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The lead up and report

We left for Dublin, 5 days before the wedding. I had a few last minute bits and pieces to get done; they included my hair and makeup trials. Luckily everything went to plan. Two days before the wedding, Dave�s family arrived in Dublin after a very rocky ride on the ferry. Friends and relatives arrived at the airport; luckily my dad was on hand to play taxi service.

The day before, we went to the hotel to finalise the seating plan. We left off the favours, table decorations and the cake. The cake had come from England on the boat, and unfortunately it too had experienced a rocky ride!! But it didn�t look too bad! We met some of our guest checking in at the hotel, it was getting so exciting and the nerves were starting to kick in. The hotel staff were so helpful and assured me everything was under control. After the hotel it was off to the church for the rehearsal, our priest quickly put us at ease, and everything seemed so easy. The rehearsal lasted all of 10 minutes, and then it was off to my aunts for a party!

She had organised a get together for the two families. There were about 30 of us there. My aunt and cousin had arrived from Canada it was so great to see them. After a lot of food and a couple of glasses of champagne my mum, dad myself and my bridesmaid headed home to my parents house. Dave and his family went off to Kildare where they had rented a country cottage for the weekend. It was weird saying good bye knowing next time Id see him would be at the church.

At home dad opened another bottle of champagne, so much for my early night!! One of my neighbours popped in at about 10 o clock. We all sat drinking and chatting for about an hour, and then I decided it was time for bed.

As I prepared my bits for the morning, I realised Dave�s parents had the underskirt in their car as they had brought it from England.. Major panic on!! It was 11.30 PM. Dave�s dad drove from Kildare, with the help of ongoing directions from my dad! He arrived at our house with the underskirt at about 12.45am!!Stress over and time for bed, at last!

I woke about 8am. First thing I did was looked out the window, and was happy to see it was a nice dry sunny day.. Mum had a fry up ready, and we all tucked in. My self and Joanne got in the car and went off to the hair dressers. Joanne hadn�t had a trial with the hairdresser, but had an idea of what she wanted. Ken our hairdresser got to work on Joanne, while I sat under the dryer with my rollers in. When Joanne was finished it was my turn. I had given Ken a picture to work on. My hair was fantastic when he was finished. I was overjoyed. It looked better than the picture. He put my veil and tiara in place and then it was back in the car and off home.

When we got home Marie Joseph had arrived. She had already started work on my mum. My mum was very concerned about having someone else do her makeup, but Marie really did a fantastic job. Joanne was next in line, and was also a little concerned as she doesn�t often wear makeup, she looked fantastic and her makeup looked so natural. I had decided on a sun kissed look and as my trial had gone so well, I knew the end result would be great. As Marie started my makeup the dark black clouds had started to appear. I don�t know what happened to the nice bright sunny day. The heavens opened and the rain lashed down. Not too worry, I wasn�t going to let anything spoil my day!

My mum helped me into my dress, and we all went downstairs. I felt amazing. Like a princess. It�s hard to describe the feeling. Dad opened more champagne and the photographer arrived. We had a few photos taken and then our vintage car arrived. Mum and Joanne went off in their car and then dad and I had a few minutes quality time together. It was so nice. I wasn�t nervous at all, and was dying to get to the church.

As we walked out to the car, a group of our neighbours had gathered. I quickly said hello to them, had some more pictures taken and then it was off to the church. It was great fun driving to the church. All the cars were blowing their horns. Dad and I were waving back like famous people! We got to the church five minutes late. I promised Dave I wouldn�t be too late!

We ran into the church as the rain had got extremely heavy. The priest came out to meet us in the porch and assured me everything was going to be fine. Dad and I quickly composed ourselves and dried ourselves off. I was extremely calm. The quartet started and the doors opened, dad and I started to walk up the aisle. Everybody turned and all eyes were on us. It was like what you see on TV!! I saw some people with tears in their eyes, and everyone was smiling. It was so emotional. I felt a tear run down the side of my cheek, and then another!! I managed to stop myself at that stage so luckily my makeup stayed intact. The walk up the isle seemed to last for ages as I tried to treasure every moment.

The ceremony was really lovely, and seemed to go very quickly. I�m not the most religious person but that part of the day meant a lot to me. Dave�s best man did us proud as did my lovely bridesmaid. We signed the register and were officially husband and wife. My day just couldn�t get any better, and the party had still to come!

Dave and I hurried back to the car, still no sign of the rain stopping. The drive to the hotel lasted about 15 minutes and we didn�t stop chatting all the way, discussing what had gone on that morning. We got to the Summerhill Hotel to be greeted by the duty manager Orla. Unfortunately we had the drinks reception inside and not in the gardens as we were hoping. We were handed a glass of champagne and chatted to everyone as they arrived. It was then off for photos as the guests enjoyed the canap�s and the chocolate fountain.

After the photos, we had some time to chat to our guests in the bar. Some how I managed to miss the chocolate fountain! Orla then called the guests in to diner. Dave and I were lead into the room by the piper and loads of applause from our guests. The room looked stunning, our diner was so nice, and I noticed the waiters offering seconds! The wine was plentiful during the meal too. Then it was time for the speeches.

My dad set the scene with a fantastic and emotional speech, Paul the best man followed with a very funny speech, and to my relief was nothing like what he had threatened. Dave was next , and he included a really nice poem he had written about me .Then it was my turn. I decided I wanted to get up to say a few words and was determined I was going to... As I started the tears appeared and I got emotional again! I managed to pull myself together and thanked my parents for my up brining and also thanked Dave�s parents for being there for me when I moved to England. I also had a little presentation to make to Dave. I had arranged for a signed shirt of his favourite football team Milwall, along with other football goodies. He was so surprised and had no idea.

After diner the dancing began. And our evening guests started to arrive. I couldn�t believe how fast the day had gone. We choose The Amigos for our band, and they were just amazing. We had a very mixed age group, and I was a little concerned that we would have an empty floor. I couldn�t have been more wrong!! There was actually no one sitting down! The floor was packed all night. They played such a variety of music. I really did not want my day to come to an end. We finished off the day with a few night caps in the residents bar. At 3.30am we went off to bed and left the last few remaining guests propping up the bar. All that remains for me to say is... It was by far the best day of my life.

My recommendations:
Band-The Amigos- Arthur was so lovely to deal with, and the band were amazing. They played no cheesy music but played enough variety to keep everyone happy. The dance floor was packed all night.
The Summerhill Hotel- The staff were amazing and treated me like I was the only person who had ever got married. The hotel itself is a fantastic venue for any occasion. The food was really lovely and there was so much of it!
Hairdressers-Lightwaves Nutgrove � Ken was really great, He did a fantastic job on me and my bridesmaid and I would definitely recommend him.
Makeup- Marie Joseph- She worked magic on all of us! The results were really great. The trial was a great idea because it gave me an idea of what I wanted and also gave Marie a feel for what I was hoping for.
Car-E&S; Services Bray -We hired a vintage rolls. Eamon and Sheila are lovely to deal with. We chose the Black rolls. But he also had a lovely bright yellow one.
Our flowers, photographer and DVD man were all family friends and all did a great job.

If I could change anything about the day, I would have asked for nicer weather! It didn�t stop raining all day, although it didn�t spoil the day, it would have been great to get more photographs outside. I would also have made more of an effort to chat to more people. I found it very hard to get around to talk to everyone. And a must for everyone is a video or DVD. The day goes by so quickly and there is a lot that you don�t get to see. Now I�ve got DVD I can relive the happiest day of my life over and over again !