Tuesday 6 September 2011

3 Years Ago Today

It's our wedding anniversary today. 3 years! It's kinda funny, because at the age of 39, many people have been married for a lot longer than that. 2 of my best friends in Australia are much closer to their 20 year anniversary than I am to my 10 years.

Marriage has always been very important to me, and I was shocked to find myself separated at 24 and divorced by 29, it was never part of my plan and I still feel a bit ashamed that I have a failed marriage behind me. A lot of people are shocked to discover I've been married before. I don't keep it a secret, well I don't think I do, but I don't talk about it as much as I possibly should.

When we decided to get married my husband to be started telling me his vision for "his" wedding. He was so excited and really keen on a wedding. I was happy to just go off and get it done! He wanted 450 guests! I was very calm and just said, "yes dear that's fine, price them at £50 a head, do the maths, and then tell me a venue that holds that many in our area, and how your going to fund it". He was horrified! We settled on 150.

I decided that I wanted to show case our area, and the best Ramsbottom had to offer, that is where we lived at the time. I also was adamant I did not want a registry office. I researched a lot and found the Unitarian church the ideal solution for us, and we met Jeff, our minister who became so important to us over time. Little did I know that Jeff would be my greatest support when Joseph was in hospital, as Jeff, himself, had been a teeny, tiny poorly premature baby.

We had a vintage bus that weaved its way from Manchester to Bury picking up passengers. We then had the ceremony, drinks on the platform of the East Lancashire Railway and everyone got on a diesel train to go back to the Civic Hall in Ramsbottom for our reception. It took a lot of organising and it was logisticallly quite tricky.

We had fields of flowers, massive bouquests of hydrangeas, roses, and herbs. When looking through my wedding photos one of my friends gave me the biggest compliment "it looks like you just popped out into a cottage garden and picked them" that's the look we were aiming for. Well  me.

My dress was amazing, made to measure, in silk. It wasn't cheap. But I felt like a vintage princess.

Today we are spending the night at Manchester Airport, then going to Greece for a week!

Happy anniversary darling!



5 comments:

  1. It's also our wedding anniversary today. 12 years! And a year ago today we had a naming ceremony for our little boy. Happy Anniversary.

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  2. Awww happy anniversary guys. Have a fab holiday x

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  3. Happy anniversary! It was a lovely wedding, a good mix between formal and relaxed. The train was memorable.

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  4. Happy anniversary it certainly sounds like it was the day you dreamt of. And as for your previous marriage I wouldn't worry everyone comes with some form of baggage. I hope you have a fantastic time celebrating and remembering your big day x

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  5. I just had to pop by when I noticed your anniversary post on BritMums. It's my anniversary today too. Many congratulations on getting to lucky number 3.

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