As soon as I got to the top of the Aisle I felt absolutely fine, not nervous or frightened or scared but an overwhelming sense of excitement and joy washed over me. I looked at Tom and just smiled such a big smile. This was my moment and I’ve never felt so happy in my whole life. I remember getting to the bottom of the aisle, Karen whispering 'WOW' and just saying ‘hi’ to Tom who didn’t/couldn’t even speak! He has now told me that actually he couldn’t actually breath whilst I was coming down to him and I guess that he had a bit more time for the nerves to build up, waiting in the church and seeing everyone arriving and waiting for me just would have been awful, I’m glad that I was the one that everyone did the waiting for.
Iain said two things to Tom whilst I was on my way down the aisle, one was ‘breathe!’ which probably was good advice and the other was something like ‘how the hell did you manage to get that’ I thought that was such a nice thing to say, in a typical Iain way. Once we’d turned and were facing away from the congregation, Tom said to me that I looked amazing and smelt good too! – We were then quite nervous I think.
The service went by in a bit of a blur, here are the bits that I remember, I remember sitting on our thrones and feeling very surreal, I remember looking over at Ellie trying to read the words to the hymns. I remember asking Victoria or Rachael for a tissue and then not knowing how to blow my nose and look glamorous or where to put the tissue!
The readings stick in my memory as they were just so lovely. Kim’s was very thoughtful, she’d clearly practised it a lot and just very beautiful, Karen’s was just so right. We’d picked the reading as a lot of the words touched a cord with us and we both got quite emotional, especially when Karen’s voice cracked towards the end.
Maybe...it is true that we don't know what we have got until we lose it, but it is also true that we don't know what we have been missing until it arrives
Maybe...the best kind of love is the kind you where you can sit on a sofa together never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had
Maybe...you should hope for enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, and enough hope to make you happy.
Maybe...the happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their Way.
Maybe once in a lifetime you find someone who not only touches your heart but also your soul, someone who loves you for who you are and not what you could be.
Maybe Love is not about finding the perfect person; it's about learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. When you do what you can, Love will do what you can't
And then the vows….
I think that we’d been lulled into a false sense of security, I’d done the hard bit of walking down the aisle and now it was just a case of getting married right? Wrong…. We were called up to stand in front of Reverend Ally (who was just the loveliest vicar!) and it hit me, this was it. I even remember us both taking a sharp intake of breath and me saying something like ‘oh crap’ under my breath. It drew a little chuckle from Ann I think.
This was the most amazing and yet surreal part of the day. I heard the words coming from the vicar but it really was like she wasn’t there and we just heard her in our heads, and me and Tom were just talking to each other. Hearing Tom say his vows to me was so special and just meant everything to me. When it came to my turn, a little voice came in my head that say – ‘ok you have to speak now!’ my brain forgot how to speak – or it felt like that anyway. But the words did come out and I’ve never meant anything more in my life. I could tell that my voice sounded different but I held it together and didn’t cry or get too emotional so was pleased about that. The one line that really got to me, which I knew it would was ‘all that I am I give to you and all that I have I share with you’ It’s the most beautiful line in the whole service and was very special I loved saying my wedding vows to Tom and I hope I never forget how I was feeling at that moment.
So we got married!!
Then the service took on a much lighter feel. Joe played his three songs perfectly. We signed the register and I had a big hug from Katy! When the song words were handed out for our sing-a-long song it was hilarious; you could hear a ripple of uncertainty running through the church, as people were confused and then got it - We were doing a sing-a-long to Elton John’s Your Song. Tom’s university friends were cracking up at the back of the church and it was such a lovely moment – we’d put our own touch on the service and really made it ours. Everyone sang so loudly and me and Vic and Joe even did the Moulin Rouge high bit at the end – comedy! It was inspired and I’m so glad we decided to do it – apparently even Ally the vicar was belting it out too!
So we’d done it! We walked back up the aisle with just massive grins on our faces and I felt just the most wonderful feeling in the world. We heard the bells ringing for us and we had a bit of a confetti aisle for us as we got into the car and I just felt on top of the world!!!!!
Our carriage awaited us, along with a bottle of Ritz Rose Champagne and we headed off for the next bit of our day; the reception at South Farm.
Love
Helen Elliott
xxx
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