Yesterday was the best day of my life, by far. This weekend has been the best weekend. At about quarter past two Phil The Photographer called upon me for pre-wedding photos. After the lowering cloud and horzontal rain of yesterday, today’s weather was ever-improving. As the guests arrived they would ask me if I was nervous, to which, each time with increasing frustration I would reply, ‘I wasn’t until you asked me that!’. But my hand remained steady as I moved between entrance hall to front drive.
At five to three, two things happened. Fristly , after carefully working out the timing of the entrance music and the necessary signals between usher and best-man, Sarah announces taht she needs to close the doors to the main room soon. We resolve this but then came a dilemma. The hall still looked half-empty of guests but upon checking the seating plan I discoverdd that we were down on only four people: Amanda and Robert, Jane, and Steven. We held on for a few more minutes before I took my place at the front of the hall.
My brother starts the music – an excerpt from Vaughan William’s Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis. I am by this point extremely emotional and can feel myself welling-up beneath my eyes. When I see Emma enter with her DadI feel really puffy, and she is red around the eyes.
We are left standing a the front, but it is Emma that has to tell me to sit. Our superintendent registrar, David Wynne Roberts introduces the cermony, Em’s mum does her reading and the declarations are made, and Lucy plays the music brilliantly (the Third Entr’acte from Carmen – a haunting flute melody), my mum does her reading 0t eh whole thing passes almost as a blur. We kiss, we leave adn walk out into the sunshine. Deiniol hands me a Pimms; never has it been more welcome.
Our photographs are takien, with it not taking too long, allthough for us it did take longer as Phil took us about the estate for various one’s on our own, and then gently coaxed us to don our walking boots (Emma’s beneather her dress) and climb up the mountain for photographs by the wall that we built. Everyone was very amused by this idea but I think it was well worth it! 🙂
The main room was, by now, transformed fro the meal and beautiful. The meal was the best 0 everyone seemed to agree that it was the best wedding breakfast they had ever had (but then again, Blas ar Fwyd have served royalty, and by royalty I mean as royal as you can get!). We had bubble fights with the little’uns, particularly Aelfthryth and Edith (although we didn’t know it at the time but they kept on coming froward and going back to sketch us ‘from life’ for pictures in the guest book.
When the speeches came they were goo – even if David’s was a bit unsuitable for anyone still eating or digesting their food, as it contained stories of Emma and her vetinary exploits, like the defrosting a dead dog with hairdriers and boiling a cats hind leg!! My borther’s focused on my not doing things by half and involved him prducing a copy of Ruins of the Old which he threatened to, but didn’t, read from.
My own, succeeded in being brief (for me, very important) and getting a laugh out fo the thank you’s to the bridesmaids, and for my delayed (deliberately) opening of My Wife and I to the second paragraph.
And then to the music – wel, even I got up and danced for a bit. When I wasn’t revelling in the Welsh cheese board.
Alone in our room later, Emma had a final surprise for me in a wedding day card for me. Everything was just perfect.
