It’s almost a rite of passage that once you reach your thirties you’ll have at least one Summer full of back to back weddings. That seems to be this year for me and Ollie, and with one under our belt already, last weekend we headed off to Tewkesbury to celebrate the marriage of Ollie’s best friend. We were one of three couples in our friendship group to to get engaged around the same time and we’ve all now booked dates for this year, this being the first, so I was looking forward to getting a sneak preview of what we can expect on our big day given that many of the guests would be the same!
I’ve been so caught up with work that I’d largely left Ollie to get arrangements for the weekend sorted – all I knew was that he would pick me up from work at 4pm on Friday and I had a vague idea of what I’d thrown into a bag the night before in a sleep deprived stupor. What I didn’t expect was that we’d pull up at a cottage in the middle of rolling green countryside and head straight out to the local pub (after a quick change into jeans and flats – I could tell immediately that my pencil skirt and Carvela’s weren’t really appropriate attire for the occasion!) What ensued was a whirlwind – three days of good friends, catching up, reminiscing, laughter, singing, happy tears, dancing, Thai food, church bells, Uptown Funk, Pimms and lots and lots of Prosecco (not to mention late nights, sore heads, a missing shoe and a Wedding Day trip to an emergency Pharmacy, but the less said about that, the better!). By the time Monday came around (far too quickly) I was exhausted, but I’m still feeling the warm fuzzy afterglow now, and that’s saying a lot considering the awful week I’ve had!
The best part about the weekend was that we were all together – our cottages were all next door to each other, the church was adjacent and the reception was held in a marquee in the grounds. Not only was it a chance to spend some quality time with Ollie, but with people we don’t get to spend time with nearly as much as we’d like. We caught up on recent news, recounted stories from our past and made plans for the future – for the first time in a while I didn’t even have time to think about the stress of work. It was all about focusing on the good things in life, and in such company it was hard to consider myself anything other than blessed. Everything about the day was personal – from the messages we wrote on wooden hearts, the playlist of songs that reminded us of good times together and the photographs of the happy couple to handwritten cards they left for each of us at our seats. Both the bride and the Wedding were stunning, leaving me with massive marquee envy, but also with some great ideas and the assurance that when we all get together again for our own Big Day later this year, we’ll have a wonderful time.
There’s another Wedding to go before then though, giving me more to look forward to when things are tough! Bring on July 31st!
Love,
In this post: Dress, H&M – Shoes, Carvela ‘Gin’ (Similar) – Necklace, Dorothy Perkins (Similar)
Picking the Day 