Our wedding, the ceremony.

T H E   M I L L H O U S E    S K I D B Y    T W O   P M

Get ready for the second instalment of our wedding day! If you need to catch up on part 1, click here. This post is going to be even more mammoth than the last and I still feel like I've left things out!! I've written a post before about the process of finding our wedding venue, I'll link that here so I'm not repeating myself! Now the day has been and gone I really feel like I can stand by my views that it was our perfect venue. 

I loved seeing these pictures of our guests mingling (and Sam sipping pints bought by his uncles!) as we were driving around in our camper van. We had set off a little early in the end so we drove around the surrounding villages, chatting, laughing and dancing (again!). 

This was our ceremony room at the Millhouse, we both wanted something super simple, I'm not a fan of chair covers and since our venue had lovely chairs anyway I feel like they weren't missed. The S & J were a not on the high street find that moved into the wedding breakfast room and have now come to rest on our living room bookshelf!

A R R I V A L

Arriving at the venue was another of my favourite memories (who am I kidding, they're all my favourite) as I imagined all the guests and Sam stood inside knowing we were arriving, and the sense of anticipation I've had when I've been a wedding guest. It's a feeling like no other knowing that in such a short time youre going to be married to your best friend. 

The pictures above of me and my brother will always hold a funny memory for me as we were taking pictures holding hands then realised it may look like we were the ones getting married! I don't know who would think that since anyone seeing these pictures would know otherwise but maybe the nerves had caused us to be a bit hysterical and we snatched our hands away and couldn't stop laughing. 

I had to be comfy on my wedding day, I love my silver sparkly converse! 

 Sam and his brother Colin who was also his best man.

I love the candid shots Henry got of the crowd as even a few days after the wedding on our honeymoon Sam and I couldn't for the life of us remember where people were sat, and Sam had even been chatting to most people as they were awaiting my arrival! 

H E R E   C O M E S   T H E   B R I D E 

 This is the moment the song I walked down the aisle to began to play, the first time all morning I felt I was going to cry, I don't think I did but i certainly welled up. My bridesmaids preceded me to give me a bit of a chance to breathe and then it was our turn.

I could cry all over again looking at these pictures now. Everyone was shocked that my brother cried all the way down the aisle, although as I mentioned in my previous post, it became a theme for the day! My brother gave me away and despite not having a dad and knowing i wouldn't have a father of the bride to give me away its a tradition I wanted to uphold. Not because I think I'm property, I knew it was a memory I wanted to share with my brother and I also knew i'd need someone to hold me up! 

I can't remember exactly but I think the first thing Sam said to me as we got to the top of the aisle was something to do with how perfect my dress was, and I gave myself a slight pat on the back. 

R E A D I N G

 Sam's sister, Laura did a reading for us and it was so special to have her doing it. She read 'Blessing for a marriage' by James Dillet Freeman. It was a reading that really spoke to us as it talks of equality and being there for each other, although not from need.

The first picture of my very attractive 'you what?' face was when Sam pretended not to know which hand the ring went on. We had a few laughs throughout the ceremony which set the tone for the day how we wanted it. Relaxed and fun. I am still getting made fun of for my 'today, tomorrow and... always?!' blunder as I couldn't remember what the registrar had just said. Lot's of 'weren't you sure about the always part Jacq??' 

O F F I C I A L L Y    M A R R I E D ! 

The first footprint Sam managed to get on my dress and realised, wow, I really don't care because OMG WE'RE MARRIED!!!

O U T   W E   G O

We did actually do some confetti at this point although it was a slight fail as the staff only handed about half out, it was rectified later when we had another go after the wedding breakfast so I don't dwell on it! It was the one thing that went a teeny bit wrong on the day so I think we did well for that!  We had a few moments of mingling and hugging and me feeling like I was going to cry with every new person I spoke to before heading off for the family pictures while everyone got their drinks and mingled. 

We didn't want a whole heap of posed pictures so tried to stick to just family and bridal party, I kind of hate the whole idea of shepherding the whole wedding into place for pictures of everyone together where you can barely see peoples faces. I'm really pleased with these photos that we got as they're perfect for us and our families to keep and treasure. 

After this we went off for a few pictures alone and then it's on to the reception, and another post! Phew, I'm sure you're saying. This was quite a read!

 Just like our engagement shoot, Sam kept me laughing all the way through out pictures, I love this about him as obviously, not being a Kardashian, I'm not used to being photographed throughout my day!

Onto the reception, and some golden hour photographs of Sam and I that I think I'll cry over until I'm old and grey! See you in the next one!