All The Wee Wedding Things
In a few weeks, my husband and I will celebrate our first wedding anniversary. It seems like only yesterday that I was up to my eyes in lists, planning the happiest day of our lives, which it was (it always is!). Over the past few years, we have had so many weddings, and they have all been wonderful, each of them an amazing and unique day.
So before I officially become an “Old Married Woman”, I just wanted to write about All The Wee Wedding Things which stand out in my mind, from the montage of weddings we have been honoured to attend!
The first insight into all the wedding planning is often on receipt of the invitations. How nice is it to receive something pretty in the post as opposed to a bill?! Normally the romantic themed stamps give away the contents of the envelope (ROI only), or if not, the girly handwriting on the envelope surely will! Whether handmade by the Bride (or the Groom!) or a bespoke design, all the wedding invitations we have received have been beautiful. I’ve just this minute received a super Save The Date via email - it is so cool, and setting the tone for the wedding by its musical accompaniment!!
At this point I must mention a friend of mine who is a graphic designer and she has designed a few of our friends’ wedding invitations. She is super talented and does a tremendous job on every invitation she designs – including our own which we were delighted with!!
I think the ceremony goes a long way for setting the tone for the day – the level of effort that has gone into planning a wedding is particularly evident from the ceremony. The two main things that I take particular notice of are the readings and the music.
When my aunt got married 30+ years ago, her sister (also my aunt) wrote a song for them and sang it at their wedding. 30 years later, when my cousin got married, she had the words of the song as the Reflection at their wedding. My aunts were delighted, and there were tears when the connection was made. It was just a little thing that helped make their wedding day extra special.
We had Scaffolding by Seamus Heaney as the Reflection at our wedding. My sister suggested it, and I thought it particularly relevant given that I was committing to living far away from home – although the words can relate to a couple, it is equally applicable to family and friends as well. I am no poetry expert but I love this poem.
When it comes to wedding music, I count myself lucky to be friends with an extremely beautiful singer. She sang at a lot of our friends’ weddings and whether she sings one song or all songs at a wedding, each note is perfect, and every word is heartfelt (even into the wee hours at a residents’ bar!). She sang along with my cousin from Aurora (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aurora-Catherine-and-Jane/382867921907568?fref=ts). My brother sang the Voyage by Christy Moore, which was lovely. A year later, I still love listening to the music at our wedding mass.
We went to our first Humanist Ceremony recently, and it was beautiful. Unlike the religious ceremony, which is concentrated equally on religion and God, and love, the sole focus of the Humanist Ceremony was the love between the Bride and Groom. Along with beautiful music and readings, this Ceremony included a ring warming ceremony, where the wedding bands were passed around us (the guests) and each of us made a wish or said a prayer for the marriage whilst holding the rings. It was really lovely!
Not everyone has favours these days (the tradition of which is a very old one - initially wedding favours were an extravagance at celebrations hosted by European upper classes, who had the wealth to provide elaborate gifts to guests and early favours were known as bonbonniere – a little box was fashioned of crystal, porcelain, or gold, and often encrusted with precious stones, which held bonbons or other confectionery delicacies, at a time when sugar was quite expensive), but being a fan of All The Wee Things, I think it is a lovely tradition!
My designer friend got married at Christmas, and seeing as she is super creative, the favours at their wedding were gold pine cones Christmas decorations, handmade by the Bride. Having just bought our first Christmas tree, we were just delighted with the wee decorations!
At one wedding, the favours were sunflower seeds – these made their way home from the wedding and have been planted and all, but unfortunately are not doing very much at present – maybe one of these days we will have a nice big sunflower! At another wedding, the favours were little poems wrapped up in a scroll, thanking the guests for attending the wedding and noting the Bride and Groom’s appreciation for the friendship of their guests in general, another personal little touch.
These were all really thoughtful little things, which weren’t overly expensive but lovely momentos of the day.
I’ve never had a bad dinner at a wedding, but there have been a couple of instances where the food has totally surpassed my expectations. Like a baby I like to eat every 3-4 hours, so being well fed at a wedding is a massive plus in my books!
I think food at the not so wee hours in the residents’ bar is an amazing idea – whether it’s leftovers from the buffet or rasher sandwiches, having food at that time of the night guarantees everyone will stay up an hour or two longer. And provides extra soakage to fend off the hangovers!
We were at a wedding recently where the dessert was “A Sweet Surprise.” And indeed it was, a sweet surprise! An entire room had been converted into a dessert room, where everyone went up and picked what they wanted. There was every dessert you could’ve dreamed of – apple crumble, this amazing peanut butter cake, meringues, cheesecake, an ice cream cart AND a chocolate fountain. I was in sugar-filled heaven, it was absolutely amazing!
As I’m sure you’ve gathered from reading this, I love weddings. And I really do love the speeches at a wedding. Very often the Daddies have had little or no input into the wedding planning, so it is nice to see them having their moment, and I love hearing the stories about the Bride and Groom to get an insight into what they were like when they were small (or not so small!!). Also, for the couples who aren’t particularly lovey-dovey, it is nice to hear what the Grooms have to say to their blushing brides.
At one wedding my friend’s Daddy spoke about how the Bride had worried when she was small about how her clothes would fit her and how she would know how to drive when she grew up, and how she often decided she was running away but never made it out the door as she had to ask how to spell “leaving” for her goodbye note. I’m still laughing typing this.
We were at a wedding recently, where the Best Man was the master of ceremonies, and he was honestly like a tv presenter. He was totally relaxed and just so funny, lots of hilarious off the cuff remarks – the speeches at that wedding were brilliant. Having no dirt on his brother, the Best Man at my cousin’s wedding rapped Ini Kamoze - Here Comes The Hotstepper ( Nah, na na na nah. Here comes the hot stepper, murderer) - it was fantastic!!
At my friend’s wedding, the Bride’s aunt had passed away recently, and her Daddy spoke beautifully about her, it was a perfect way of remembering her at a time of celebration.
Of course, the speeches at our wedding were wonderful. My Father in Law (kinda-sorta) winged it, in a way only he would get away with and it was brilliant. Daddy threw in a good few jokes (and even cursed in front of the priest) and seemed to thoroughly enjoy his 5 minutes of fame. My brother in law kept it clean. I said my wee poem (http://alltheweethings.tumblr.com/post/119464191626/my-speech-on-our-wedding-day). My husband spoke exceptionally well, considering he was really nervous (as are lots of Grooms) and I was delighted with him. But Mammy stole the show. She often does poems at weddings, but she put ours to music and sang it (below). Although she teared up towards the end, she did an excellent job, and got a standing ovation!
A number of the weddings have had extra entertainment – these are arguably big things in that they don’t come cheap, but I really enjoyed them – particularly after the meal, when you are really full and not quite ready for dancing!
One wedding had an Italian chef who came out to congratulate the Bride and Groom over the microphone and then burst into song – he was brilliant! He had us all on our feet, waving our napkins in the air, singing along. The post dinner slump was well and truly forgotten!
At another wedding a man sang opera, while we relaxed and enjoyed a drink after our dinner, which was very enjoyable. At my uncle’s wedding there were Irish dancers to kick off the dancing – they were so talented and highly entertaining. We could’ve watched them all night!
I also love an old-school disco. So at the evening receptions where the djs play an eclectic mix of Happy Hardcore, 90s pop and current cheese are a big hit for me!!
Our extra entertainment was the ice cream and champagne reception, which was held at Mammy and Daddy’s house. It was great fun, and even though there was a tea shortage, everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves – I was delighted that all my Southern friends got to see my home-house!
I’ve never been to a bad wedding – all weddings are fantastic simply because they are a day where people have taken a day off work, are dressed up and are ready for a day of fun. Wedding days themselves are a celebration of love, so really All The Wee Things I’ve noted above are just the frills, the icing on the cake. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about them!
