What a bank holiday weekend!
Friday night Big Girl had a sleepover at school (yes, school!) to raise money for a homeless charity so on Saturday morning I picked her up at 7.30am, brought her home to get changed and then we hit the A1 south. We were going to a wedding in Hertfordshire of one of the Mum's in my coffee group. Her daughter and Big Girl were born hours apart and we have been friends since meeting as 'bumps' at an NCT Bumps and Babies coffee morning. Before going to the wedding we went to Bestie's house so that I could get ready there with her and while we were at the wedding the kids could all play together (Hubbies and kids came to the evening do leaving us mums free to be people not mums for the day)
Hubby dropped me and Bestie off at the wedding venue and I checked into our room there. We had purposefully arrived early so we could have a bit of time together and have a catch up. I went to the loo and when I came out 2 bottles of Prosecco and a box of ferrero Rocher had appeared- I had no idea we were having a pre wedding party for 2 but it was fun! The best lunch I've had in a long while!!
This is a picture of us that we took in a mirror.
The wedding was fantastic! The bride looked stunning and the groom was so happy- he had a grin from ear to ear throughout the whole ceremony and looked as though he could burst with pride and happiness. I'm such a soppy git and was crying throughout the service. It brought back memories of my own wedding day which always brings a mix of emotions. For those of you who don't know my wedding story, read on. If you do the you can skip the next paragraph...
Hubby and I got married on our 10 year anniversary and we chose that particular date as it was so special to us. However prior to the wedding I had been in hospital for 2 months, had 2 life saving, emergency operations and had been in intensive care. I had only been out of hospital for 2 weeks and had the added complication of a new Stoma bag to worry about on the big day- I was dreading it leaking and ending up with a big brown shit stain on my beautiful wedding dress. Luckily that didn't happen. I think the Big Man upstairs decided to cut me a bit of slack after what I had just been through. I was so frail that it was thought that I would have to go down the aisle in a wheelchair but there was no way I was doing that- thankfully the little church that I got married in had an equally little aisle so I walked down it gripping onto my Dads' arm for dear life! It was a catholic service but I was allowed to sit throughout and the priest tried to keep it short. When we had our photos taken I was too ill and in too much pain to stand for long so a lot of our photos were taken with me sitting on a bench. I had to have a sleep in the afternoon at the reception venue and couldn't dance or drink. For a long time (and I mean years) I couldn't look at the wedding photos because all I could see was me looking terribly ill and it brought back more unhappy memories than good ones. To this day we have never watched our wedding video. I have never felt ready because although I married my soulmate I can't say it was the happiest day of my life because I wasn't well enough to enjoy it properly.
So brief history of my wedding day complete back to my friends wedding. After the ceremony there's always that long wait until you sit down for dinner while all the photos are being taken. During this time the champers was flowing and bestie continued drinking having already consumed a bottle of Prosecco before the ceremony! She was definitely very merry by this point and was telling anyone who would listen that she was a mum of 4 having a day off and deserved a drink. To be fair anyone with 4 kids deserves either a medal or their head testing. Or both! During the meal I was on a table with all my friends and we had a great time catching up with each other and laughing and joking around. There was a particularly funny moment when a friend told us that on her recent trip to Brugee she had seen chocolate vaginas for sale in one of the many chocolatiers. Let's just say that the conversation that followed was terribly rude and I couldn't possibly record it here!
Because my bowels had been playing up I couldn't eat the veggie option of caramelised onion and goats cheese tart (despite the fact that it's one of my most favourite meals) so ended up having a risotto made especially for me. I felt sorry for the caterers as not only did they have me to contend with they also had to cater for guests with gluten and dairy intolerances as well as some vegan guests! The wedding cake was made up of lots of cupcakes and labelled up as vegan, dairy free and wheat free when put out in the evening buffet. It was so nice though that the bride had gone to the trouble of catering for everyone's different needs and had made sure everyone could eat something at the wedding.
My hotel room was right next door to the barn where the wedding reception was so it was really convenient for the frequent trips to the toilet I required. It meant I could use the loo in the room instead of having the embarrassment of stinking out one of the cubicles in the loo at the party. There's nothing worse than going to the loo, being stuck in there ages and hearing people stood outside waiting to go in. Then there's the shame of having to come out knowing how bad you've made it smell. So it was just easier to nip next door to my room and not have to worry about any of that. It also meant that I could go and have a nap while the photos were being taken which then charged up the batteries for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Normally when I'm out at a function by about 7.30/8pm I find that I'm starting to get tired, in need of hooking up and wondering when I can slip away to go to bed. But that evening it was as though someone had put brand new batteries in me or spiked my drink with red bull because my energy just didn't seem to run out. It was fantastic being able to get up and mess around on the dance floor with friends and I even had a couple of dances with Hubby! It was like having a taste of what life used to be like before I was ill and had no energy and I was determined to enjoy every minute because I knew that at any second my batteries could die! As it was I lasted until midnight. Yes, midnight!!! And just like Cinderella it was time to leave, back to reality, back to the hotel room to connect up to my feed for the night.
In the morning I expected to be in agony and not be able to move but surprisingly I felt fine. After enjoying the hotel breakfast (which was amazing- I love buffets and buffets for breakfast are just the most amazing thing) we headed off to meet up with a friend and her daughter who was Big Girls best friend. We had a coffee while the girls had a little wander round the shops, self conscious of each other at first having not seen each other for months. When they returned they were laughing and chatting like they had never been apart. Coffee and shopping isn't really Hubby and Big Fella's thing so they went for a kick around at the park and then we all met up at another friends house to celebrate her daughters birthday (she was in Big Fella's class at school) We spent the afternoon chilling and eating birthday cake while the kids played in the garden but it was soon time to leave and head back to Nottingham. Hubby had said that he had expected me to crash out at any point in the afternoon but whether it was the adrenalin from the night before or the sugar from cake surprisingly I was fine. I slept on the drive home but it was just regular sleep, not the I can't last a minute longer, my whole body is going to grind to a halt and I will fall asleep wherever that happens kind of sleep.
The next day, Bank Holiday Monday we had all Hubby's family round for lunch, a total of 9 adults, 5 kids and 1 baby. I only did a simple meal of jacket potato, chicken and salads but it meant that I had to go to the supermarket and do some shopping before I could even start cooking. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and it was nice to have everyone round. Towards the end of the afternoon I started flagging and once everyone had left I collapsed in a heap on the sofa. I could hardly believe what I had managed to do over the weekend and was actually really proud of myself. Yes, I was probably going to pay for it the rest of the week but I had had so much fun I didn't care. All I could think was how much I had enjoyed myself at the wedding and that for the first time in ages I had had fun. Maybe it was being surrounded by my favourite friends and being at a happy event but it's hard to describe. I smiled, I laughed, I danced, I was happy. For the first time in a long time I just felt happy.
NB x
Comments
Post a Comment