Our Wedding - 11th September (Heavy post!)
 

One word of warning, if you don't want to read mushy lovey-dovey wedding stuff, probably best move on!! LOL. If you want to read on, best grab a cuppa, its a long read!!

Many of you that know Beccy & I will know that we have been together for quite a long time. Infact, we met on September 11th, 1999. We have spoken about marriage often, but have wanted to save it until a point in our lives where we both felt truly ready and could put together a day that would be as amazing as our feelings for each other. We have an amazing relationship and get on so so well.

We visited an exclusive venue in Suffolk, called Yaxley Hall, on September 11th 2008. We had our eye on this place for quite some time and deliberately visited exactly 12 months prior to our intended wedding date so we could see exactly how it would look on our big day. It is a VERY beautiful place, very grand, but at the same time perfect for a small and intimate wedding. We did see one or two other venues, but truthfully, our hearts were set.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding001.jpg

Cost was a fairly big issue, Yaxley is extremely expensive, but we decided that we would rather lay on a very special day for our closest family and friends, rather than choose a cheaper venue and invite everyone we know, even those that wouldn't really be fussed whether they were there or not. What a fantastic move that was. :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding002.jpg

Once booked, we spent the next 12 months planning everything ourselves. Our families didn't even know until the new year, by which time we had most of the main components booked. We didn't really want anyone interfering. After the venue and of course Beccy's dress, the next most important decision for us was the photographer, after all, once the day has passed, photo's are really all you have left. A photographer that can capture the true mood of the day is something that made this decision a very high priority. We chose a guy called Jamie David, he is very modern in his style, which suits us perfectly. He also works with an assistant photographer (on our day, it was his niece, who is also highly talented), which adds a second perspective to many of the pictures. We wanted more candid reportage style pictures than rigid posed shots. In actual fact, he delivered everything. The pictures you see in this thread are not his, they are amateur ones taken by others on the day. The pro photo's are hosted on Jamie Davids website, but need a password to access them. Of course these are very personal to us, but if you know us and we know you and you want to see the pics, drop me a PM and I will give you the password. There are 394 of them though!!

Despite the fact that we are from Norwich, we recognised that we were getting married in Suffolk, so booked all the suppliers from the local area. This meant a fair bit of travelling to narrow these people down and eventually discuss details. This included the cake, hairdressing, photography, chair covers, the registrar and so on. We used a florist from Norwich, because she really is good and knows Yaxley very well. Something that we considered important. Once thing that was common amongst everyone we chose and infact became a deciding factor in suppliers as we went on was a pure passion for their work. Everyone we used was like this and it all went towards what was a truly truly amazing day and one which my new wife and I are still on cloud 9 over.

We really had a personal involvement in every part and Beccy & I handmade many of the components that we could. For example, we designed the invites, table plan, menu's, table names, gift card postbox, guest book tree the list goes on. The attention to detail surprised most of our guests and making all this really helped us build up our excitement leading up to the big day. We also chose all the music for the day.

Prior to the ceremony, I wanted guests to enjoy our taste in music, but of course at the calm and relaxing end of the scale of what we like. Here is some of what was played......

Moby - Love Should - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJlMyVI3v20

Chicane - No Ordinary Morning - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltKSf0t30OI

Massive Attack - Live With Me - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qASleuNDyjw

However, I had one very special piece of music planned for the entrance of my beautiful bride......

Craig Armstrong - Balcony Scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je3KyWWW8pA

This piece of music is from Baz Luhrmanns remake of the classic film Romeo & Juliet, one of my all-time favourites. If you listen to no other music from my links in this post, you should listen to this one. It sends shivers down my spine every time I listen to it since the wedding. :)

About halfway through, infact at around 3 min 30 seconds in, the bridesmaids made their entrance. Beccy had chosen her best friend and her daughter to be her bridesmaids and they were both in tears by the time they reached the front of the ceremony room, closely followed by Beccy (also in tears!), given away by her father (close to tears himself). These pictures just don't do justice to how AMAZING she looked. I know she is gorgeous, but I think a few people were shocked that day. Stunning. :love:

This would mark the beginning of what was an extremely emotional ceremony, to the point where even the photographer had a tear in his eye. You really had to be there to experience it, but the fact that we had only our very closest and most important people there, meant that we could truly show our true feelings for each other and I'm not ashamed to say that these people got to see us laid bare.

We picked 2 of the most beautifully worded readings to be read during the ceremony and these were delivered perfectly by two of our family members, again with heartfelt emotion.

During the signing of the marriage register, I had wanted this track played.....

DJ Sammy - Heaven (Candlelight Mix) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CLCUoUUBuk

....and it suited perfectly.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding003.jpg

It was followed by this.....

Jordin Sparks - This is my now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiUT8tGL7FE

Then the tempo was lifted slightly for Beccy and I to make our exit from the Ceremony Room......

Jack Johnson - Better Together http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CIaRhBOjJ8

Followed by.....

Newton Faulkner - Dream Catch Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o40ivRiHeDE

If I did it again, I would not chose the music any differently. It worked SO SO well.

Once we stepped out into the gardens, we were greeted by Nik, who is a Contact Juggler. We booked him to provide relaxing entertainment for our guests while photos were being taken. Contact Juggling, for those that don't know, is just that. Juggling, but with full contact. Remember the film Labyrinth from the 80's? Contact Juggling was used alot in that, it is a very relaxing thing to watch and can be done with anything from one to as many as four 'crystal' balls. As with every part of our wedding, we looked very hard to find Nik, who is a master of his art though and a true entertainer. Probably one of THE best Contact Jugglers in the country. It made for a lovely way to relax everybody and was a real talking point.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...edding003a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...edding003b.jpg

The inspiration for this as far as we are concerned was originally taken from this video, AMAZING!!!......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iC3b5JnSIE

This is my Wife and I, with the Bridesmaids and my Usher (left of the picture) and Best Man (right of the picture). My Best Man was Neil, my brother, Redeye Jedi from this forum. :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding004.jpg

This picture includes my Mum and Twin Sister.......

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding007.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding008.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding009.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding010.jpg

Our cake looked amazing, again we wanted something out of the ordinary. However, this cake was chosen firstly on its taste. We were to use the cake as our dessert, so it had to be of very high quality and in a choice of flavours. Incidentally, all the little 'hearts' and various words you can see dotted around were ordered by us to our spec, in plywood, then handpainted by us. The place names were wooden 'luggage tags', again hand-painted and with individually printed name labels.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding011.jpg

Infact the bottom larger tier was Chocolate (a special blended mix that was slightly richer than milk chocolate, but not as rich as dark chocolate). I LOVE Chocolate cake, so this HAD to be good! The second tier was Vanilla and Caramel, while the top tier was Carrot cake. This was another fantastic choice, everyone got to enjoy our wonderful cake, not just look at it!

Here are Beccy and I drinking from her Swarovski Crystal White Wine Glasses, which were my wedding gift to her and something she'd had her eye on for ages!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding012.jpg

I'm afraid I can't tell you what her gift was to me, but it was the most awesome gift a man could ever want. :ban-split::god:

At 7.00, our guest list approximately doubled to around 75 and an amazing evening was had by all. We had a magician, Michael Gee, meeting and greeting guests with close-up magic. He was no ordinary magician though and left EVERYONE shocked.

This is him.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6755629.stm

....unfortunately the video on that page doesn't appear to work any more. He can be seen on YouTube performing 'The Spike Trick' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjZZzO3rSvI), which, although an amatuer video, is a trick that he performed at our wedding reception (not with his head though, thank god!!)

More of our details......

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding013.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding014.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding015.jpg

.....and our first dance, which was to another highly emotional track (listen to it, seriously!!).

Beyonce - Still in Love (Kissing You) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU5GGiFK5Bc

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding017.jpg


The second most amazing moment from the day. Proper shivers down the spine stuff for me. :oops: This track was also from Romeo & Juliet, but was sung for that film by Des 'Ree. It was the original choice for us, until we heard Beyonce's version, her voice is captivating. We did snigger at 2 min 35 though. ;)

Then, at about 11.40, you'll never guess what we did?

Myself, my Wife and her Daughter along with her other Bridesmaid and her husband jumped in a taxi to........

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding018.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding019.jpg

...Diss train station!! Yes, in all our wedding attire, we caught the train to Norwich. That turned some heads, considering it was the main London to Norwich train. :cry:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding020.jpg

Rosie's Nanny met us as Norwich station and took Rosie with her for the next few days, whilst we enjoyed our 'Honeymoon'. We stayed for our Wedding night at a very plush hotel in Norwich called St Giles House, then spent the early part of the following week at another nice hotel in Windsor, where we simply relaxed.

We plan our proper Honeymoon for our 1st Anniversary, so that we can once again enjoy a wonderful experience, instead of blending it all into one. We plan on going to Dubai, followed by the Maldives and are both very much looking forward to that one. :grin:

Well, if you've lasted this long, you've done well. Hope you enjoyed the read. We are proud to say that many of our guests say that it was the best and certainly the most emotional wedding they have been to. For us, it is a day that will NEVER be forgotten. :top:

Looks like an awesome day and Becky looks stunning, you must have been on cloud 9 :top:

BECCY said 'Thanks Chyp'. :blabla: :cry:

WOW !!!

So pleased for ya both, words cant describe !!

Love to ya both & hope to see ya real soon to congratulate you both in person !! :god:

jb

Apologies, Im far too old for all these trendy yoof name spellings :cry:

Really well planned day by the looks of things and a few 'different' touches that I really like the sound of rather than the traditional way its normally done.

Congratulations again to you both, all the best for your future together.


Cheers,
Grant

very nice mate. your MRS looks stunning and you aint scrubbed up to bad in a suit either lol

hope you both had a wonderful day look spot on set up :top:

Really pleased for you! Glad you enjoyed it

Looks like you had a fantastic day, Looks a very nice venue, its only down the road from me but i never knew it was such a nice place, quality Diss station, I bet all the JDM geeks were hanging about in the car park wernt they!

As said, Beccy looks stunning and i always imagined you to be much older than what you look :king:

spot on day by the looks of it.best wishes for the future:clap:

Congratulations you two... looks like a fantastic day was had by all :top:

awesome,n congrats!!!:clap::clap:

Wow, I don't know you personally nor do i post on here as often as i used to but i just want to say congratulations to you both and best wishes for the future, Looks like an amazing day and well done for doing things differently,

P.s. You look a lot younger than i expected too:cry::cry::cry:

wow u both look amazing, congrats 2 u both. looks like a fantastic day.
:top:

Congratulations to you both :clap::top:

WOW!

You are one mushy sod but fair play to you mate :top:

You have clearly spent a LONG time planning the wedding to eprfection and all the small touches look like they helped make the day.

Beccy looks fantastic and i dare say you scrub up not so bad yourself Christian :DD:

All the best for the years to come.

Chop

:cry:Well Done, looks like a ace day !!!! :top::top:

I have a wedding to go to sat, Going to be a riot !! .. :grin:

Most of the family dont get on ........lol... oh dear :cry:

Wow, looks like you had the most amazing day. You both look great too, especially Beccy. Excellent music too. Nicole and I wish you all the happiness in the world. :king:

what a great location for a very special day...............:grin:

:clap: Sounds very well planned out. Congratulations to you both :top:

Looks like you had a great day..congrats :clap:

OMG it looked perfect! You both look stunning, especially Beccy, I can't believe how grown up Rosie looks now too! Lovely to see how happy and in love you are together :D

Huge congratulations! x

Zo

Congratulations Beccy looked stunning as usual,glad it was perfect day :top:

Congrats fella, pleased for you both ;) :donkey:

WOW WOW WOW!!!

Guys it looks like you had the most perfect day ever!

Huge congratulations, and i wish you all the happiness and luck for your wonderful life together.

x

Nice write up. Pleased for you. congrats :top:

ahh looks a lovely day the dresses are stunning :grin:

Congrats to you both :top:

Congratulations to you both.

Becky looks stunning not so sure about Christian ;-).

Have a long & happy life together.

Many many congratulations m8, looks the perfect day to celebrate becoming man and wife :top::top::top::top::top:

Fantastic! :top:

Seeing that i haven't seen you both for a good few years yu both looked lovely :)

PMSL @ train though, was it busy?

some things i have learnt reading this thread:

your wedding cake looks like your present boxes

i didn't know redi eye was your brother

things i haven't learnt in this thread:

which one is your twin?

Looks like a really great day, well done to you both :)

LOL Dojj, lets do this by elimination.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Wedding005.jpg

This picture has my Mum and my Twin in it. We already know that Neil is my brother and I hope my wife is obvious :cry:. See if you can work it out??!! :cry:

Thank you everyone for your comments. I hope this thread serves as an inspiration and a help to those getting married and prompts the blokes to get involved! :)

i have learnt that red eye looks better in a whistle then he does in a nurse's out fit

really pleased for the both of you, looks like you had a wonderfull day and seeing this has given me ideas of what i would like to do for ours

:clap:Congratulations:clap:

spot on fella ,

really over the moon for both you guys , beccy looked amazing , and well redi in a suit !!!!!!


congrats again and see you guys next year


beef

Wow, what a beautiful write up! I just hope that if I get married that my day turns out to be as special as yours seems!

Ive already picked out a few songs that I would like to feature in the day regardless of who the (un)lucky man is :)

Many congrats!

Great pics and a lovely write up! I hope you have a long and happy future together. :top:

Oh and, well done on bagging a fitty! :god:

Congratulations to the both of you, looks like you had a fantastic big day :)