So, it was around this time 2 years ago that Mark finally asked me to marry him. We've been through a lot together since our first date on 2nd October 2001 so we can definitely say we knew each other inside out before we took the plunge, as they say. The funny thing is, I never realised how much I wanted to get married until he asked me.
I would love to sit here and say I wasn't like every other woman in the world who turns into a crazy person when planning a wedding but I can't because I was an absolute mental case! Far too much money was spent on wedding magazines and hours wasted on wedding programmes when, at the end of the day, we had no intention of following the crowd in any way.
The choice of venue was a no-brainer. It had to be the Torquay United Stadium. Football is our religion and Plainmoor is our Church, you get the picture. Not people to do things by halves, we immersed ourselves in the Torquay United theme and so everything was yellow and blue.
Abbot Coach Travel were great and gave us a deal on a coach for our guests and car for me. Don't ask me what model of car as I have no idea but I can tell you it was a fancy silver one, with yellow ribbon obviously. From the start I'd decided on a yellow dress and we wanted blue suits with yellow waistcoats and ties. Yellow button holes, yellow handkerchiefs, yellow and blue posies and bouquet etc etc. My friends were very helpful and made my invites with me - yellow outside, blue inside, blue ribbon. They also got roped in to the favour making - some yellow bags, some blue, blue chocolate balls and yellow rock with either Mr & Mrs or Just Married on them. Mark and I made our own 3 tier cake decorated with icing footballs and boots and little yellow and blue flowers then wrapped yellow and blue strips of ribbon around each tier. The cake topper was fun with the bride and groom playing football.
Name cards and table labels were all on yellow card in the shape of football shirts, with the table names being different Torquay players. The top table was the Directors Box, naturally. Our table plan was a green pitch with the yellow footie kits representing the tables. Even I was impressed by how cool that looked. Hanging on the door was a Torquay Shirt with Mark & Vicki 15-06-13 printed on the back.
When you watch all these shows on tv, the brides are always stressy but I wasn't at all. Everything went smoothly. Palm FM mentioned us on air in the morning which was really cool actually. Our daughter, Emma, and my sister, Emily, looked gorgeous in their blue bridesmaid's dresses. Emma was brilliant because she had a reading to do during the ceremony and recited it by heart as the registrar had forgotten the book! Emma walked me down the aisle to Amazed by Lonestar.
Of course we had our group photos in the stands then just the wedding party on the pitch. The photos did go on a little long though because we had our own photographer and the Torquay United photographer asking us to do different shots but nothing could ruin our day.
Callum, the Torquay chef, did a fabulous job on the buffet and setting up the tables etc as we ate in the same room that we had the ceremony. Yes, you guessed it, the seat covers had yellow ribbon apart from our chairs that had blue.
We weren't terribly original with our first dance - Still the One by Shania Twain but it fit us well. Chris, the best man, made a good speech then Mark did one which was really lovely. Then we got drunk and partied!
The coach came and picked up all the guests at midnight so that Mark and I could wander down the road to spend the night at the Seabury. By the way that was a marvellous b&b that did a decent breakfast in the morning.
Everything about the day was absolutely perfect. I didn't even care that my parents and my mom's family decided not to come. Everyone that mattered was there. Plus the Herald Express did an article on our wedding because it was the first at Plainmoor and we get to see pictures on the big screen every home game as they use them for events publicity.
Hands down best day ever!
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