This was a very special wedding and an example of how things done simply can be very unique and different from the crowd.
Why special?
Well, there’s a backstory to this one which I won’t go into in public. Needless to say, Wendy and Mark had been on one hell of a journey to get to their wedding day.
The beaming smiles on their faces during the first dance says it all.
Why unique and different?
Read on!
Wendy & Mark spread their wedding over three days. Let me explain….
The Tuesday was the “official” wedding at the registrar’s office. Registrars at the moment in Cambridgeshire are in short supply, and don’t much like the option of performing a marriage unless you’re using them for the full service with a crowd of people. That’s not what Wendy and Mark wanted, so it was over the border to Kings Lynn where the deed was done.
Wednesday was to be the main event, and the part of the wedding Wendy & Mark had been dreaming of for a while. They’d met a celebrant at a wedding fair shortly after setting their date and got talking about the ideal wedding, which would be on their favourite beach.
Now, it’s not currently legal to marry on a beach (hence the visit to the registrar the day before), but there’s nothing to stop you exchanging vows, rings and everything else associated with a wedding on a beach – so with the celebrant booked….this was the plan.
The day itself was lovely and sunny, with hardly a cloud in the sky. The celebrant worked her magic on a beautifully clean beach, and the guests celebrated with what else….fish and chips and an afternoon of relaxation in the sun…..what a way to celebrate your wedding!
Now we move forward to my part of things – Saturday night. For obvious reasons, many people were unable to join Wendy & Mark on the Wednesday and so they decided on a very informal party on the Saturday night in a local village hall, The Glebe in Sutton.
Cake cutting (to the background of On A Day Like This by Elbow….Wendy’s processional music), and first dance (Bruno Mars – Just the Way You Are) dispatched with, it’s time to party.
The music policy was very relaxed, only a handful of pre-requests and nothing too cheesy…but if guests are going to dance to it, then so be it. And dance they most certainly did. Selections from the local deli counter made an appearance, along with current chart and a little older stuff from the 70s and 80s.
It’s certainly a wedding I’ll remember for a long time to come!
So, to the traditional photos of the evening. Unfortunately something wasn’t quite right with the camera on this one (luckily photography isn’t my job) so they’re a bit rich in colour. However, they should give an idea of how things went 🙂
Sadly with this particular venue, the hirer has to be OUT by midnight, so it was an 11pm finish. To be honest, it had been a very hot and humid evening in the hall and with rain pouring down outside, it was the right time to end anyway as guests with younger children were starting to say their goodbyes.
It’s always best to end on a high rather than go to the bitter end, so we played Wendy’s chosen last song of the night (Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond….which incidentally was her recessional track from the beach on Wednesday) with the remaining guests waving arms madly in the air…..a brilliant finish!
