I now pronounce you Husband and Wife: All about our big day, honeymoon and plans for the future.

Mrs Webster here...

Hello again my beautiful readers! It has been a whole month since my last post went up! I am so sorry it has took me so long to publish another post for you guys but as you will all know if you have been following my social media and blog page, Reece (my partner of 6 years and father of our magnificent daughter Ella-Grace) and I got married!! So I am officially a wife, Mrs Webster. Still getting used to the whole idea of being married but at the same time it feels like nothing has changed except I have a different ring on my finger and my stress levels have gone down since the wedding planning is out the way haha. On the run up to the day I was full of excitement and also tears, almost pulling my hair out over our budget (because it was just a small budget which I am going to do a separate blog post on) BUT it was all worth it and apart from our little Ella-Grace not feeling well, it was a perfect day! I am so happy that after a three year engagement we are finally married. I am so happy to be Reece's wife and as far as I know he is happy to be my Husband. 

I am going to do a series of wedding themed blog posts from how to plan a wedding on a small budget to my top tips for the big day but for just now I am basically going to give to a summary of the wedding day, share some pictures (not professional ones as we have not got them back yet), tell you about our honeymoon plans and what we are looking forward to doing in the upcoming future as a married couple. I know that a lot of you love the posts I write that are basically just life updates so for those people, here is just that ready and waiting for you to read. I hope you like hearing about the best day of our lives (apart from Ella-Grace being born of course. Happy reading everyone! 

The week of the wedding...

The week before the wedding can be described it two words: stressful and exciting. The most upsetting thing was that Ella-Grace was not feeling well, we put it down to teething and hayfever, and that was always my worst nightmare when it came to the wedding. Also the planning was driving me crazy and I felt like I still had so much to do and obviously so little time left. There were people cancelling, people that hadn't got back to us, problems with table cloths (they had red..not white like we asked for..our theme was pink) and my the price of my wedding dress alterations were sky high! But among all this stress that was making my brain go mad there was excitement of course especially when it came to the 20th of June (we got married on the 22nd) because I went to my Mum and Dad's house and Reece had Ella-Grace, this was my time to finally relax and chill out before the hectic two days to follow this. So yeah on the 20th I got to relax with my family and watch some films which was much needed because I had been a crazy bridezilla for like 2 weeks not going to lie. 

The day before the wedding...

The day before the wedding, my sister (also my maid of honor) and I got our hair done. I had not touched my hair for 6 months which is long for me so I was so excited for this and they did an amazing job, the perfect colour for the wedding and for my dress. So at this point I was pretty relaxed and my sister and I then went to some lunch followed by a spray tan. Living the pampered life and loving it. Later in the day, once we were back in Aberdeen, is when we got busy! Ella-Grace still wasn't feeling great so of course she was top priority, bridesmaids started to arrive at our flat because they were staying with me over night and we had to go an decorate our reception venue. My lovely bridesmaid watched a very fussy Ella-Grace, I hated leaving her but I needed to decorate and practice our first dance. Luckily she did settle for my bridesmaid and and after 3 hours, the decor was done, the buffet food was stored, our dance was practiced for the last time and our wedding cake was revealed to us. My mum made it as a wedding present for us and came the night before to set it up, it was magical!! I will insert pictures below. 

This is when Reece and I parted ways as he went off to meet his best man, groomsmen and friends at his hotel room and I went back home to my bridesmaids and my poorly baby girl. Thankfully Ella-Grace was asleep and we got to watch some movies (Bridesmaids and Bridewars- what else?!), snack and talk about the wedding. This is also when I gave out the bridesmaid gifts including our pjs which I thought were super cute. 

It got to 2am and we all finally decided to go to bed but Ella-Grace had other ideas and she kept me up till 4am (keeping in mind that the make up artist was coming at 6am) but oh well she is worth it and I knew that the adrenaline and excitement would keep me going. 

The morning of the wedding...

It's almost 6am, we all just woke up and the make up artist is on her way. ITS WEDDING DAY!!!!!! Ella-Grace is still asleep and so the bridesmaids and I all have breakfast, chat and the getting ready begins...

Cuddles with Mama 

Reading the letter Reece wrote to me for the morning of our wedding 

The getting ready process (this being me, my 3 bridesmaids, maid of honor, older sister, my mum, my niece, nephew and Ella-Grace of course) took us from 6am till about 1pm. Mostly I was excited but being a Mum I was aware Ella-Grace wasn't feeling well which made me a bit upset but knowing my Mum would be with her the whole time, I managed to relax a little bit (beside the nerves I was experiencing for the ceremony of course). I think we all looked amazing, we were all so happy with the hair and make up and my mum was speechless when she saw me in my dress- this was a cute moment. 

Bridesmaid Dresses

Mother of the Bride

THE DRESS

After all this photo taking everyone started to go in small groups. My older sister left first with my Mum and the kids, then my bridesmaids and maid of honor left together and then finally my Dad arrived, we had our little moment when he seen me in my dress which we are happy we got on video and then we waited for our car to arrive to take us to the ceremony.

Funny story while we waited my Dad had a coffee and I took a quick selfie (the one you seen at the start) but then... I realised I needed to pee... so yeah I went to the bathroom myself in my massive dress... not going to be tmi but in a very strange position I did manage to go to the bathroom unaided haha! It was just after this that the car arrived and I had to attempt the flight of stairs from my flat to the door where the car was- this being good practice for the ceremony as I also had to walk down the stairs then. And off we went in the car to the ceremony, ready to marry the love of my life. My Dad and I had a nice chat with the driver and with each other, he gave me his best wedding advice- 'Never go to bed angry' which through all of mine and Reece's relationship I have said so I think that means we were already off to a good start. This car ride was a very special moment for me and my Dad and one I will never forget. 5 minutes early- the driver did ask if I wanted to be late and I said no haha- and we arrived at the Winter Gardens for our ceremony. All the tears started, last minute cuddles and before I knew it we were walking down the aisle. 

The ceremony...

My Handsome Groom or should I say, HUSBAND!

(We asked all the guests to have their phones off and to take no pictures or videos during the ceremony so there won't be any photos in this section- apart from the one above someone snapped before it was announced haha, will be sure to share on my social media when we get the professional photos back however) 

Honestly, I don't really know how to describe the ceremony... it was a whirlwind and it felt like it went so fast! I was full of excitement and nerves! The bridesmaids walked down the aisle first followed by my maid of honor/sister, then my niece and nephew (flower girl and page boy), then My Mum carrying my other flower girl, Ella-Grace of course and then me and my Dad. 

-side note when Reece and I first got engaged 3 years ago I told him a song that meant a lot to me was Wanted by Hunter Heyes and I would love to walk down the aisle to that. During all the wedding planning I completely forgot about that song and we decided Reece would pick the song as a surprise and that was the one he chose. He remembered it over our 3 year engagement and considering he is an extremely forgetful person and not always sentimental so it meant a lot that he remembered that song.-

So much was going through my head when I was seeing everyone else start to walk down the aisle. Will I fall? Will I manage the stairs? Will Ella-Grace be crying through the ceremony? Will I mess up the vows? So much thoughts! But as we walked down the aisle I just got emotional and had to take some deep breaths especially when I saw Reece. I was so glad to have my Dad by my side in this moment, he helped me walk in the big dress and even held my flowers at one point and also kept telling me to breath. Appreciate my Dad so much. As I got closer to the end of the aisle and saw Reece's face I almost couldn't believe my eyes. He was crying, not just a few tears but properly crying. I had never seen him so emotional and it even made me stop crying because I felt like I needed to be the stable one haha. It really showed how much he cared for me, .loved me and obviously how happy he was. As he lifted my veil with the help of my Dad, he told me I looked beautiful. This was one of the best moments of my entire life and ironically as the lyrics of the song said, in this moment I really felt wanted and I knew I was marrying the right man. *Pause for happy tears haha* 

The ceremony started with my Dad reading a short passage I had wrote myself. I was not doing a speech at the reception so I really wanted to do my part in a way and in corparate my passion which is writing in our wedding. This is what I wrote:   I wanted it to reflect us as a young couple embarking on the journey of marriage and what I think we should work on/remember through out our years together. I think everyone like it! Please let me know what you think. 

Following this reading was the vows- which is the part I was very nervous about- Reece went first and said them perfectly! I went next and I think I sounded a bit crazy to be honest haha one minute I was saying them fine, the next minute I was holding back tears to mumble the words I needed to repeat but oh well I got through them, that's the main thing! Following this was the exchanging of the rings and the moment we had been waiting for, for 3 years... "You are now Husband and Wife, you may kiss the bride!" That moment was amazing and gave each other the biggest hug and kiss! Both quietly saying to each other "We did it!!"
The registrar then continued to do a 2nd reading that we allowed her to choose which was a bit funnier and shown the lighter funny side of marriage as well as things you are likely to go through. It made everyone laugh which was nice. We then signed the marriage paperwork, got a celebratory drink and everyone came round to congratulate us. I felt beautiful (despite the tan marks that were already on my dress- it was very hot in the Winter gardens!), I felt loved and most of all super happy!!! It felt surreal that we actually made it and were now a married couple! 
Our lovely photographer then whisked us away to get all the photos taken and she managed to get all the ones we asked for and more. When it got closer to 4pm everyone lined up outside ready to throw confetti as we walked to the car- I cannot wait to see those pictures. It was a magical moment. 

Car ride...

Finally Reece and I had a chance to talk by ourselves and take in the fact that we just got married! We told each other about our morning, talked about the letter we wrote each other, took some selfies and just lived in the moment to be honest. We were (and still are) on cloud 9! I felt so complete to FINALLY be married to the love of my life and I know he felt the same. Then we arrived at the reception venue to be greeted by my Dad who then introduced us to the guests as Mr and Mrs Webster- yet again another stand out moment of the day where I heard my new last name said for the first time. 

Reception...

This post is already quite long and as much as I know how much you would like to know exactly what I ate and what times I went to the bathroom haha I think I will just give you a summary. So when we first walked in after my Dad introduced us to the room, Ella-Grace ran to us. She had obviously been with my Mum and probably felt like she had not seen us so before we even went to our seats we just had a little family cuddle on the dance floor. Yes, it was our wedding day but Ella-Grace is always our main priority especially since she was unwell, making sure she was okay and happy was the most important thing. 

We then all went to sit down and Ella-Grace fell asleep in her pram so I got to relax. The speeches started (My Dad, my Bridesmaid, My Sister/Maid of Honor, the Best man and of course the Groom). All of them did an amazing job- my Dad did his whole speech in an Irish accent, my Bridesmaid wrote us a poem, my Sister was her usual show-woman self and made the whole room laugh, the Best man managed to wing it but do an amazing job and my darling Reece, bless him, had the whole room in tears- I was so happy with all the speeches and so thankful that the microphone worked. 

We then ran into some trouble as the food was late unfortunately so we decided to cut the cake first. 

-side note: My Mum made a vegan wedding cake and cupcakes for us and oh my goodness it was beautiful! Looked beautiful and the three different flavors were so yummy! She also added a personal touch by putting Blackpool tower on top of the wedding cake which is where Reece and I got engaged and on the cupcakes put either an iced thistle or a clover to represent both where Reece was born (Scotland) and where I was born (Northern Ireland). I love it and appreciated all my Mum's hard work. -

After cutting the cake, we decided while the hot food was getting cooked to put out the cold food which Reece's auntie had contributed so that everyone could start eating. This ended up working quite well and everyone almost got a two course buffet including cupcakes and wedding cake after. We had half vegan food and half non-vegan, which satisfied everyone (obviously if it was up to me it would of been all vegan but this is just what worked into our budget and pleased the guests). At this point Ella-Grace started to wake and had a little bit of food with me but was just not feeling it so, not going to lie, for a good few hours until my parents took her home I was no longer a Bride and just in full Mum mode. Which of course is fine, my baby needed me and I wanted to be there with her despite everyone offering help. Thankfully she did cheer up a bit before she had to go and we managed to get some cute family pictures and a little bit of a dance out of her. 

The first dance...

Our first dance was more than just your standard swaying. It was something we had worked on for around 8 or 9 weeks in our living room, partially copying the actual dance and partly choreographed ourselves. Our first dance song was 'Can I have this dance' by Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens from the film- did anyone guess it?- High School Musical. Yes, it's cheesy, yes, it was more choice than Reece's but the words meant a lot to both of us and we had SO MUCH FUN  dancing together on the run up to the wedding! Those will forever be some of my favourite memories, what's more romantic than dancing around your living room with your partner? Nothing that's what. 

We had managed to practice the first dance in the reception venue the night before the wedding- where there was a slight slip up because we weren't used to a proper dance floor that was a bit more slippery and I fell over during one of the spins haha. Luckily however, even though we weren't used to the big dress and it may of not looked as elegant as we had practiced, it went really well, we enjoyed ourselves and everyone seemed quite impressed, I want to do it again!

The wedding night...

So, after all the kids left (including Ella-Grace when she left with my parents) it was time to party.. although not going to lie, I felt emotional because Ella-Grace was ill but I knew she was in safe hands and with the help from my friends I pulled myself together and managed to enjoy the rest of the night. 

Lots of dancing, chatting and laughing. Not too much to drink but we all had a few, we were celebrating! And to end the night we got lifted up in the air by all our friends and it was amazing. 1am meant time to leave. I gave out some cake to everyone left at the end of the night and finally Reece and I returned to our new home (where we had not officially moved in yet but had the keys so were able to stay there over night). Which is where I collapsed on the sofa, posed for a picture and fell asleep haha! Reece then woke me up a bit later on to take me to bed (like the gentleman and loving husband he is). 

A moment for my Husband...

Before I go onto the honeymoon plans and what we hope for our future, I just want to take a moment to appreciate my wonderful Husband. There are no words to describe how lucky I am to have him! Reece, is the love of my life and the best Dad to Ella-Grace. Kind, smart, funny, loyal, kind, beautiful, supportive and one word I use all the time, respectful.. this is a very important quality to me after being treated badly in the past. He isn't a man who is afraid to show his feminine side or feels as a 'man' he has to be the one in charge or tell me what to do. He respects me as an individual, knowing I'm my own person and would never tell me what to do. In this day and age of equality and especially since we have a daughter that is what every man should be. Honestly, this is one of the most attractive things about him, we have the same values and morals and are both strong independant people. Which makes us one powerful couple. We hope to raise our daughter to be this and to smash those glass ceilings. I have grown so much as a person since I met Reece at 15 years old, been through a lot of highs and very low, lows.. he has always been a constant rock in my life. Keeping me steady and loving me even no matter what as I have done for him. We are unbreakable. This is true love. So sorry anyone out there who had an eye on my man, he is my husband now and I intend on keeping him haha. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH REECE! 

Soppy part over now onto the honeymoon plans...

Honeymoon plans...

Much to our appreciation, we got a lot of money for our honeymoon as a wedding gift because everyone knew we already lived together and without a little bit of help we probably wouldn't of even had a honeymoon. So after getting all the honeymoon money together, it ended up we had enough for a deposit on a belated honeymoon for us in September. 

We really wanted to go to Italy but that is very popular and all booked up. So Reece knew Turkey was good as he had been before and I really wanted to go to Greece so we decided to do both! A week away in Turkey and a day trip over to Greece. This will not only be our first holiday abroad together but my first holiday abroad EVER! Better get that passport sorted...

Moving house...

I never give myself a break and when I get something in my head I just have to do it! So yeah getting married and moving house in the space of a week... sounds like something I would do and I did! 

Literally the day after the wedding we started packing up all our stuff and as of the Saturday after the wedding we were moved into our new home thanks to the help of our family and friends. Goodbye first floor flat and hello 3 bedroom house with a garden! Great area, great neighbors, nice landlords.. just perfect for us! Now in the new home almost 2 weeks and all our boxes are unpacked and we are settled in. Ella-Grace did such an amazing job with this big change as well as moving into a toddler bed! She just found it all so exciting! Really good decision for our family. 

The future...

So, what does the future hold for Mr & Mrs Webster? Well of course we have our hands full with our little toddler princess and both of us having jobs (even though mine is work from home does not make the work load any less). We have our new home which I would like to add some other little touches to. Further into the future however I do see us having one more little one (NOT pregnant just saying in the future that is something we would like) and as for the rest, we will just have to see what happens I guess. I am really trying to focus on the here and now and be in the moment with my little family in our new home. Honestly if I could tell 14 year old me that this was my future, damn she would of cheered up a little bit haha! You never know what is round the corner, if I never went through some bad times I would never of gotten here. We aren't rich, we don't have the fanciest things but we have each other, we have a home, we have family and we have love. Personally, I think that is all you really need. Looking forward to a lifetime full of adventures as Mrs Webster. Bliss. 

Thanks for reading... 

That was quite long but I know you all wanted to hear about the wedding so there it is! I will really try to make sure that the next blog post isn't a whole month away! Just want to say thank you to all our friends and family who helped out with the wedding as we would not of even had a wedding if it wasn't for all the generosity! We are so thankful. 

As for the next blog posts, I have a few ideas for wedding themed posts but will try and break them up with some other ones, any ideas leave a comment or drop me a message on social media. 

Speaking of social media, if you want to see/read more about my life outside the blog then go and follow my instagram ( @laurajanelifex ) and like my facebook page ( LauraJaneLife), you will be sure to see some cute baby pictures. 

Thanks once again for reading! Lots of love from Mrs LauraJane Webster (still not used to my new name haha!) Until next time...

Stay Happy Everyone :) !