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| Saturday 16th June |
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We have now come to the conclusion that it is not getting married that is the stressful part, it's the party afterwards! This had taken months of planning, and most of the time we had after returning from our honeymoon was spent preparing for it. Our day started early because we had to collect all the buffet food we had ordered and take it to the party venue, the Purple Turtle in Camden. The guests were due to start arriving at 4 p.m. and we had loads to do. The weather was dreadful, torrential rain and thunderstorms, so we were glad we had not planned a barbecue. Despite only having three hours sleep the night before, the manageress, Jo, was there to help us get everything organised, and after several trips to ferry the party bits and pieces we began to transform the venue. We wanted to make this a party that people would talk about for years to come (hopefully in a good way) so we had booked lots of entertainment to keep people amused. The first to arrive were the vodka luges. These are life size male and female torsos made from ice, with a funnel in the neck leading down to realistic genitals. The idea is that you pour a shot of vodka in at the top and the recipient puts their mouth over the genitals and swallows the ice cold shot as it comes out. Very rude, but great fun! Next to arrive was the gaming tables from Royal Flush. We thought this was a great way to link our Vegas wedding to the party. Royal Flush set up two gaming tables, one for Blackjack and one for Roulette, and everyone is given the same amount of chips to gamble, and whoever wins the most chips gets a prize. This turned out to be extremely popular and meant that family and friends mixed together while enjoying a good gamble. While all this was being set up, Heathers' hairdresser arrived to do her hair while a couple of our friends who had come to help us, Simon and Nicola, and I filled balloons with helium and tied them around the place. People slowly started drifting in at about 4 o'clock. Our D.J. for the afternoon was Stuart, the overall manager of all the Turtle bars, who played a great cross section of music to suit everyone's tastes. The first coach to arrive was from Marlow, with Heather's parents and family, so the place started to fill up nicely. Due to horrific traffic jams, my parents and friends from Burnham didn't get there until after 5 o'clock, but luckily there was still a free bar, much to their relief. Friends and family had come from all over the country to be with us, some had even travelled from Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands to celebrate our wedding, which meant a great deal to us. The first of fifty enormous pizzas started arriving at about 4.30 p.m., so there was plenty of hot food for everyone throughout the afternoon. Later on we had a magician and a balloon modeller arrive who both wandered amongst the guests doing tricks and making models for people. Greg, who along with Danny own the Purple Turtle bars, and who were kind enough to allow us the use of the venue that afternoon, arrived during the afternoon. Unfortunately, Danny couldn't make it but called us and wish us well, which was a lovely gesture. Friends and family were mixing well, and it was an opportunity for lots of people who hadn't seen each other for ages to catch up with things. As the drinks were flowing freely, many people overcame their shyness and tried the vodka luges, much to everyone's delight (and their embarrassment when I post the pictures shortly). The gaming tables were a huge success, with Steve from Sweden being the overall winner. He received a bottle of champagne that he kindly shared with us both and Heathers' parents, who had generously paid for the party. We had the bar booked privately until 9 p.m., when it would be open to the public. Friends were still turning up as others were leaving, so there was a constant stream of new faces to keep the party going. Heather and I eventually left at about 10 o'clock, absolutely exhausted! So many people told us it was the best wedding reception they had ever attended, which was a great compliment. There were a lot of friends and family involved in making the party what it was, to many to mention here, but you know who you are. But a special thanks must go out to both our parents for all the help and assistance they provided, and to the staff and management of the Purple Turtle in Camden who were true professionals and kept smiling throughout, even when it seemed everything was falling apart. See you all again at our Silver Wedding anniversary :) |
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There were several cameras left around the venue for people to take photos as they wished. We have had all these developed and will be posting them on the site soon. If you have any photographs that you took yourselves, then please send the best/most embarrassing ones to us by snail mail or e-mail if you would like to everyone to see them. |
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