June 2015
The months leading up to the wedding seemed to fly by leaving us feeling very disorganised. Preferring to spend our days on our bikes rather than planning wedding stuff meant that with just 1 month to go we still hadn't organised bridesmaid dresses, the grooms outfit or the actual wedding paperwork.
Jobs were divided amongst the family and co-ordinated from wedding HQ in Perth. This often meant emails and phone calls at random hours of the day and on one occasion bridesmaid Vicki send about 60 wats app pictures of her trying on every yellow dress in London for me to choose from! Team work!
Finally my last day of work rolled around and it was time to fly home. Chris had opted not to travel with me and work an extra few days to try and get more time off later in the year. I actually think he was just trying to avoid more wedding work... or maybe flying with me!
I was super excited about going home, having not been home since we left way back in 2013. Mum, Dad and D picked me up from the airport and took me back to our house in Holmfirth. Back on Yorkshire soil!
I spent the next few days sorting out the final wedding plans and getting reacquainted with the Yorkshire and Peak District hills.
Cycling the Holme Valley with Dad
Sun set from Mum and Dad's
An old favourite
Best views are by bike!
Home
Surprise Hen Do!
My chief bridesmaid Raman had been mentioning a hen do for quite some time, but I kept fobbing her off... hen dos really aren't my thing. However, with the help of second in command Vicki, they organised an amazing weekend of fun, games and surprises.
The weekend started off with an evening of food and drinks and catching up with old friends. It felt just like old times! Raman even pulled out a bottle of my favourite Margaret River Wine, which in hindsight was really not a good idea considering what I was in store for tomorrow!
After a late night followed a very early morning... my only clue as to the day's activity was to dress in sports gear. Unable to stomach any breakfast, we set off into Manchester to tackle the Arial Assault Course! Now this is the sort of thing I usually love... but then again I usually don't have a stinking hangover! Climbing the first few stations was pretty tricky given the whole world seemed to be spinning! Amazingly I held it together and after tackling the 'easy' course, we graduated to the 'challenging' course. By now I had started to feel much better and we were having a great time!
Once back on terra firma, we drove back to Kat's and relaxed and recovered in the spa. But not for too long, as I was instructed to dress nicely (i.e Naomi please don't wear your triathlon/surf wear!) and ushered to central Manchester for my next surprise.... a cocktail masterclass! We arrived at a prohibition style bar and had a private cocktail making class. The food, drinks and atmosphere were amazing, definitely a place to re-visit on my next trip!
Some of our creations
Vicki 3 drinks!
The day finished with a great meal with friends followed by a fab night out in Manchester. More cocktails were consumed...and I get a bit fuzzy on the rest of the details!
The next day, Team Bridesmaid were up early again and organising the troops for our next surprise.... Breakout! We were locked in a room and given 1 hour to figure out how to get ourselves out. This was great fun and we managed to escape with about 7 minutes to spare despite our foggy brains!
We'd had an amazing weekend and decided to collapse into a coffee shop, exhausted, to re-fuel before heading home. Little did I know, the biggest surprise of the weekend was yet to come. Raman and Vicki were exchanging sneaky text messages and then eventually lead us to a hotel for afternoon tea. When I walked into the hotel restaurant, to my huge surprise, it was full of all my family and friends! Whilst we were 'breaking out,' my Mum had round up the family and brought everyone to Manchester for a surprise tea! I was overwhelmed, having not seen most of my family in over 2 years!
Thankyou for a fantastic weekend guys! Unforgettable!
Plenty of bubbles!
Troops arriving by train!
Surprise!
The Stag Do
The little I know about this the better! However I will share the one picture I got sent during Chris's stag:
The Night Before!
By now Chris had also arrived back in the UK and had spent a weekend in Wales on his Stag Do. Unfortunately (but apparently nothing to do with the amount of alcohol consumed!) he spent the next few days really unwell and confined himself to bed! Great... this meant a mad rush on my part to sort out the final plans. Mum and I drove all over West Yorkshire picking up flowers, cakes, suits for the men, hats, shoes and just about anything else you can think of!
Despite the mad rush, we did manage to squeeze in a trip to York - a favourite place for me and Mum!
York Minster on a rainy day
The Shambles
The hunt for a hat
Hair trial - yes a hair trial is a real thing!
That evening we all headed to the church for our wedding rehearsal (Chris still looking green even without his frog suit on!). The rehearsal went well, apart from the vicar forgetting the "You may now kiss the bride" bit. Surely he wouldn't forget that tomorrow though... would he?!
After the rehearsal, our two families went out for a meal then we went home for our last night as singles.
To be continued!
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