nina is bestest sister's niece who i have known since she was a toddler climbing all over her mum, helen while helen was trying to help me attach a week old and very hungry gareth to a rock hard rugby ball (my boob) - sorry gareth (just checking if you are still "following"). nina is a dynamo woman, tri-athlete of note, seriously good snowboarder and, in a nutshell, a crazy breath of fresh air. bestest sister was booked way in advance to do hair and make-up for the bride and others. about six weeks before the wedding they realised how difficult it was going to be to organise from afar (london) and that maybe they did need a "wedding planner". a couple of emails back and forth and i had the job. only previous experience was a couple of 21st, 40th and 50th birthday parties (oops and a 70th, sorry e-mum) but i was not worried, i had a team of keen helpers.
nina had been planning for ages and had been buying decor stuff online. she was arriving the week before the wedding with her purchases, which i had kind-of-got-an-idea-of on skype, but not really.
the biggest challenge was going to be the common. very dry and the weather had been so hot and windy. there was really nothing there except for a wonderful tree and a lovely view of the surrounding mountains. anyway i could go on and on but need to show you the pictures. i would have had before, during and after ones but my camera went missing after the wedding. these are a couple of pictures i have been sent by the assistant photographer, faye - justin de reuck was the main photographer -
http://justinphotoblog.com/?p=1232 - take a look
and faye turnbull
http://www.fayeturnbull.com/?p=318
his assistant who sent me the pictures below. they did an amazing job. i had a good laugh when justin was wanting to take a picture of the couple cutting the cake. nina had not lasted for too long in her beautiful dress, after the first dance the skirt of the dress was off to reveal an ordinary pair of board shorts. there was a quick runaround looking for the skirt which was in a ball on a faraway chair. a quick redress in front of the crowd and the picture was taken and the skirt quickly once again removed. board shorts and bustier was the look till the end of the evening!!!
bielle's sign, bestest sister's wedding logo, bob's champagne buckets with villiera brut, 100's of jam jars from oasis
hearts on a string on a bench, another bielle-sign
nina ordered these hearts on a string, online. somehow while ordering she pushed the wrong button and instead of ordering 14 of them (one per table) she ordered 144 of them - 1000gbp instead of 100 - but a good mistake. we used the hearts to make the aisle, we hung them from trees and benches...and sign-posts. don't you just love the sign-posts that bielle made?
we laid tables with drinks under the trees, made purple vodka cocktails in jams jars (employed nic and bielle for the day to help with the drinks) - "thirst is a dangerous thing".
the ceremony on the common
once the ceremony begun there was a rush to get the venue decorated as the setting up could only begin once the lunchtime crowd had left cafe roux. a few shots of the decorations at the venue-
before the lights were lit
and after
please take a look at the two photographers blogs, if you want, and you will get a better idea of this special day. it is amazing when you think that things will never come together and they do - helen made 160 beautiful screen printed cushions which the guests could take home, lesley (with a wee bit of help from wayne) organised and had made the wedding shirts - groom, father of the bride, 4 bestman and a 1 bestmaid, bielle was amazing with all her creative input and sign writing, kathy has contacts that you would not believe and knows just where to shop (anything from cheap ribbon to paper parasols), bestest sister with her hair and make-up, lynne with her ability to always have the right tools for the job and a cooler box of icy drinks, nic (relaxed - as always - and charming - most times) behind the bar making sure the drinks were icy. lots of very hard work by the crew in the hot midday sun (manually moving the haystacks into pews, erecting the gazebo poles by hammering metal stakes into the hard common, hanging ribbons and hearts between the poles, unpacking cases and cases of beer and champagne, hanging lanterns from the trees and bows on the gate, having to tie the covers to the haystacks because the wind came up, erecting tressels tables - just to give you some idea) and the common was done.
the tables at the restaurant were next. half the crew moved up to the venue while bestest sister and i, as invited guests, attended the ceremony. the cream paper roses which nina had bought worked out so well in the glass vases (we hired the vases and fancy led lights from liz puccini creations) and with a little hiccough of not being able to locate the seating plan (it was on the common in the van) eventually everything was in place and looked lovely.
it was a doubly special day because the parents of the bride, bert and helen were also celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. the speeches were awesome, the food devine and the band kept the party going.
a day that had a bit of everything for me but best of all was the face of the groom when he arrived on the common (even if it was second only to the look that nina received when she arrived!!) - a job well done - thanks to all involved....
oh and i have got another job on 1 may... much smaller scale but how cool is that? watch this space!!
a day that had a bit of everything for me but best of all was the face of the groom when he arrived on the common (even if it was second only to the look that nina received when she arrived!!) - a job well done - thanks to all involved....
oh and i have got another job on 1 may... much smaller scale but how cool is that? watch this space!!
Gorgeous!!! Well done - I'll let you know when I need your services.. xx
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