On the morning of 21st April 2001, the day dawned bright and clear, and sun shone brightly for the first time after weeks of rain.
I awoke after a good nights sleep, excited about the day that lay ahead, and also with the feeling that the afternoon seemed so far away.
After a quick, light breakfast, it was off to the hairdressers. I was accompanied by my chief bridesmaid, Mel, my mother and my brother's girlfriend, Katy. We all had our hair styled ready for the day, and Mel and I both had our tiaras put in place. As we sat there having our hair done we drank Bucks Fizz.
Once we were all done, we headed back to the house to start with the rest of the preparations. We had coffee, and then a light lunch. Soon after lunch the ushers arrived, and were sent next door to get ready. I was waiting until the last moment to get ready so that only my parents and Mel would see me dressed before the ceremony.
Once all the ushers had headed off to the church, I came downstairs fully dressed in my wedding attire. The photographer had arrived to take the pre-wedding photos, so went into the living room, and I had my photo taken several times, with and without my veil and with varying other people.
The photos taken, the photographer headed over to the church to be ready for when the groom and best man arrived. The cars arrived to take us to the church. I had a quick cup of tea, before going to get in the car.
We drove the 5 minute journey to St David's Church, Groesfaen. On arrival, there were local villagers at the gate to welcome me, and take photos, and the official photographer was ready to take photos of me walking up the path to the church.
We were joined by my other bridesmaid, Ella. She is Scott's second cousin, and was at the time almost 3 years old.
The vicar commented that I was the first bride he knew that was early, but I couldn't have waited any longer to go to the church. At 3.30pm the bridal march began, and I started my walk down the aisle towards Scott, who was stood at the front waiting for me. On reaching the front, I put my veil back so that Scott could see my face.
Our parents were sat in the choir stalls in front of us, and they all smiled at us, as we sang the first hymn, "Guide Us, O Thou Great Redeemer". This was followed by a reading from St. Paul's letter to the Corinthiums, read by my brother, and the Psalm 121.
It was then time for the wedding service itself. We turned to face each other and said our vows. Neither of us suffered stage fright and said our vows without stumbling over the lines. We exchanged rings, and then the vicar announced us man and wife. As Scott and I kissed, the congregation applauded.
Following the ceremony Scott's brother, Guy read Shakespeare's 116th Sonnet, after which we sang "Praise my Soul, the King of Heaven", before prayers and a blessing.
We then went into the vestry to sign the register, accompanied by our parents, Mel and Guy. Whilst we were signing the register, Libby Toye sang "The Lord is my Shepherd" (to the Vicar of Dibley tune).
The register signed we processed out of the church to the Trumpet Voluntary, followed by Mel and Guy, and then our parents.
Once outside the church we greeted our guests. It was lovely to see so many people there. One of our guests had even made the journey from Dorset just for the service as they couldn't stay for the reception.
We then had the official photographs outside the church, first just the two of us, and then with varying groups of the rest of the wedding party.
The photographs taken, we headed down the path to the awaiting car. At the church gate we were covered in confetti, before getting into the cars, and heading off to the reception.
We arrived at Howell's School, the location of our reception, before the majority of the guests. The photographer took photos of us on the steps as we went in. We were welcomed and immediately given a glass of Celebration punch. Other guests began to arrive, and soon everyone had arrived and was enjoying a refreshing drink.
More photos were then taken in the little courtyard. These included photos of all the members of each family in turn, as well as a photo of Mel, my bridesmaid and her fiance Ben, who was also one of our ushers.
The photos taken, we made our way to the top of the stairs into the hall where we would be eating and greeted all our guests as they made their way through. The final guests to come through were our parents, and we then all made our way to the top table to begin the meal.
Throughout the meal we had a string quartet playing, who enjoyed the event as much as we did. The meal was lovely. We started with salmon, followed by chicken en croute, and finished with a vanilla mousse with red berries. All delicious. The meal was accompanied by wine, including a wonderful red wine called "Goats Do Roam" from the Fairview vineyard in South Africa.
Between courses we circulated and talked to our guests. There were disposable cameras on each of the tables, so a lot of photography was taking place.
After the meal came the speeches. First, the father of the bride, then Scott, and then the Best Man. All the speeches were wonderful, and everyone enjoyed them.
We then circulated and talked to guests, until about 11.30pm when our taxi arrived to take us to our hotel for the night. As we went to the hotel we agreed that all in all we'd had a wonderful day, and it was good to be married.
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