Bagpipes, booze and oil drums

And so to the UK for the next installment. Mostly photos once again, and as before, more on demand.

The week before the big party was spent organising, tidying, cleaning, putting up tents, and sorting out bits and bobs. It was a busy week, but so good to finally be able to actually get invoved in the making of the party instead of emailing back and forth. 

My parents were major forces in this wedding. There's no way we could have done this without them. The short of the long is that we had in our minds what we wanted, and kept spamming poor Dr & Mrs Mulady with endless emails asking them if they could look at this, or that, or drive here and look at this tent, or that tent. And they did. Over and over again. When they suggested things and we said no, they accepted it without a struggle, but kept on suggesting. I'm surprised they still like us.

We weren't quite so lucky with the weather as we were in Copenhagen, so the canapes and drinks had to be moved inside, which, as it turns out, worked just fine. Besides, it forced people to mingle - something that wouldn't have happened if we had had it outside. As friends and family began to fill up the house, Thilde and I were upstairs being made up by Morten once more, and our UK photographer, a girl I met in London, Holly Falconer, ran around taking photos. 

Dr & Mrs watch as we nervously come down the stairs to be greeted by about 50 people.

"Er, hello everyone."

As the rain began to clear, we all made our way outside for one last glass of champagne before the ceremony. My dear uncle had dusted off his bagpipes for the occasion, something which touched and thrilled me. I had always, always wanted him to play on my wedding day, and once he stopped playing, I secretly knew I had to come to terms with the fact that I'd have to have a pipeless day. I was a bit concerned about what the wife thought but it turns out she was game (good woman). The plan was to do the ceremony in a tent with the sides rolled up, but due to the fine English weather, we had to have the sides down. However, once again this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as people were forced to snuggle up next to each other on hay bales, as we stuffed close to 50 people in one tent. It worked perfectly. 

Unforgettable speeches were held, many, many tears were shed, some serious belly laughter rolled around, and after close to two hours of speechs, including one 3 page (A4) poem memorised by my Dad, we emerged from the tent to find the rain fully stopped, and even patches of blue sky peeking through. 

People drank, photos were taken, and we wandered down the garden towards the barn for more booze, BBQ, and dancing. 

The food, BBQ, was put on by The Secret Restaurant, and was spectacular. 

For pudding there was ice-cream - lots of it - from Cole & Sons, cycled in on a splendid tricycle. He even had Flakes.

We ate off fantastic vintage china from Pearl Grey, and our (whopping) cake was made by Choccywoccydodah. We seriously, seriously underestimated the size. It was huge. And delicious.

The dancing was kicked off with the traditional Danish wedding waltz, and followed by a Scottish Ceilidh band, getting everyone on the floor for a few rounds of Gay Gordon and Strip the Williow. There wasn't a sad face in the house.

We cut the cake after the dancing, and then went on, and on, and on. Whisky arrived, which saw off a fair number, but many stayed and were rewarded with fish and chips at around midnight.

Finally, after people peeled off one by one, Thilde and I turned off the lights, closed the barn, and walked back up to the house. It was the other best day of my life. Walking back up to the house, tipsy, tired and a little taken aback, we finally had a moment to ourselves. It was our dream day, of that there is no doubt. I'm the luckiest girl alive.

I do

Yup. I bit the big one. No, wait, that's the other thing. Well to some it might seem the same, but not to me, not in the least. My wedding was - and I will say this myself - absolutely, totally and utterly, mind blowingly fantastic.

I will try and sum them (yes, them) up here, but this is the third, if not the fourth time I've tried it, so this time I've decided to cut it down a lot, and instead rely a lot more on photos. 

On July 9th, I said 'I do' (actually I said 'ja' which means 'yes' in Danish) to my lovely, lovely girlfriend. We'd been engaged for just under a year, and had been planning it since about January. We had decided to get married in Copenhagen, have a small reception at our flat (we are lucky enough to have a roof-top terrace), have a small dinner for family and that would be it. The main party would be held the next weekend in the UK, at my parent's house in East Sussex. There, we'd have a ceremony so that it wasn't 'just' a big party. The ceremony was to be all the speeches that would normally be given during the meal, that way, when we did sit down to eat, we could do precisely that. After the ceremony, there would be the usual photos, and then a big old BBQ, cooked over halved oil drums (a fantasy of mine since childhood). 

All of this we did, and we did it well.

Copenhagen was incredible. 

From the design help for our website and invitation (below) from the sweet and talented Trine Falbe, our engagement shoot with the fantastic Amanda Thomsen, the kind words from Ayfar Baykal as she married us, getting our booze directly from Mother restaurant's supplier, our cupcakes from Agne's Cupcakes, having our hair and make-up done by our lovely friend Morten from Ladefogeddahl, and spending the long, warm, afternoon on the rooftop terrace - our wedding day was truly something remarkable and unforgettable (don't puke, it really was).

We were incredibly lucky to find Amanda Thomsen, a brilliant photographer who knew exactly what we wanted, and wanted to shoot more photos like that herself. After a great meeting with her, we decided upon an 'engagement shoot' so we could get to know each other, and be able to appear relaxed in front of the camera on the big day. The engagement shoot went perfectly. If you want to see a bit more, the shoot appeared on über cool wedding blog, Pretty Chic Blog which features modern Scandinavian weddings. 

I won't bore you with all the photos. 

We prepared at the flat, with my Mum and Dad and Uncle Ian and Auntie Ann over for family support. 

Copenhagen City Hall is rather special. A beautiful building inside and out. We were lucky enough to be able to use the Council Chambers as opposed to the usual registry due to the fact that we had Ayfar at our side. We left, exhilarated. 

Once we left the City Hall, as wife 'n' wife, I cycled the missus back to our flat. Our friends followed, on bikes or on foot, and we met back at the flat, where a kind ex-colleague of mind had agreed to help out by arranging the food and booze ready for our arrival.

The top of our building never looked as good as it did on that day. Full of those we loved and cared for, covered in bunting, corks popping and cupcakes slowly melting in the afternoon heat. It was just marvellous.

This is all I'm going to write about it. There's no need to go into more detail, and if you'd like to see more pictures, then you'll have to ask.

(Update) Or you can look here as our wedding got on the rocking blog, Rock n' Roll Bride!

(Update) It's now also featured on Pretty Chic Blog together with our engagement shoot!

It was, surprisingly (in all seriousness) one of the best days of my life. The other, was just around the corner.

I never thought getting married would be so spectacular. It might have been the booze, but as I stood in the sun, family and friends around me, and my one-and-only by my side, I felt invincible. Life? Whatever. I had it sorted. Bring it on.