Kim and Neil's Wedding - I
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I thought that I would take this opportunity to write down some of my recollections of Kim & Neil's wedding.
In the week or so running up to the day the weather had been foul. There had been wind and rain and it was heavily overcast. This did not bode well for the great day. Even the forecast was mixed.
The Night Before
The night before the wedding we had some rushing around to do. We met up with Kim and Neil and went along to collect the flowers. These had to be taken to New Place, where the reception would be held. There we had to arrange the flowers and put them in cold storage until the morning.
We then rushed back to Portsmouth Cathedral to meet with Father Michael Donnelly for the rehearsal. This went remarkably smoothly. The rehearsal was interrupted at the mid point by Neil dropping on one knee and asking Kim once more to marry him, presenting her unexpectedly with an engagement ring. It was a very sweet moment and had come as a complete surprise to Kim.
After the rehearsal Neil left with the Best Man and the Ushers for an evening of quiet reflection!
| Kim, Zoe, Di, Andy and Kim's friends Jo and Amy went to a nearby
restaurant for a quiet dinner. It was a very pleasant evening spent at My Choi, a Noodle
Bar, in Southsea. After a very special evening Zoe stayed the night with Kim at her flat, and Diane and Andy returned to New Place to try and sleep. |
|
Zoe, Kim and
Diane, at "My Choi".The Great Day
The great day dawned warm and bright. It seemed unbelieveable after so much bad weather that the sun was actually going to shine on Kim and Neils' day. The forecast had been mixed, but the sun shone bright and all was well.
Over a leisurely breakfast Diane and Andy introduced Neil's mum Ruth and her friend Cindy to Trevor, Jane, John and Mark. Later Audrey, Ellen and Paul joined them and as Andy & Diane were leaving, Fred and Joan Watts turned up from the Isle of Wight to meet with Audrey.
Andy and Di gathered the dress and all of the paraphernalia that would be required for the day and headed into Southsea to collect the bouquets and corsages for the wedding party. Then they met up with Kim and Zoe who had been at the hairdresser's. It looked funny seeing them in jeans and sneakers standing on the corner with their hair done up, and Kim's veil flowing from her tiara.
| Back at the flat there was plenty to do. Lunch had to be acquired, to
ensure everyone's blood sugar was high for the occasion, the family car had to be taken to
and left at the church, and of course we all had to get ready. We all chipped in. Di helped Kim with her nail polish. Andy offered advice from the touch-lines. |
 Diane helping Kim with her nail polish. |
| Zoe consulted her colour charts and delved into her magic box to start applying war paint. |
 Zoe
applying camouflage. |
| Kim's dress looked superb but it was a long process fastening all of the buttons on the back. |
 Zoe helping Kim with all the buttons. |
| Finally, we were all ready. Dressed to the nines and ready for the clock
to tick through the inexorable last minutes. This seemed like a moment for some family shots. |
 The proud Mum with her girls. |
| The proudest Dad in the world. You know from the moment they are born that this day will come. Somehow you don't think that you want it too. This isn't true, however. When you see how happy your daughter is, you realise that this is one of the moments you have been looking forward to all of her life. |
 Zoe, Andy and Kim outside Kim's
flat. |
The wedding car, a dark blue Mark II Jaguar arrived. Diane and Zoe where whisked away to the church. Andy had some quality time alone with Kim. Would there be tears? Would there be words of wisdom? Would the car come back for them? No. No and Yes.
Last Modified: 14/08/2004 09:17