A quick one, as we’ve only just finished the last load of dishes from the party yesterday – 85 people showed up to celebrate our getting hitched, and we partied into the night.
Friday was lovely. After spending the night with my stepmum and stepdaughter in Winchester (the hotel screwed up our reservation and my stepmum managed to wrangle an upgrade, free minibar, free breakfast, and half my money back), I went to a nearby spa and had my hair and makeup done because I’m rather crap at doing such things myself.
I then went back to my room and got myself dressed while the ladies fluttered about getting themselves ready.
Then we drove to Winchester, where the ceremony was due at 1130am on the 2nd of July, 2010, in the Winchester Register Office.
The ceremony was solemn.
It was also mostly about laughter.
And I am in love with the rings.
The entire extended family then went to the restaurant we’d booked for the wedding lunch, the amazing Chesil Rectory, which was built in 1450.
We went home as a family of eight, opened some bubbly, had a Pad Thai and watched the footie. As you do on your wedding day.
The next day was the big, less formal party. We used Alastair’s massive barbecue pit to spit roast six huge pork loins and a million oven-roasted Indian chickens.
The cake – as made by HFF – was staggering.
She even made the top, which I have kept because I’m so in love with.
I think my gorgeous friend doubted herself, but her cake – a layer of coffee, lemon, and chocolate – was so beautiful and so fabulous to eat that people talked about it all night long and I cannot thank her enough. She is a great friend, an incredible cook, and her little man Harry is utterly dashing in a waistcoat.
The following photos are as taken by the most fantastic May’s also fantastic husband H, as he was on the ball with the photos and I was not, spending my night running around doing dishes, doling out food, and making sure people were ok. I even got a moment for a cuddle with the new man in town, and he’s a real honey, all gurgling baby. I think the party went well – the cake and food was a hit, the alcohol was drunk, people proclaimed it A Really Good Party Indeed.
The party started at 1500 and went on until 0130. The sunlight and screaming children were displaced by adults with wraps and scarves and anecdotes by candlelight.
We even lit off a number of sky lanterns.
The stepkids have gone home now, the guests are all gone, and the party has been tidied up a while now. Tomorrow Alastair and I leave for a few days in Antigua – not very long, but long enough – and then we’ll be back. It has been an extraordinary week, but the funny thing is it doesn’t feel like the anti-climax – it now feels like life as we get to live it. It’s not about being on the roller coaster, it’s about being here.
And I am happy.
So very happy.
See you in a week.
-S.
So many congratulations on such a wonderful day, and a wonderful rest of your lives together!
So happy! Love it – A beautiful new chapter in a story I’ve loved reading along with! Once again, congratulations, and thanks for including us!
You are just glowing with happiness! Congratulations!
Congratulations a million times over. So very happy indeed!
You look radiant, beautiful. It sounds wonderful.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! All of it! Congrats! :)
Thank you, thank you for sharing your recap. You look radiant! Many congratulations with lots of love xx
And you deserve it all, a thousand times over!! Enjoy Antigua and each other.
Marvelously marvelous. Thanx for sharing.
I love that last photo of you Shannon, so beautiful and happy. Congrats again, love Amanda xx
And you look very happy too! Have a wonderful honeymoon…
I am trying to type through happy tears as I thank you so much for taking the time to bring those of us who could only be there in spirit into your moment. I hope your honeymoon is as fabulous as you, the photos, the cake, and the recap are.
Good gracious you are beautiful!!
Brilliant! Also, that cake is amazing, well done HFF!
Congratulations! You look beautiful and very happy!
I’ve been reading since you found out twins were on the way. I’m so very happy to see you so very happy!
First off, the twins? Cannot possibly be legal to be that cute. There must be some law against it. Also, I love the tiaras. Both of them. And second, HOLY CAKE BATMAN!! That thing is fantastic. Especially the birds.
Have a fantastic honeymoon. Are you still planning to go to Eastern Europe? If so, I would avoid mentioning the “f” word. You know. “Football.”
I second Lisa, thank you for sharing this with us all. What a wonderful weekend of celebration for you. Have a fantastic time on honeymoon and enjoy the start of your married life together. Congratulations to you all! xx
Congratulations!!!
Awesome. Stunning. Wonderful. Perfect. Everything it should have been. Loved your dress, your tiara, the kids looked great, your hubby looked suitably dapper and proud, and you both look impossibly, perfectly happy.
Well done you guys!
Looked like two absolutely gorgeous days.
Congratulations!!
BNM
You look so charming when you smile your happy smile.There is absolutely no difference between Victoria and Daniel or Shannon and Alastair in love. And I bet you had a lot more fun on your party. Congratulations! That’s how weddings should be.
Congratulations! Here’s to happy ever after!
It looks amazing! I’m so so so happy for you all.
Congratulations!! Oh, so so happy for you all!
Totally gorgeous! Thank you for sharing your day. I hope you have a fantastic break.
Congratulations! You both look and deserve to be so happy. It’s been quite the journey!
How sweet of you to let us have a look at your wedding! Have a safe and fun honeymoon! Congratulations!
Ah, you’ve made me cry again. You look spectacularly happy and that makes ME happy.
The children look lovely!! and I think the tiara is wonderful.
I love that cake!! (anything with coffee in it is great) Beautiful photos.
Oh, such a beautiful story – and the happiness the two of you share can be felt the whole way over here! Congratulations to both of you – enjoy your honeymoon, and may your life be as full of happiness as that single day was!
Much love
Kellie
Congratulations! What a happy day!
That last picture really is worth a thousand words. I’m absolutely thrilled for you, and for Alastair. Have a ball on your honeymoon ;-)
Wonderful! You look beautiful…all of you…and I can totally see why you are keeping that adorable cake topper. Congratulations!
Congratulations! Gorgeous cake, wonderful atmosphere, beyond beautiful kids, and the most lovely smiles as you head to your honeymoon and the rest of your life together.
Sounds just wonderful. The cake is fantastic-the top is beyond words. Love it.
So happy for all of you. And you’re right-now the real fun begins.
*can I just say that I’ve never seen so many damn sky lanterns in my life as I did this weekend. They were everywhere I went-I counted 14 on just Sat. night!
Congratulations!!! I’m thrilled for you, Angus, and your family.
Hey, Congrats. You’ve been through so much, but you look so happy. It is all good.
Wooooo, so faboosh! You look gorgeous- the whole fam does! I LOVE Winchester, (met my husband on a pub crawl there, hehe) and can’t think of a better place for a wedding- that town is just magic. So glad it all went swimmingly- looks like you planned the perfect day. Have a marvelous time on your honeymoon- you deserve it!
[...] life,Pass the hankies,There is a husband,We are not alone — May @ 10:51 pm So, we went to this wedding celebration. And it was [...]
Sorry I’ve been gone for a bit (with limited internet access). But you & Alastair look absolutely beaming. And that’s even before we get to the rest of your family. Looking at the pictures of you make me realize what a long way you’ve come since I first started reading your blog. I sincerely wish nothing but many years of happiness for you and your family, and that you’ve managed to banish the darkness once and for all from your life.
Congratulations!
I love it ALL. And that photo of you at the end of the post is just fabulous. Truly.
Wonderful! Best wishes to the both of you in the new and fabulous phase of your life.
Congratulations, you are so beautiful. What a lovely celebration.
How exciting! I’m so happy for you guys, congrats!!
[...] The wedding was lovely. Just lovely, lovely, lovely. I felt so privileged to be there and we had simply the nicest time. Harry was, broadly speaking, quite well-behaved - although his single episode of screaming, spitting, kicking meltdown, during which he was escorted (‘Mind your backs, folks!’) to the quiet front garden, did manage to rather discombobulate some of the older children, one of whom asked me, wide-eyed, [...]
So lovely, so happy! You so deserved to have these perfect celebrations of you and your life.
Congratulations! What a lovely day. The photos are fabulous.