Tea and Crumpets: My New Life in England: October 2011

Okay, I know it's been a while since writing, but I got married!! And had the most amazing couple of weeks surrounding it :)

My family and friends flew in from America for a whole week of fun. We started in London for a few days of sightseeing, catching up, pub crawls, and having an amazing reunion. Then it was time to head down to the coast to continue the festivities. We had some great times down on the beach and Will's parents threw an amazing homemade buffet after the wedding rehearsal. They had every English finger food you could think of! Everything I've come to know and love; quiches, yorkshire pudding, sausage rolls, pasties, cream teas, flapjacks, chutneys, English Cheddar, and so much more. My family was very impressed and the stereotype that the English have bad food was completely dispelled.

The big day arrived, the sun was shining, and it was absolutely perfect! We were blessed with such amazing weather. The ceremony was beautiful and I loved every minute of it; I couldn't take my eyes off Will and my cheeks started to hurt from smiling so wide. We were announced husband and wife, we signed the certificate, and walking down the aisle. After the church bells rang and rose petal confetti was thrown, we had lots of family photos and then Will and I climbed into our vintage 1930's touring car for a quick photo-shoot at the beach. It was so much fun taking my shoes off and trudging through the sand dunes in my wedding dress!! And we got some amazing photos, thanks Martin :)

We got back in the car and headed up to the bluff overlooking Exmouth beach where our hotel and reception venue was. We enjoyed some peach bellinis out on the terrace overlooking the sea and then we were announced into the reception, greeted by all our friends and family. Dinner was excellent, the ballroom looked gorgeous, and the speeches were so much fun. We all got our dance on and Will surprised us all by actually being a good dancer!! We never practiced our first dance to "Fly Me To The Moon" by Frank Sinatra, and it was actually our first dance together EVER! SO much fun.

Then everyone danced the night away with drinks, good music, and good company. After the DJ left a bunch of us after-partied in the vintage hotel bar and drank and chatted until the wee hours of the morning. What an amazing day!!!

The next morning we all headed back up to London and after two final evenings with my family it was time to say good-bye. I wish I could do it all over again exactly the same!! Will and I drove north for our honeymoon. We took some great hikes in the Peak and Lake Districts and then spent a day and night exploring the historic city of York.

What a truly amazing couple of weeks.

Tea and Crumpets: My New Life in England

Thursday, 6 October 2011

Wedding Festivities