Will and Kate, move over... (Part Two)

So, the venue:                                           Rowfant House

(C) Alex Lewis

We held the reception at Rowfant House in Crawley/Rowfant. As you can see, it is a gorgeous 18th century manor house, now owned by the Latvian Church. It is breathtaking from the outside, quite possibly because of the stretches of lawns and the lake. The interiors are just as impressive - dark wood paneling, an open fire and gorgeous furniture. 

Anyway, enough of the advertising. We had a drinks reception, during which the lovely Heather Wrighton played the harp (she's a genius) and we explored the grounds with Alex to find good photo spots.

After lots of mingling, we made our way into the hall for our meal, and it was absolutely divine. The wine flowed freely, and everyone seemed to get on really well, which is always a plus. We cracked out the champagne and listened to three wonderful speeches, during which I both laughed and shed a few tears, so well done and thank you to the three men in my life - my Dad, my lovely husband, and the brother I never had (the fiance of one Nikki Jackson) :).

And then began the party. 

Despite a communication problem with the DJ (he apparently didn't get the playlist), we had a great night. Samm (the afore mentioned brother creature) saved the first dance by downloading the song we had asked for (which of course the DJ didn't have) - Man and Wife by Michelle Featherstone. Thanks again, Samm. And that's why he was best man. 

You have to see the cake:

(C) Alex Lewis

My Dad's friend, Ann, made this for us, and it was beautiful and delicious. Tatty Teddies on the top - couldn't have been anything else. The bottom layer was fruit cake and the top was sponge. We had two tiers, and ordered the sugarcraft roses and ivy online. Don't you think they look good?

I think my parents still have a good half in their freezer for our next visit. 

(C) Alex Lewis

The first dance. 

Now. Neither Rob or I can dance. This was the element of the evening that worried us both the most. We decided that the safest bet was to go with the sway and spin, and do you know what, I didn't fall over once. I hate to sound slushy, but we both got so lost in the dance that we didn't even think about whether we were any good or not. Nobody laughed or saw us treading on each others toes, and we had fun. 

I know it sounds cheesy, but I don't think I have ever had that much fun in my life. Wearing that dress, I felt like royalty. The only thing that even came close to that feeling was Graduation. 

Which reminds me, I've not properly spoken about the dress and shoes etc. 

(C) Alex Lewis

The dress was from By Design on Princes Avenue, and the lace shawl belonged to my Grandma. When clearing out their house, my Mum came across a couple of gorgeous lace scarves and suggested I could use one as a shawl. When we showed the one I'd picked to Jenny (the dressmaker), she was both terrified and excited by it. Terrified because it was so delicate, and excited because it is gorgeous. She worked her magic, measuring, playing about while I had another excuse to stand in my dress and stare at it in the mirror.

When I went to collect the lace and the tiara, I was breathtaken. she had made the scarf into this beautiful shawl which attached to the front of the dress, and had sewn in lots of little crystal beads so it sparkled in the light. I like to think that Grandma would have approved.

The Shoes. Oh, the shoes. 

(C) Alex Lewis

I am not a shoe person. The extent of my shoe collection has always been Vans, Doc Martens and Converse, so when I was trying on all these tiny white things, I was nonplussed. I felt like I was shopping for school shoes aged seven. I even considered bridal Doc Martens, and so many people said 'that is so you'. However, when shopping in Leeds with two of my bridesmaids, Nikki and Hannah, I stumbled across these beauties. For anyone who doesn't recognise the style, they are by Irregular Choice. It was the most I had ever spent on a pair of shoes, and considering I aodre Doc Martens... well. You can imagine. And I wore them all morning, not taking them off until the meal (which no-one saw), and then finally at about 10 o'clock they defeated me. 

Our last dance consisted of Queen and Thirty Seconds to Mars, which completely topped off the night. When we retired to our room, we found a lovely big bunch of flowers waiting for us, as well as a cleverly short sheeted bed. Thanks Trish. (The one with the pink hair). 
One final picture to demonstrate the amount of fun I had:

Now, can I get an award for most pictures crammed into a blog? I will now let you lovely people get back to your lives. It has been lovely sharing this wonderful day with you, and reliving the day. Thanks for reading,

Will and Kate, move over...

(C) Alex Lewis

June 11th 2011. 6:30am. My eyes blinked open, letting in the weak morning sun that was creeping through my window. I could hear my parents shuffling about, having whispered conversations. I wondered if they were drawing straws, like they used to, for who would wake me up. I wasn't a very pleasant teenager in the mornings.

I spent a few minutes trying to work out the ratio of excitement to nervousness, and by about 7:00am I think nervousness was winning over. 

Getting ready was made a lot easier by my Mum's bathroom schedule - getting 6 females (and one man) through one single bathroom before 11:00am is no mean feat. As it was, we had time to spare. Thanks Mum :)

So, the Bridesmaids:

(C) Alex Lewis

Heather, on the furthest left, is my older sister, and was chief bridesmaid. Next to her is Nikki, my sister-in-law and housemate last year. Holly is one of my oldest friends (because I've known her a long time, not because she's ancient...). Hannah is a good friend from Uni, and housemate for two years. Don't you think they all look stunning in their lovely red dresses? Luckily Holly's mum is a dressmaker, and was able to make last minute emergency adjustments - thank you Christine :).

(C) Alex Lewis

As you can see, the cars we got were vintage and fancy. The one shown in the picture above was the bridesmaid's transport - a vintage minibus. Then there is the one me and my Dad travelled to the church in, and then Rob and I travelled to Rowfant House in.

Alex, the photographer, arrived early to do my make-up and to take some getting ready shots. Alex and I have been friends since College, and he is blooming rapidly as a photographer. Most of these pictures are his - please have a look at some of his other stuff. 

We pulled up to the church, and I could have sworn I had actual butterflies fluttering around in my tummy. Can't have been fun for them. I don't think I've ever had a feeling like it, stepping out of that car to see so many people gathered around the church, including my Dad's hairdresser and the elderly lady who lived next door to us when Heather and I were growing up - Daisy. All these people, looking at me. As I stood holding onto my Dad's arm, I could feel the pride radiating from him. It was a good feeling. 

(C) Alex Lewis

We had lots of photos taken, and then my tummy gave a leap when Kath, my minister, gave the nod. We walked down the aisle to the traditional bridal march, played by a local organist, Fiona - Me and my dad, followed by the bridesmaids in twos. 

London Road is not actually my home church, but is in the same circuit and I have preached there a few times. St Andrews was a bit too small for the number of guests we wanted, so thank you to all at London Road for being so accomodating. 


The St Andrews music group played for us as well as Fiona, which was wonderful. The songs: 
O Lord My God (How Great Thou Art)
Jesus Stand Among Us
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Be Thou my Vision

The ceremony was beautiful, and were quite greedy because we had two ministers. The Rev'd Tim Jackson (now my father in law) took the ceremony, and Rev Kath Jones (the minister of my home church and R.S teacher for two years at college) opened the ceremony, did the sermon, communion and blessing. 

During the signing of the register, the lovely Nikki Joy (now my sister in law) sang 'Kiss Me' and then 'This is the Air I Breathe' during the communion. It was lovely :) She did really well, considering she was trying not to cry the whole way through. 

(C) Alex Lewis

We left the church to 'Flowers' by Tor and the Swans of Exile, which none of my family approved of... I'm such a rebel. Check out the band - Tor has an amazing voice and writes some wonderful songs. I definitely recommend having a listen over on Facebook. Ok, no, he's not paying me (but maybe he should...). Advertising done.

Photos outside the church, and confetti - most of which ended up inside my dress... flower petal confetti is itchy... the driver was very discreet and averted his eyes as I attempted to remove them in the car. 

We got our 20 minutes of rain while we were in the car, which I though was incredibly lucky considering it rained the day before and after. Gotta love a sunny wedding. 

To Be Continued...

Just Popped in to Say...

... a quick hello. Many apologies for my absence over the last month or so. Firstly, internet access hasn't been easy, and secondly, I got married. You know, the usual. 

Say hello to Mrs Jackson.

I hope none of you mind if I clutter up the next blog with pictures and slushy romantic tales from the wedding and honeymoon... but then I guess everyone loves a good wedding. For now, suffice to say we had a wonderful day, and I honestly couldn't have dreamed up anything better if I tried. There were hiccups, of course, but I barely even remember them. 

I have been doing a bit of work recently, scribbling down ideas and plot twists for a secret project. It's secret just in case it goes wrong. I'm a coward, I know. As it starts to take off, I might fill you in. Otherwise this will be an incredibly boring blog. 

So anyway, I just wanted to explain my absence and let you know that pictures and stories are on the way. 

See you all soon,