Thursday 24 May 2012

Wedding

I haven't ventured into Blogland for a few days, but I'll catch up soon. (Oh, hm, think I've said that before?) Lots has happened here, but of course the wedding was the great big event.

K and F decided not to put too many details online, but I would love to give you some snatches of the event.

They arranged and prepared it themselves, and the pic below shows the flowers for the bouquet, bought direct from a flower farm by K, the day before. She and her sister, plus a friend, made them into bouquets and posies. (The cup of tea is mine, as I lazed about and watched them work)


The flowers were so fine that I had to touch some of them to make sure they were real (they all were).

And we all loved the headdress, from her new sister-in-law. It was made by Lady Gaga's milliner, but it's less extreme and prettier than anything Lady G might wear. Of course everyone wanted to try it on! here it is on my head. (below)


K looked Elizabethan in it, like someone from the Tudor section of the National Portrait Gallery. She'd wanted shades of russet and gold, which suited her well and also suited her friend Matthew, who is Scottish, with lots of wavy ginger hair and a kilt. Matthew looked gorgeous, like a character from "Midsummer Night's Dream," He declined the honour of wearing it on the day :)

K had a plain off white dress with an antique gold and pearl brooch lent by her aunt, and she wore a long cream shawl embroidered with gold which my grandmother got in India many years ago.


The ceremony happened in Westminster Registry Office with a really cool registrar who seemed to love his job. Afterwards we cheered them down the steps with bubbles and confetti and had a tour of the city in a couple of red London double-deckers...



,.. ending up at the reception 45 minutes later. The hall dates from about 1930 in art deco style. T and I know it well, since before K was born we used to go to a lot of concerts and meetings there. In ye olde days when we went, it was a bit run down, but now it's right back in fashion and well painted up.

All the decorations were home made. K's friends had a paper cutting workshop and the style harmonized with the 1930s decor. (Here's a mermaid)

The wedding invites were in origami and a pretty mobile hung over the band. Those are origami cranes. The mobile was smaller and more impressionistic than a Japanese couple would have done it, apparently. But although it was definitely a Western "take" on the Japanese idea, it was a beautiful object, swaying and rustling in the slightest breeze.



The cake didn't come from Choccywoccydoodah after all. A baker in trendy Hackney did a delightful one, with three layers in different flavours, based on things they like. For instance, they love their canal boat ....


and they support Aston Villa football team, so the cake was themed around those things, in canal-art style.


LOTS of speeches. The English ones were touching, heartfelt and rather serious, the Irish ones were great and crazy and hilarious. Now we've got the Irish link, T and I will have to start being eejits too. Songs, stories, dancing around and general fun, with a delivery of chips at 11 PM and more partying the day after.

It was nice chatting with friends and relatives old and new, And we had such fun that some of us are getting together to see the flotilla on the Thames on 3 June, in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, (of which more later.)

T and I helped with the day-after clearing up. And the washing up. These boxes are full of glasses and I've personally washed every single one.


And T. got on the ladder and put up a hook for the origami mobile. We've hung it in the living room as a reminder of a really good day.



Now life has whirled on, but we will always remember what a great wedding it was, a warm, friendly and happy time.

49 comments:

  1. How romantic and delightful! From serious to whimsy--it looks like a fantastic wedding. Thanks so much for what you could share of it. I kind of like small details, anyways. ;)

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  2. OOOHHHH it looks like a wonderful day for all! Congrats!

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  3. A wedding the way a wedding should be, home-grown, love and laughter aplenty, weaving lives together without ostentation or showing off. One of our assistant pastors says the one comment he hears most from couples planning weddings is, "Let's just get through this," which is sad.

    Best wishes to both of them for much happiness.

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  4. What a wonderful family day that must have been. These are the weddings that I love; made and put together by those that care and so full of laughter and fun. So many of these affairs are overdone and overspent and don't really reflect the couples but rather the vendors. Glad you had a day to remember.

    That mobile is fabulous.

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  5. Thanks for sharing some glorious glimpses of the wedding. Now you can breathe a sigh of relief that all the chaos is over, and bask in the memories......

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  6. How delightful! I thoroughly enjoyed looking at all of it. The paper cuttings are really wonderful. You all are good to help with the cleanup- that was a big job. Ah, but what a grand celebration of love~

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  7. Jenny, Everything looks perfect. The flowers are beautiful. How wonderful to be so talented. I know you will cherish the memories. I am impressed with your glass washing abilities. Now rest. Bonnie

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  8. I enjoyed hearing about and seeing glimpses of the wedding. A touch of English with whimsy and creativity. The cake sounds delightful . . . Thanks for including us in this special day . . .

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  9. What a beautiful start, with such creativity, and yet simplicity. A lovely day, with better yet to come.

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  10. Absolutely perfect !
    Best Wishes and Congratulations to the happy couple.

    cheers, parsnip

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  11. What a beautiful wedding! I love those rainbow colored origami cranes.

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  12. It sounds like a great day. That shawl with gold embroidery is beautiful and I’m sure it's all the unusual touches like that and the origami hanging which make it stand out from the traditional wedding. You deserve a medal for glass washing Jenny! Congratulations to the happy couple.

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  13. This sounds like a wonderful wedding, I hope the newlyweds will be very happy together. The shawl is really beautiful, what a wonderful heirloom.

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  14. What a great day you all had! All the best to the newlyweds.

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  15. It sounds as if it was a lovely wedding, and the photographs hint at something really special. (I love the shawl and the cake and - of course! - the Japanese origami!) May the newlyweds have a long, happy, always fascinating life together! ^^

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  16. This is all so beautiful! I wish there was a picture of the happy couple, they both sound gorgeous. Love the paper birds and everything!
    No dishwasher there? Over here, usually there is one in the kitchen in a place that can be rented for such events.
    Thank you so much for sharing all this!

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  17. How glorious it all looks, absolutely lovely :-) x

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  18. Thanks for these lovely comments. I am sure my grandmother would have liked to see the shawl worn. I don't know anything about the technique but although it is very old it has never tarnished. Wonder if it has real gold (haha) it is certainly metal woven in with the fabric. I don't recognise the pattern either, doesn't look particularly Indian to me, not that I really know... and it could have come from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or other places where my great grandfather and his family travelled and worked.

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  19. And oh, regarding dishwashers. Don't think I didn't enlist the help of our dishwasher. But when there are that many, it's not worth running a domestic dishwasher again and again, it actually ends up simpler washing them by hand!

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  20. I love that crane mobile (and the cake, and the headress, and the flowers, and ....)but not all that washing up.

    It looks like it was a lovely day though.

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  21. It sounded fabulous! So pleased to hear it all went well. I love the canal boat cake; what a wonderful take on the traditional wedding cake.

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  22. Looks and sounds like a wonderful wedding.

    Everything looks perfect and so personalised. :)

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  23. The beauty of the event can be felt trhough your words and pictures! It was surely a great and warm moment! I like the "crown", and this way to use a very personnal deco and cake. Very unic!

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  24. what a lovely and unique sounding wedding

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  25. Hello Jenny:
    What a joyous time we are sure that you all had. It sounds as if every care was given to all the details of the day and that, surely, will have made it all the more personal and delightful.

    The paper mobile looks so beautifully made. What a happy reminder hanging on your wall. We wish K and F every happiness in their married life together.

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  26. Love the headdress. I's really pretty.

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  27. oh wow...this look s and sounds so fun! what ideas!!! good for you! and them!! worth all that effort!

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  28. Thanks for sharing a great event...best to the happy couple.

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  29. I love the shawl with its gold leafy pattern ... and the origami was an incredibly delightful idea. Seems like this wedding was very hands on, uniquely creative and original. Lovely! But how did you ever wash all those glasses?

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  30. Congratulations!!
    The headdress is just gorgeous!

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  31. Looks like it was a wonderful day. I love the origami cranes and the Indian shawl.

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  32. That's such a lovely, highly personalised event - just as a wedding should be.

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  33. I have absolutely no idea what I imagined you look like but I can be certain that you do not have a fringe. Consequently the photo with the headdress cannot possibly be you!

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  34. Hello, thank you for stopping by. This wedding looks like so much fun, I like the idea of them making their own bouquets. The wedding cake is amazing. Thanks for sharing. Hugs...Lu

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  35. I did see all these gorgeous photos earlier today, including the mermaid cut- out, and thought I'd left a comment, but oops! The flowers must have made lovely bouquets and you are right, they almost look like silk! I love the cake, so special and personal to the couple. Warmest wishes to both of them for many happy years!

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  36. Now THAT'S how to do a wedding - buses and canal boats (my sister has a boating business on the Thames - weddings ect.) All looked and sounded fabulous! And here's to Kenneth with his long ginger hair and kilt -I've my own wavy-haired ginger Scot at home, my son Adam (GingerJesus!) - who was also born on St.Andrew's Day, to boot!

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  37. What a lovely, lovely intimate wedding. All the touches are so personal which I would think makes them even more memorable to each participant, even down to washing each goblet. That crown is fantastic -- I can see Titania or Oberon wearing it in the fall. I'm sure your daughter looked like a beautiful wood sprite in it (assuming she likes wood sprites? or some lovely naiad instead!). And you might enjoy lots of good luck and wishes-come-true from taking home those Japanese paper cranes. They are an amazing sight.

    Lots of good wishes to your daughter and son in-law, and proud parents!

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  38. Glad you had a good time.
    I want that narrowboat!

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  39. It looks like a lovely and unique wedding. I'll bet you are happy to have a moment to catch your breath now that it is over.

    Darla

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  40. What a wonderful wedding! And oh, narrowboats. I want one!

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  41. It seems like it was an absolutely perfect wedding. I love the double-decker buses. And thank you so much for sharing!

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  42. It sounds like a dream wedding, without all the meringuey type aspects, which I dislike. Hired outfits on people who never ever wear formal dress are just too ridiculous.
    I love the informal sound of this wedding, organised with love and imagination, and fun for all.

    You have something to remember. Best wishes to the new husband and wife.

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  43. Gorgeous flowers and gorgeous shawl! I love the details you bring to each of your posts. :)

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  44. Best wishes to the newlyweds! It sounds like it was a wonderful wedding. We'll forgive you for staying away from Blogland for a while - weddings rank much higher than blogging!

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  45. That was a superb wedding – loved the flowers, the headdress, the cake, the shawl and everything else. What a great day that will be in everyone’s memory for a long time. All my congratulations to the newlyweds and the families. Now I am waiting to hear about the flotilla on the Thames – it will be outstanding I am sure with so many boats of all kinds. I hope you’ll take many pictures.

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  46. Hi, Jenny! Love all that you shared with us. Headdress, paper creations, golden embroidery, beautiful and delicate flowers...and, of course the Wedding Cake with a boat. All this things look so warm, friendly and romantic :o) Congrats from Russia to Families and Best wishes to the newlyweds.
    kisses
    Natasha

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  47. What a beautiful wedding it must have been. I love the headdress. Very elegant and historic looking. Too bad no kilt on the big day. There is something so totally sexy about a man in a kilt! No words can describe it :)
    Ashley

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  48. Congratulations on your daughter’s wedding, Jenny! Thank you for sharing the wedding with us. The mobile of paper cranes is a wonderful creation, I do love it. As you may know, cranes have long been regarded as auspicious bird and are popular symbol of longevity in Japan. Wish your newlywed-daughter’s lifelong happiness and well-being.

    Yoko

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  49. Belated congratulations on newlyweds and the families. Everything looks so special from the bouquet, headdress, wedding dress, original cakes, heartwarming speeches and lots and lots of happy smiles...I can easily imagine what a splendid party it was.

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