The big day

We enjoyed ourselves greatly and stayed relaxed most of the time, and it seems like our guests did too. We rose at about 8 and had plenty of time to wash, dress and otherwise prepare before leaving the house. Dressing Nattie took a while, as I hadn't had any practice at tying her corset. The flowers were delivered just after 9 and looked excellent. We took the flowers, music, rings and payment to the Register Office at 10, arriving just before the steady trickle of guests began. I handed out carnations for men's buttonholes. By 10:40 we were a little worried about the small number of friends there, but everyone arrived in time aside from one couple who didn't turn up at all.

The ceremony went quite smoothly, though Nattie was a bit perturbed by the lack of advance instructions. I felt quite emotional when making my vows to her in front of everyone, but above all it felt right. The formalities (and snog) over with, it was time to face the firing squad of cameras. Then out of the door, to be showered with rose petals (from lnr) and rice (from my immediate family).

We then spent some time posing/herding for formal photographs on the lawn and among the trees at the Register Office. Unfortunately everyone else seemed to want to take their own photos and wouldn't wait for the official photographer. Next, we ascended the Castle Mound to admire the view from there and to be photographed with that as a background. Most people followed us up there, forming a procession up the steps, so we stayed and talked for a while before walking down again to join the rest of the party and wait for our car.

The car we ordered - a nice Mercedes - did not arrive. Instead there was an ordinary taxi from the same company. That couldn't be ours, could it? - well, it was. I had a brief argument with the driver, who still wanted to charge us extra!

Anyway, we got to the lunch/reception venue - a hotel - and were treated very well there. Drinks were served, our guests (family only) arrived, and we all relaxed on the terrace and lawn at the back of the hotel. I then found out that Nattie's sister actually wanted the adults' meal, and I remembered that I hadn't arranged for a vegetarian meal for my brother's girlf - but thankfully the hotel manager sorted this out for us without hesitation. So everything was cool, and almost everyone ate all three delicious courses of lunch: chargrilled Provençe vegetables with mozzarella and rocket, roast lamb with red onion and tarragon jus (with vegetarian and children's alternatives), and crème brûlée (with coffee, tea and rather good mints to follow).

After lunch I set up the webcam and we had the staff put on the music we had compiled for the afternoon and evening. This was somewhat wasted at first, as almost everyone wanted to go outside and sit down, lie down or play croquet. (The hotel advertised it had a croquet set, so Nattie made sure they set it out in advance. This turned out to be a hit with various of our relatives.) Various relatives talked and got to know each other, thankfully on friendly terms. Our pile of presents grew.

After 5 our friends started to re-appear, as invited. More presents appeared. The waiters brought out pretty glasses of Pimms and lemonade, as we had requested. More sitting/lying around and talking. Did I mention being relaxed?

After 6 the staff assembled a buffet which, again, was delicious, though perhaps a little heavy on the melon (melon on its own, melon with ham, melon and pasta salad). I only took two platefuls, which Nattie will tell you is a huge reduction.

Around 7, the music got more modern, and I got a little worried - three people needed to catch an 8:30 train and we had to fit in dessert, speeches, toasts and cutting of cake before they left. With a little hurrying along from me, this all worked out. The strawberry pavlova was served shortly, and we got everyone together and supplied with drinks by 7:45. My brother, the best man, made a brief speech and a toast to us, which I followed with a toast to Nattie, leaving her to toast our parents. Nattie and I ceremonially made a first cut of the cake, before a member of staff whisked it away and cut lots of tiny slices for everyone. I handed slices to the three people with plenty of time to spare before their 8:10 taxi.

Following these last events, the reception started to wind down. The sitting around, talking and drinking continued. Nattie and I had a brief go at croquet in the near-dark, then abandoned our balls to briefly demonstrate a waltz indoors. Various guests left. Eventually the remaining friends moved into the lounge while family loitered in the lobby, expecting to leave but unable to organise a move. We moved back and forth. Finally, around 10:30, everyone left, except for us and the relatives staying at the hotel. Shortly after that we piled our things into a taxi and went home.

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You'll have to wait for accounts of the surrounding days, because I've written as much as I can manage for now.