Happy Ever After

It's been a bit longer than I planned since last I updated this blog. Other things - nothing very exciting or dramatic - got in the way.  

 

In the early days of our relationship I was trying to understand what David could possibly see in me; how could he be attracted to someone 15 years older than himself?  We were sitting in the pub (The Deer’s Leap, as I recall).  Was it, perhaps, that I wasn’t available for a permanent relationship?  He looked straight at me and said, “Keren, I’m telling you…if you were free there’d be a ring on the table right now!”  

David was always very clear that he wanted us to be married.  While I wanted to be with him forever, I didn’t need to be married – I’d been there, done that, worn the long white frock.  I was happy to live with him.  David wasn’t having any of that.  As soon as I was free to do so, we were getting married and no messing about. He had very firm ideas about the way in which things should be done and he wasn't prepared to lower his standards.

David insisted that we couldn't consider ourselves engaged until he had officially proposed and presented me with a ring.  David and two of his closest friends had a 5p bet riding on which of them became engaged first and it had been confirmed that those conditions had to be met before the bet could be settled.  (A 5p bet was a very serious matter. It wasn't the amount of money at stake, it was a matter of honour, or so I'm told)

He proposed to me on my birthday, after sending me on a treasure hunt that ended after a drive down the M4 at Castell Coch.  In the bedroom, he went down on one knee and held up the ring box in the approved fashion - how could I refuse?  

The formalities having been dealt with, we began to plan our wedding  David's sister Alison was in favour of a Star Trek themed wedding (she even volunteered to be a Klingon matron of honour.)  After careful consideration, though, we decided against it.  I  was pretty sure that the local paper would have covered the event as Trekkers are always good for a send-up and I didn't think it was fair to inflict the inevitable circus on my long-suffering family.

We didn't have a lot of money so that meant we had to get creative.

I made the wedding invitations, designed and printed on my Amiga computer, photocopied at Staples and finished off with confetti glued on at random. I also made my wedding outfit and a shirt for David (I found the shirt at the back of the wardrobe the other day).  Someone up there was looking out for me because I found shoes to match my dress for £10 in a sale - they had one pair and they were my size!  My hat, another perfect match, came from a charity shop.  My new sister-in-law, a professional baker, made our wedding cake and her husband took the photos as their wedding present, and one of David's friends captured the event on video. (Thanks Alison, Phillip and  Huw!) 

It was an amazing day.  After a week where it had bucketed down all week, on the day of our wedding the weather cleared up.  That was just as well because the second bride of the day was 20 minutes late which meant every subsequent wedding ran late and we had to hang around outside the Registry Office.  It wasn't all that warm, and I was slightly put out that my grand entrance had been spoiled, but at least we were dry.  As we were waiting to be called in for the ceremony, I spotted the next bride arriving.  She was in full meringue, with veil, and battling against the wind as she navigated her way down the steps to the Registry Office.  I should imagine she joined me in calling the bride who'd turned up late a few choice names!

We kept the wedding and reception were small - family and best friends only.  We wanted to have the big celebration in the evening.

It was a great party, with all our friends present. The family had rallied round to lay on a buffet (I think I contributed my speciality - corned beef pie) and as usual everyone had over-catered so there was plenty to eat!    Our first dance as a married couple was to "True Love"  and we finished the evening dancing to "My Heart Will Go On". (Titanic was the big film around then.  I've never managed to finish watching it.)  Somewhere in between we did the Time Warp and I won a drink from the DJ by knowing who'd recorded "Love Grows where my Rosemary Goes" (In case you were wondering, it was Edison Lighthouse - and the drink was a glass of Coke, I was pacing myself by alternating alcohol and soft drinks.)  At the end of the evening, as we got in the taxi to go home, it began to rain again.

The following day we were completely wiped out. Neither of us had the energy to do anything other than sit on the couch and look at the rain pouring down the window and wonder how on earth people had the strength to go away on honeymoon.  David, however, said he'd enjoyed himself so much he wanted to divorce me and then do it all again.

Soppiness Alert

One more song that held a special meaning for us.  It was the background music in our wedding video - "Sometime in the Morning" Hope you like it.