It's A Nice Day For A ....... Yellow Wedding?!

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!

The Beautiful Game

This week's football has been bizarre, if I'm honest, and not just due to the random results. The highs and lows, I've experienced, in just over a week are unbelievable really. Of course the emphatic nature of the Manchester and, indeed, the Chelsea loss were dramatic. Merely I sideshow from my perspective though.

I'm not really the go-to person for match reports so I won't even attempt to get technical! What I can do, however, is tell you what I think and how I feel.

First up was Wolves v Swansea. The early kick off meant I watched some at home followed by a run down to the in-laws' to see the rest there. (I'm not married but it's easier than saying my partner's mum and step-dad!)
Now I am fairly sure that most Wolves fans will agree, when I say, we have been playing badly. In this game, we were losing 2-0 and I was a hair's breadth from an outpouring of profanity! Swearing is prohibited around the in-laws so you can imagine my relief when we scored. Twice! There may have been some shouting and jumping around in there too. The team didn't deserve the draw but who cares? They did the business and got a point on the board. Some fans still weren't happy but isn't that always the way? As a 'glass half full' person I saw it as progress.

Then followed a mad dash home for Soccer Saturday. On to Southend v Torquay. Much like Wolves, Torquay had been stuck in a rut without a win. They chose not to alter that situation here. Our defense has been so leaky I was actually pleased it stayed 0-0 for a while! Sadly it didn't last long and we lost 4-1. To be fair though, Southend are flying so it wasn't exactly a shocker.

Naturally, Twitter was a-buzz that evening with the fans of both teams calling for the managers to be sacked and players being slated. All this reactionist panic is so pointless and counter-productive. Adding pressure to your manager and players is hardly likely to incite an improvement in performance! How would we feel if we had a bad day at work, then had to deal with threats and insults for days on end? Surely as fans we should accept that they're already embarrassed and want to turn things around as much as we do.

Admittedly, seeing the top clubs failing disastrously helped increase my optimism. Every team messes up at some point. That said, Sunday's football was as entertaining as I've seen in a good long while.

So, positivity was the name of the game heading in to Tuesday's clash between Torquay and AFC Wimbeldon. Me and my daughter made the trip as usual, and had the pleasure of meeting some fellow tweeters (@ben_tufcfan and @becka_quantick). Both were lovely people, but then they are Torquay fans so that goes without saying.
Anyway, we went through our pre-match routine of buying food, a program and 50/50 tickets then sat on the steps listening to The Wombles! This amused us no end. For some reason, the goal-keepers decided to warm-up in front of us. ( They don't normally!) Inevitably, a stray ball flew in our direction. I escaped unscathed but littlun's chips went everywhere! The waterworks started. Our stewards are lovely though and very kindly got her another portion of chips. Drama, drama!

The match itself was fantastic. We won 4-0!! It was really cold but we jumped around so much we didn't even notice! Our boys had finally got it together and we were absolutely buzzing. It had been so long since we'd kept a clean sheet even that this win felt phenomenal. Back to winning ways at Plainmoor!

Did I expect Wolves to beat Man City on Wednesday? Honestly, after their demolition of Utd, the answer was 'no'. That didn't stop me from hoping though. Football can throw up surprises now and then. On this occasion it went to form but we did score first and the scoreline wasn't as bad as the Utd match. All positives in my book. The team as a whole played much better than they had been which was fantastic to see.
Anyhow, it was only Carling Cup.

Sorry but I have to mention Soccer Am. Seeing Kevin Nicholson cleaning Lee Mansell's house in just a pinny was one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life! He's such a good sport and hopefully has learnt not to make bets in future.

Wolves lost to Man City in the league on Saturday. Once again though we weren't embarrassed and kept the score to 3-1. Not too bad at all. My little family were actually at Plainmoor to watch Torquay v Hereford. Despite absolutely shocking conditions, we pulled off a 2-0 win. In my opinion, it was a good game and keeping another clean sheet was just what the doctor ordered.

My daughter is convinced that the wins are due to us painting our nails, bless her. Personally, I think Ellis has solidified the defense and Stevens is just in top form. Add this to an all round class  showing from the usual suspects and it's a recipe for success. Long may it continue!

My hair was less than impressed, however, as the wind and rain made me look like I had a bird's nest on my head! I hope the team appreciate my suffering!

Sunday and Monday night football on Sky was actually fairly decent viewing as a neutral observer. Obviously not as good as if one of my teams were involved but interesting from a Fantasy Football perspective. The Stoke fans decided to chant just before my baby went to bed though. I think she knew I was fibbing when I told her they were saying "banker"!

Tuesday we chose to watch Arsenal v Marseille and stuck it out to the bitter end. This was some achievement considering the match was horrendously boring! From the clips I have seen of the Barcelona match, I am gutted that we didn't switch over. Little Lionel is always a joy to watch. No other player comes close to matching the skills Messi possesses. Fact.

So that the beautiful game dealt with. This week we're all aboard the "Murray-coaster"! :)