Wedding Bells

I first met Dawn whilst I was working as a doorman in Newcastle City Centre. We hit it off straight away and within a couple of weeks were courting. That’s going out together for any younger readers! I decided to pop the question with a little help from our cat Toby on Valentines Day last year and I’m pleased to say she said yes.
Incidentally Toby is named after the month October when we started courting.

After announcing our engagement and celebrating with friends and family we set the date for July 26th 2003. This gave us little over a year to prepare for the biggest day of our lives. It’s not until the haze has cleared from your engagement party that you actually realise exactly what getting married actually entails. A male view is simple. You buy a suit. Your bride buys a dress. You book a church or registry office. You arrange your reception and your night time party and you go on honeymoon. However a female perspective is somewhat different. This is quite literally the biggest day of your life. The moment that as a little girl you have dreamed of and everything has to be right. As well as all the basics that the man recognises there are other necessities. Wedding Cars, photographer, hairdresser, bridesmaids, ushers, flowers, cake, the list is quite literally endless.

I have to hold my hands up and admit my weakness as a man at underestimating exactly what has to go in to making the perfect wedding. From day one Dawn took the bull by the horns and started planning our day. The biggest dilemma any couple has is the guest list and seating arrangements. Obviously your family comes first then close friends. Depending on the size of your family you are walking through a minefield of friends in case you upset one because you haven’t invited them even though they helped you finish your football sticker book in third year junior school! Once you have compiled the list and sent out the invites you have to ring up and cajole people to let you know if they can make it. Once the confirmations are in you have to plot the seating plan. Another hard task in itself. Keeping feuding family members apart and making sure that your loud mouthed mate doesn’t upset your grandmother a priority.

As the months pass you by as quickly as the days you realise that your bank account that once had a rather healthy look about it is now looking decidedly lower. This is because you have now booked your honeymoon. We opted for a trip to the United States and the delights of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. We wanted a holiday that we would talk about for years and decided to break the bank to achieve our dream. With only weeks to go I have to admit that I began to get a nervous twinge. Not cold feet you understand, but you begin to realise what a wedding means. Life commitment to another human being. It’s the biggest compliment I think you can pay the person that you love. The week of the wedding is the most hectic. Last minute checks on your arrangements, the run through of the service, and the constant checks on the weather forecasts. The weather is the only thing that money can’t buy.

After all the planning and preparation I’m glad to say that our own special day ran like clockwork. The whole day was perfect and the weather held out for the photographs. A lot of people had told me prior to the big day to enjoy and savour the moment as it passes by so quickly and how right they were. For any of you thinking of tying the knot in the near future. My advice is go for it. It’s the greatest feeling in the world.