What a Wonderful Wedding

Mark and Anna

Mark and Anna

After months of preparation finally the big day, and the big weekend were with us.  We were so, so lucky to have beautiful weather both for all the preparations and for the wedding itself. Gradually the scene took shape, the loos arrived on Wednesday and the marquee on Thursday. The marquee went up in a slightly different place than planned so Tom and Mark spent the first part of Friday morning moving the loos so that they weren't the main thing that you could see from the garden!

From Friday lunchtime people started arriving, Tom's family, and my sister Polly and her family, followed by my sister-in-law Mary-Anne and two of their children. Polly shinned up the oak tree in the garden to put up the fairy lights and Mark was up a ladder in the marquee putting ivy on the tent poles for Sally and Wendy from Simply Wonderful Flowers.

We were so lucky to have such a lovely sunny day, everyone swam, and while we all had dinner the children played croquet and did cartwheels on the lawn - an idyllic English Summer evening.

The following morning everyone swam and then preparations started to get serious - Stuart Kirby came to do Anna's hair, Alicia Sandeman came to do her make-up, Eliza and Alice got the cake put together and decorated, we all had lunch and suddenly it was time to get changed. Lovely Victoria from Elegant and Wild Photography managed to be here and at the Griffin, seemingly at the same time. Finally everyone was ready and Anna and Mark swept off to the church with Chris Musik in his beautiful Vintage Mercedes, and after a bit of impatient beeping Alice, Eliza and Sophie squished into my car and we were off to the church too. 

 

It is very strange being almost last into church at a wedding, I had a quick look round to make sure all my family had made it - and then the organ started up and we were off. Anna and Tom both looked so happy and it was a beautiful service and seemed to be over in a flash, it was great to have a chance to chat to friends in the churchyard as we waited for Tom and Anna to leave and then we shot off home for the reception and photos in the garden.

Lots of photos later we were ready for dinner and fantastic speeches from Mark, Tom and Tom's best men Solly and Nick, a delicious dinner from Louise's Kitchen and then full-on dancing to the Sustainiacs until 1.30. I hope it's the sign of a particularly good wedding when you find one of your guests fast asleep in the porter-loos at 1.30 in the morning! It was tremendous fun and such a happy day and over all too soon.

We had a lovely de-brief brunch the next morning, and then sadly it was all over.

Just a few of my favourite photos below!