Bride Blog 8: The Big Day!
Helen and Darach celebrated their wedding day on Saturday 2nd June, with a ceremony at Glasgow Cathedral followed by a reception here at The National Piping Centre. In the latest installment of her Bride Blog, she relives the highlights! Read on to find out more...
So, itâs finally here. Well actually itâs now been and gone, in the blink of an eye. But I want to relive it for you â so indulge me a little.
I was lucky, I had almost a whole wedding week really. I finished at work on Tuesday evening, with a lovely send-off of fizz and Patisserie Valerie cake from my work colleagues. Wednesday was all go â nails done, wedding licence collection and then onto the Cathedral for the rehearsal. The cathedral team were lovely, so reassuring and friendly â and it turned out that the Beadle was the father of a well-known piper, so knew a lot of our guests!
Standing in the cathedral made it all feel very real â and more than a little scary. But standing there in front of the beautiful stained glass, I knew it would all be ok. However, it was also about this time that the weather forecast took a turn for the worse. BBC said thundery showers all day. AccuWeather said heavy showers from 11am â 4pm. Only Met Office said sunny, with a chance of showers⊠not exactly what one wants to hear. But the cavalry arrived in the form of friends. My bridesmaid brought her fantastic Paddington Bear style blue raincoat. A friend brought 3 fancy handled umbrellas. The team at The Pipersâ Tryst even produced a beautiful white frilly brolly just in case. So weather â do your worst!
But after a hectic Wednesday, Thursday was a nice relaxed day. I made sure I had one day to have a lie in, I made sure everything was packed for the weekend, picked up a few last bits and bobs in town and then met one of our furthest travelled guests, who flew in from Canada, for a few drinks. Why not! It was definitely what was required after a hectic day before and for the days to come.
Friday was when it all kicked in â the start of the wedding weekend! It started with a 09.30am appointment at the dress shop for a last fitting â just to check it was perfect â and to collect my dress. We walked her from Bath Street to The National Piping Centre to put it in the bedroom. It was so exciting to see Sabrina (that was the name of the dress and if you canât channel Audrey Hepburn at your wedding, when can you!) hanging there, expectantly. I couldnât let my dress down!
Then a leisurely breakfast in the Pipersâ Tryst as my Bridesmaid insisted I eat the croissant in front of me knowing that I might not get anything for a number of hours â the first guests were arriving from around 11am so I took a deep breath and waited for them to arrive. The Pipersâ Tryst has 8 bedrooms, which we had taken over for the weekend, giving us a lovely base for the weekend. So as family and friends slowly trickled in arrived, we showed them to their rooms and generally hugged and squealed a bit at the influx of people. My mum had made the fruitcake layer so when they arrived we got it safely stowed in the kitchen awaiting its big moment. I then made a pit-stop home to collect all the decorations and luggage which also led to a welcome cup of tea and a sit down with the Groomâs family, an unexpected bonus.
Then it was back into the venue for the evening. I bade my husband-to-be farewell after he dropped me off then settled in for a lovely evening with my extended family that were all staying at the hotel. But at 9.30pm with one last tiny decorating job to do, painting the toenails, it was off to bed. Like there was a big day tomorrow or something!!
It had finally arrived. With a 7am alarm, I had time to get up and have breakfast before beginning to decorate the venue. It also gave me a chance to give my Bridesmaid her presents. As I have said before, my bridesmaid is my twin sister, and I am so lucky to have her as a best friend and general go-to person. So I had wanted to do something really special for her. In October 2017, I had come across a quilt pattern online and the idea was planted. I made my sister a quilt â which I finished the Tuesday before the wedding. It had taken me 6 months of learning, swearing, and asking friends for help, but I did it. And she loved it⊠which was the only outcome I had hoped forâŠ. So with a few tears and hugs, we went to breakfast!
We finished decorating just in time for the hairdresser, the flower lady and the photographer to arrive! It was all go, the fizz was opened and I revelled in the lovely atmosphere â and more importantly the sunny morning! The weather had now bucked up its ideas and there was only a chance of a shower from 4pm onwards by which point we would be eating dinner. But by now I was too excited to worry about that any more. My parents stopped in, more hugs, more fizz, more cards. I did my own makeup as I felt more comfortable with this than having someone do it for me, but I was so pleased that after only a few trial runs it worked better than I could have expected. Thanks BareMinerals!
Then it was dress time. I have never been more excited to put on any garment. My mum had procured a buttonhook for the many tiny buttons at the back â which the photographer liked as it meant he had more time to get photos than if it zipped!
Then it was time to go. Or rather, I was going⊠turns out I was sitting in the Taxi, ready to go at 13.03⊠for a 13.30 wedding! But the taxi driver (with flowers and ribbons on it) was fantastic and took this all in his stride and a wee turn around the block was taken. When we finally turned into the Cathedral right on time, our pipers met us at the entrance and piped the car along to the front door. I felt like a celebrity, with tourists cheering and taking photos!
With a tweak of the dress and a hug from my dad, we entered the Cathedral. It was so strange to have all eyes on us. Up into the main body of the church and I started to pick out faces, running friends, piping friends, family, all giving me huge grins and the occasional happy tear.
The service was beautiful, we were so lucky to have family friends do readings for us as well as a lovely sermon from Rev Keith Ross. A minor funny moment with the exchange of rings â it was so warm that my husbandâs hand was a little larger than when we purchased the rings. I got it to the knuckle and let him do the rest â better than wrestling with it!
Then back out into the sunshine for photos, the weather forecast kept its word and no coats or brollies needed! We took a walk into the Necropolis for more photos, then back to The National Piping Centre for the reception. It was so lovely arriving there and seeing our nearest and dearest all waiting for us. There were canapes, drinks, chatting and hugs with so many friends, it is really hard to describe how lovely the atmosphere was.
The venue looked great, the flowers were lovely and the decoration was just how I had pictured it. The meal passed in a blur, the speeches were hilarious and touching in the best ways⊠and just like that it was time for the dancing! I was so desperate for the day to slow down, so I could talk to everyone, see everyone and spend just a little longer with all the guests.
After the cake was cut, the fruit cake centre stage, and our first dance â we had picked âMake Someone Happyâ by Jimmy Durante â it was ceilidh time. The band was fantastic at leading a bunch of amateurs through the dances, and there were no major injuries! At the interval, we had asked all the invited pipers to bring their pipes, so they disappeared off and came back as the Urquhart Highlanders to play a few tunes. This was fantastic and unexpected by most of the guests, particularly those not from Scotland! The night carried on with some good old fashioned finger-pointing, shape-throwing disco. The end gets a little fuzzy, but I just know I had the best day of my life. My husband said it was pretty good too â which is a lot from him!
I want to thank the staff at The National Piping Centre for looking after my family so well all weekend. Thankyous also to By Betty Bluebell for the most amazing flowers, Aimee Bridal Couture for the dress, accessories and outstanding customer service, SimonsStudios for the photography, my Bridesmaid Lou, Best Man Ross, Pipers Finlay and Gordon and Ushers Strath and Conon. Our families for all their love and support and for all the guests and well-wishers.
This has been the most fun journey from getting engaged to now being married, I have enjoyed it all and Iâm more than a little sad that itâs all overâŠ.
So â whoâs next and needs a wedding planner? Iâll helpâŠ