Diary of a Secret Wedding – Part One

I have spoken repeatedly about the woes of being a long term girlfriend and my desire to get married.
Rory has always politely declined my proposals but, as you probably know, we had a secret wedding!
HUZZAH.

I decided to keep a diary so I wouldn’t blurt it out, now I’m sharing it with you.
Welcome to Part One.

Saturday Jan 20th 2018

I’m getting married!!!!
Yes, you heard. It’s finally happening.

I’m sure you have so many questions….

How did the proposal go?
Was it romantic?
Did you get a big ol’ diamond?

In a word.

No.

We were cooking our dinner, moules in white wine with crusty bread in case you were wondering – keeping it continental.

I said
“Shall we get secret married?”

He said
“That’s not what you want though”

I said
“All I want is to be married to you! I don’t need the pomp” (seriously, how sweet am I?!)

We had a chat and agreed we will do it within the next few months.

I have said I’d like a nice wedding dress, I want us to all look the part.

I’ve also said I’d like a party to celebrate at some point too.
God I’m so demanding!

I COULD VOMIT WITH JOY.

Sunday 21st Jan. 

Rory took Aoife swimming, I text him to confirm we are indeed getting married within the next 5 months.

It had struck me that he may have only been being agreeable so he could eat his tea in peace.
BUT we are!

I’m giddy as a kipper.
Why is that a saying? If I’d been butterflied, boned and salted I’d be far from giddy.
That’s not the point though.

I am a fiancee!

It’s like Christmas but better.

I have warned Rory that due to it being a secret, he will suffer the brunt of ALL my excitement.
He is going to LOVE that – especially my 3am thoughts!

I told him we need to make a list – he suggested that doing it this way means we can avoid lists.
Pfft.
There is no event so small it does not need a list.
Lists are the key to success (this may not be totally true).

We went to visit my brother and his girlfriend today, they were talking about their wedding and the ball ache of getting stuff done.
It felt so good to not have to worry about ‘stuff’.
I did a little knowing smile to myself.

I have emailed the registrar to get the ball rolling.
It’s so much more exciting having a secret wedding, it literally is just about us, no one else.
It feels more special.

Secret high five to me!

Monday 22nd Jan

The registrar got back to me today, they have no more dates for the Monday weddings.
The Monday weddings happen once a month, are just for two people and so perfect for what we want.

How are they all fully booked?!
I am absolutely gutted, I have gone from getting married soon to not getting married soon.
I could cry.

When you think about booking a wedding it seems so easy, like book it and do it.
Piece of cake.
It is so much more bloody difficult than that!

Later

OK, I *MAY* have slightly over reacted earlier.
It seems I have a Bridezilla bubbling under the surface.

Good news!
We have decided to pay for the bigger wedding but still have it just us. At least it means there will be no problems with the children being there.

I am now getting married soon again – YAY.

I made an appointment to give notice with the registrar, I thought we’d have to wait 6 weeks but they have appointments really soon so we go week after next.
In theory, we can book our date that day too.
In two weeks time I may have a wedding date!
BLOODY HELL.

Thursday 25th Jan.

This getting married really isn’t as easy as one might hope, especially an against the grain, secret wedding.

Don’t believe what they tell you on TV folks!

Although we want the wedding to be secret and tiny, we still want wedding stuff – flowers, dress, suits, photographer the likes.
It seems, in the world of weddings it’s all or nothing for those who deal in this stuff.
It’s a licence to print money!
I definitely chose the wrong path in life is it too late for a career change?

It’s almost impossible to find a venue that would conduct a tiny ceremony and dinner for 6 at a decent price.
It’s like ridiculous hundreds of pounds with cream teas and sleep overs involved.
We don’t want that.
We want to get married and have dinner and drink wine.

Is that too much to ask?

Photographers, yes there are some AMAZING ones but they charge thousands of pounds because they’ll be with us for 6-10 hours.
We aren’t having a party.
I don’t need to be photographed getting dressed – no one wants to see that, not even Rory!
We need someone for just two hours to capture the wedding.
Simple, or not as the case may be!

I appreciate that in the height of wedding season they get more money for a full day rather than a couple of hours but I’m pretty sure there’s a niche to be tapped here…

I don’t even know where to begin shopping for a wedding dress.
Do you just turn up at the wedding dress shop?
If I have to make an appointment does it mean I can’t afford it?

Anyway.

As if I’m getting secret married!

You can continue to follow the excitement HERE in Part Two.

If you really can’t wait for the good bit, Part Three can be found HERE.