Armed with my wedding bible, my best friend, the internet and some cupcakes, my (or should I say, “our”) next task was finding a venue for our wedding, and ultimately picking a date. If I’m honest, this was the bit I was really looking forward to! Perhaps not so much the actual picking, but more about being nosey and going to view all these beautiful buildings you read about in the magazines and getting to drink free champagne.
The venue. Easy peasy, right? You pick a place to get married, you pick a place for the party, you put down a deposit and job done.
Er, actually, no. This very decision takes up THREE CHAPTERS in my wedding manual. Three! The ceremony, the suppliers, the reception, one after the other, all with endless questions and decisions to be made. I ate two cupcakes before I had even finished reading the first chapter!
So, first things first, the ceremony.
1. Do you want a religious wedding? Yes, we are both in agreement about this.
2. Is a religious ceremony what you want? Well, yes, I’ve just answered this question!
3. Can you personalise the ceremony? I definitely need to ring the vicar...
After consultation with my intended, we rang up the church in the town where my family is from. Mum was married there and I was christened there, so it seemed fitting. However, after 3 ignored emails I finally got a reply from the vicar who put it in no uncertain terms that I was bothering him and to get back in touch closer to the time. What a grump! Then again, he doesn’t wear shoes, what do you expect?!
After much further deliberation, countless hours trawling the internet to find the rules for marrying outside the home parish, and several road trips round the country looking for a pretty, I had an epiphany. When visiting Mum, I dragged Rob to see the tiny church in the village where I spent my teenage years, not far from where my family lives now. It is very small, seating only 90 people and really in the middle of the countryside. It was only by co-incidence that we met the vicar there who knows me, and we got chatting about the wedding. Long story short, Rob loved the church, the vicar is happy to marry us there, and the date is set for 4th Aug 2012.
Are you impressed by our efficiency?!
Are you impressed by our efficiency?!
Buildwas Church, Shropshire
