am pleased she did as I just didn’t have the time before the wedding. The food was washed down with strong Assam tea. All of the crockery was vintage and every single piece was handpicked by Nathan and I. Around 18 months ago when we decided that we would have our wedding reception at the family pub in a marquee in the old world walled garden we knew that we didn’t want a formal three course meal, but an afternoon tea. 

To make it extra special, I thought it would be a nice idea to collect some vintage china and maybe serve the tea if we could fine enough cups and saucers. We hoped that 18 months would be enough to find around 60 cups and saucers, so we headed straight for charity shops, car boot sales and antique markets. We had no idea that we would have such great success as within two months we had enough tea cups, saucers, side plates, cake plates and tea pots to serve 72 people! It was something that we relished doing and it seemed lots of other people did too. 

My friend Sharlotte made it her mission to find us some treasure and pin point us to charity shops with great finds. There was a set that Sharlotte had found for us so I made sure to set her place at the table with a cup and saucer from this lovely set.

Nathan and I didn’t really have an appetite; I think we were surviving on the adrenaline rush of the day, so we only managed to eat a few morsels which was a shame as everything looked delicious. Luckily there were enough leftovers for us to have wedding Boxing Day supper which really hit the spot! So after everyone ate their afternoon tea it was time to leave the beautiful marquee and sit in the sunshine before the evening reception began. We really did have the very best weather, lots of sunshine and a cool breeze, you really couldn’t complain, not even if you were wearing a huge taffeta wedding dress with multiple layers of petticoats underneath!

We tried to catch up with as many guests as possible, but we really didn’t seem to make it round very far before some of our evening guests arrived and then it was time to cut our cake and have our first dance.

We chose Michael Bublé Everything as our first dance song and it was perfect in every way.

Then the party began and we didn’t stop dancing until midnight! 

Wishing everyone a beautiful Sunday evening
Lots of love
Mrs. Hill! 
xoxo