A Peachy Adventure October 2015 - Day 8 - Wedding Day <3

[Redrach1903]

20th October

Before I start today’s report I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who has been reading along and especially those who leave me comments – they really make me smile

Right, so here it is! The BIG DAY! This is a hard one to write up because the day is such a blur. It really is true when people say your wedding day goes past in the blink of an eye, but I’ll tell you something; it was bloody amazing Also, I have no idea how I am going to whittle down all the photos, so this may end up being 3 or 4 posts long, maybe more! So, if you fall asleep I’m sorry

I slept surprisingly well, but I was awake pretty early at 6am. I could hear Dad and Derek moving around. All the boys (well all except 3 who don’t golf) were golfing at Celebration this morning. Chris had always wanted that to be the plan for the morning of the wedding since we didn’t get married until 5pm.

I went to say good morning and cheerio to Dad and then read some of the wedding cards I had with me (Chris wouldn’t mind! ). The one from Dad made me cry as I predicted as it said some things about Mum!

I text Chris “happy wedding day” before trying to get some more sleep, but I couldn’t! I got out of bed around 7.30 I think! I actually wasn’t feeling too nervous today. I honestly felt worse the day before! Weird!

Once everyone was up we decided to go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We got there about 9.30am and OMG it was SO slow today. Why today of all days? I really didn’t need to be feeling pushed for time! Anyway. I had Momma’s French Toast Breakfast.





Emma and Alison both had eggs in a basket again and Paula had French toast. It took AGES for our food to arrive and Emma’s didn’t come out at all! We had to tell them it was missing! I was getting really anxious by now as we all still had to get showered and we had to be at the hotel by 12.30pm for our hair and make-up! I was really regretting agreeing to going out for breakfast at this point! Next thing we know someone comes over to us and tells us that our server has had to leave due to an emergency and that she would get Emma’s breakfast out ASAP. Bloody hell!

Anyway, Emma’s finally came out and everything was as tasty as normal, but I couldn’t finish mine. I was too anxious and irritated. Lol!

We got back to the villa at 10.45 (about 45 minutes later than I had hoped!). I got showered first and the others followed. Emma booked a taxi to take us to The Bohemian! He arrived on time and at 12noon we were on our way! Our taxi driver was such a hoot! He really made us laugh lots and was so nice! I asked him to stop at the Bank of America in Celebration as I’d forgotten to lift more cash from the villa so I didn’t have enough for the hair & make-up balance! Doh!

We were pulling up to the hotel entrance a few minutes later. As soon as we walked in I saw J & Margaret! Margaret had stayed at the hotel the previous night and Chris had dropped off J with her while the guys golfed! I was like “don’t look!” cos I was holding my dress! I didn’t have a cover for it as I’d taken it over in a box! Haha!

Cindy from Beautè Spècialè was already there waiting for us, so I checked in and went up to our room! Cindy said she would come up once her colleague had arrived. Our room was really nice and spacious! It had lovely music playing in the background. I thought that was a nice touch! I had upgraded us to a lake view room which was nice I forgot to take any pictures of the actual room though! My bad!





Cindy and her colleague (I have completely forgotten her name and didn’t it write down – oops!) were soon at the door. They set up all their bits and bobs while I ran down to reception with the cake topper and place cards.

Now, there had been a massive miscommunication between the girl on reception at Bèautè and Karen, so she was left without a stylist to do her hair when she thought she had one! God knows what happened, but I asked Cindy if she could squeeze Karen in as we had loads of time. She said she could do her after me. Crisis averted.

So I sat down to get my bridal hair done by Cindy and Alison got hers done by the other girl Now, when I read other wedding reports there are always lovely photos of the girls getting ready, arty close ups of hair etc etc. Well you won’t find any of that here! It didn’t even cross my mind to document the getting ready part of the day. Too preoccupied I guess! Sorry about that!

Karen arrived just as my hair was being finished off. She seemed quite nervous herself! Lol! Then I asked her how Chris’s mum was doing and she told me she was a wreck! I was really surprised to hear this as Margaret didn’t even cry at Chris’s sister’s wedding! In fact I’ve only ever seen her cry once before and that was when her mother passed away. Anyway, next thing I know Karen is welling up…. I’m like “are you crying?” and she’s like (sniff) “Well it’s her baby boy getting married” (sniff). OMG I was not prepared for this! If our guests were this emotional, how on earth was I going to cope?! Gulp.

After the emotional wreck that was Karen left, Emma got her hair done and then I got my make-up done. Everyone was really happy with the end result

Emma:





Alison:



Me:





Now I think we should just take a minute to appreciate the wonders of make-up



Sorry if that scared you! It scares me and it’s my face! Ha!

I settled up with Cindy (I left them both a decent tip as they were really good!) and then they packed up, wished me the best and left.

Chris text me at some point to say that all the guys had a blast at the golf and he would “see me real soon” I reminded him to take the wedding rings! Haha!

Here’s a couple of pics he sent me of them at Celebration Golf Club including a wee gator! Just as well it was little! Imagine if my my fiancé was gobbled up! Haha!







At about 3pm I started doing Emma and Alison’s make-up. What’s this? The bride doing other people’s make-up? Yes, yes you did read that correctly! Haha! It’s always my job to do their make-up when we go out so why should today be any different?

After that Emma & Alison went down to check that everything looked in order and to get a couple of drinks for us. They said everything looked beautiful Here’s a snap of the terrace before everyone went out. I loved the colours. I chose purple because it was Mum’s favourite colour.



By 4pm we had nothing else to do other than put on our dresses! I didn’t like all this waiting about! I could have happily marched downstairs and got married an hour early! Haha! Emma & Alison got dressed first before they helped me into my dress!

Don’t they scrub up well? Gorgeous!



I was a bit nervous getting into my dress as I hadn’t been exactly careful with what I’d been shoveling down my throat since we arrived! Thankfully it zipped up fine with room to spare. PHA-YEWF!

I think it was at this point that we toasted to our Mum’s

The phone rang at about 4.30pm. It was Jacqui to let me know the florist was here with our bouquets. I had totally forgotten about them! Haha! I asked her to bring her up to our room with them. I had ordered the flowers from Lesley Tweed and she was brilliant. I was really happy with our bouquets. They were freshly cut and she had even incorporated thistles for me!



Jacqui said she would be back up with my Dad at 4.55pm. Alison said her goodbyes at this point and went to go get settled downstairs. There was nothing left for Emma and I to do now than wait. Those 10/15 minutes draaaaaaaaaaaged! I just wanted to get going!

Meanwhile; everyone was seated on the terrace and Chris was ready and waiting for me….



Having a drink to calm the supposedly absent nerves



And here’s a photo of Chris and J before they went outside. How gorgeous do they look in their matching kilts?



Right on cue there was a knock at the door. I opened it and my Dad saw me and just burst into tears I gave him a big hug and tried to compose myself before I ruined my make-up Bless him, he did so well to pull himself together. After that little wobble he was totally fine the rest of the day and night. I was so proud of him!

[continued in next post]

[Redrach1903]

[continued from previous post]

We headed for the lift (elevator should I say….?), but obviously I wanted a photo of me in my dress first!



Jacqui held us in our function room for a few minutes before we made our way to the doors of the terrace. This was IT! I was getting married! I actually felt quite calm all of a sudden! And when the doors opened and I saw Chris I just felt so happy and couldn’t wait to get to the top of the aisle

Emma went first.



Dad & I followed We walked down to the aisle to a bag pipe version of “Caledonia” which I loved!















I couldn’t believe we were here in this moment after more than two years of planning. It felt really over whelming and emotional, but we both did really well to keep it together through the vows.

Rather than try and explain the ceremony (which was very short and simple, exactly how we wanted it), I have taken photos of our vows for you to read, but I don’t blame you if you skip this part! Haha!







J had the rings in a wee pouch and brought them up to the alter when it came to that part. He was so cute and looked so chuffed to have been given such an important job











See the bit of the second page of the vows about J? Neither of us realized at the time that it was a question, so we we didn’t answer . Jay had to ask us again! Everyone burst out laughing! I think we were just caught up in the words and the moment to be honest.











Woohooo! We did it! We were married and we got through the ceremony without crying like babies! Ok, so this was always more likely to be me than Chris, but it didn’t happen! It seems we were the only ones though as I could hear a chorus of sniffing around us. Haha! I purposely didn’t look at anyone else except Chris during the ceremony cos I knew if I saw anyone else crying I’d have lost it!

The ceremony was absolutely perfect. We got to marry in our favourite place in the world in the most beautiful setting surrounded by most of our very favourite people. We were both so happy. I can’t even describe how it felt. I am so glad we decided to have the wedding here!



I love this photo of Emma & Ewan!



Once we were back inside we had lots of hugs with everyone. I couldn’t believe how many folk were teary eyed. Even the lads! I think it just felt so intimate and special because there was only a small group of us. This is when I finally had a few tears!







Me and my step son Love this photo so much!



We all went out the front of the hotel for a couple of group photos! We also got photos taken with all our guests in individual groups, but I won’t share them all!















Silly sisters! We have the exact same photo of us at Emma’s wedding! Haha!





















[continued in next post]

[Redrach1903]

[continued from previous post]

Heidi and Jay then took us back out to the terrace for a couple of shots there.







Meanwhile the boys were entertaining themselves on an iPad! They were so good the whole day!



We had to tear J away from Hamish for a couple more family photos.











I love the way Chris & J are looking at each other in this one. They look cheeky







Margaret took J back inside now and we continued round the lake to get some more photos. Thankfully there was a nice wee breeze so it wasn’t too hot. Almost every person we passed walking round congratulated us and I got so many lovely compliments on my dress. One woman even stopped me to ask where I got it. Her face fell when I told her Scotland! Haha!

















Are you bored of photos yet?











Standard daft wedding poses….







I think all the photos must have taken a good hour. By the time we got back to the hotel Jacqui was waiting for us as they were ready to serve the starters (sorry, appetizers ). First though I had to run up to the room to get our marriage license as Emma & Ewan needed to sign it. I also put my engagement ring back on





The room we had at the hotel was The Aviary Ballroom and it was set up really nicely. We didn’t want a top table, so we had four round tables; three of eight and one of seven. The bar was set up in the corner of the room with our own appointed bar tender. We had paid for the drinks package which was $18 per person for the first hour and $7 per person for each additional hour. Total steal right? Especially considering how much alcohol is consumed at a Scottish wedding

The center pieces were also done by Lesley:



I finally got to see our wedding cake too! I LOVED it! The tree topper was a Christmas gift from Chris the year we got engaged. It’s so cute! The cake was done by Party Flavors.





Once we were seated at the table I took this photo of our rings.



Now, onto the meal. If you can’t remember or didn’t read the pre trippy the choices were as follows:

Starters - Skewers of Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa, Smoked Tomato Soup or Tossed Caprese Salad
Mains - Celebration Cordon Blue (chicken breast stuffed with spicy sausage, mozzarella cheese and basil. Lightly breaded, fried and served with champagne cream sauce), Atlantic Salmon (Salmon with a basil crust and lemon scallion butter sauce) or Omaha Filet Mignon (Eight ounce fillet topped with a shallot confetti and peppercorn sauce)
Desserts - Chocolate Mousse Cake with Raspberry Coulis, Mascarpone Cheesecake or Southern Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce

I chose the salad, chicken and cheesecake. It was all delicious! In fact all our guests said the food was amazing and that the steak was the best steak they had eaten! I was so glad! There’s nothing worse than going to a nice hotel for a wedding and the food being mediocre!







I forgot to take photos of the other starters and the desserts

Once the meal was finished it was time for speeches! Chris went first. His speech was really lovely and also very funny in parts! He said he thought if he asked me to marry him in my happy place (Walt Disney World) that there was more chance of me saying yes . He of course mentioned my Mum, Auntie Kate and Grandma, so there were tears! It was a perfect speech. He did so well!

Ewan went next. You could tell he was a bit nervous, but he also did amazing. It was very funny!

Dad didn’t do a speech as he was worried he couldn’t get through it without breaking down and I really didn’t want to force him.

It was now 8pm and time for our first dance! I had booked a DJ through Pro Event DJ and we got Matt. He was fantastic. We really couldn’t have asked for any better. Our first dance was to Shania Twain “From This Moment”.



[continued in next post]

[Redrach1903]

[continued from previous post]

The party started straight after and the dance floor was never empty the entire night! Honestly it was SUCH a fantastic night, so much fun! Everyone was on top form. Even the kids were up dancing! The DJ said he had never done a Scottish wedding before and called us “mental”. LOL

One of the highlights of the night was Ewan & Blair doing an amazing dance to Saturday Night Fever. The kids tried to copy them and it was too cute!





J & Hamish carried on with the same dance moves to pretty much every song after that! Haha!





Aww look here’s Emma & Paul having a slow dance



At about 10pm we cut the cake!





We didn’t actually get to have any though as we were far too busy dancing! Haha! I am told it was very nice though. The bottom tier was chocolate with godiva buttercream and the top was vanilla with plain buttercream.

At one point Chris & I escaped up to our room just to get a 5 minute breather and to have a bit of time on our own. Nothing dodgy, I promise! When we came back down J was sad that we had missed a song he had requested. It was “Best Day of my Life” by American Authors. He kept saying how this had been the best day of his life! How cute is that?!

The rest of the evening looked like this!











There were dance offs, Cha Cha Sliding and Matt even played “500 miles” by The Proclaimers! Haha! I can’t convey how much fun we all had!





I had asked Matt in advance via email to end the night with Loch Lomond by Runrig. It’s kind of a tradition back home, so I wanted to take the tradition with us! It was a different version than we are used to, but it was still amazing! The below photos were actually sent to me by Matt along with a note saying how much he had enjoyed the evening







After the music had stopped my cousin Derek (eternal patriot!) decided to start a rendition of Flower of Scotland. Everyone joined in and it was actually a really lovely moment

J and Hamish had surprisingly managed to last the entire night and were now more than ready for bed! They had both been so good all night. It was great that they had each other there. J was staying with Margaret & Allan tonight, so Margaret took him upstairs to bed. We said cheerio to those that were leaving and then the hardcore ones (Me, Chris, Ewan, Blair, Mike, Suzie and Chris’s Dad) went across to Celebration Town Tavern for another drink! I had contacted them via email before we came out to give them advance warning that there may be a few of us coming over after the wedding, so they had reserved a table for us!



We all ordered a drink, but then the guy came back with two concoctions for Chris & I. Mine was bright green and was called “the leg spreader”. Nice! LOL! I was told to down it in one. I did as I was told, but that was the end of me, it officially pushed me over the edge into Drunksville! God knows what was in that thing, but I was done! So Chris & I said our goodnights and walked back to the hotel to do what I’m sure most newlyweds do on their wedding night – SLEEP!

If you made it to the end of this beast thanks for reading It really was the perfect day; it couldn’t have gone any better. The ceremony was exactly what we wanted, Heidi and Jay were amazing, Jacqui and the rest of the staff at The Bohemian were also fantastic, the food was great, the music was great and most importantly the company was fab. Best day!

[BLDY&McGoo]

A Lovely day and wonderful pictures!
Love your flowers & your dress is amazing!

[SmilingSammie]

Sounds like such an amazing Scottish Wedding but with the added awesome of being in Florida!
Wedding Goals right there :P

[SKYYLA2003]

Wow what a truly magical day! You look stunning I love your dress! Such an emotional day for everyone! Xx

[Guest]

Your day looked amazing, You looked beautiful

xxx

[tracynoe]

What an amazing day. You all looked gorgeous. (especially you )
I love the part in the service where they made Jake part of it, I've never seen that before. Very special.

[DISNEYLIZ]

What a beautiful day