Welcoming the new Mr and Mrs Hill

What’s a more perfect way to end a 2 week quarantine (no coronavirus yet btw) than with a wonderful white wedding? And this one was extra exciting because it was the first wedding of my generation on my mum’s side of the family and needless to say, my grandma has been looking forward to it since my cousin Dan (finally) proposed to Claudia.

So on Friday evening, me and Ollie went on our first road trip together down south to the Cotswolds. After checking into the hotel, it was time for a family meal to kick off the celebrations. Chipping Norton town was about the size of a postage stamp but that certainly didn’t make it any less lovely, and it certainly didn’t stop half of it being made up of lovely country pubs and restaurants. Our location of choice was the Blue Boar (with Claudia and her side of the family doing the same at another one), where we had a lovely meal. I had fish and chips followed by blood orange cake and custard and a few gins to go with it.

And then the wedding day had finally arrived! It’s kind of hard to work out what to wear for a wedding in March because you don’t want anything too wintery but anything too strappy or flimsy and you’ll be cold. I decided on the Paper Dolls dress that I bought around this time last year for my first ever time at the races; crochet, multi-colour floral print, navy trimming, bardot style and slight bell sleeves. I loved it then and I love it now - maybe even more since I’m slimmer now so it fits me even better. So after a frantic morning getting ready, a hearty premier inn breakfast and a rowdy coach trip to the venue, we’d arrived!

The venue (Merriscourt) was absolutely beautiful and was some kind of transformed country barn or lodge. Dan and Claudia had done it amazingly, with all the little details and decorations. I’ve now been to 4 weddings, but this was the first one where I attended the ceremony instead of just the reception so I was excited to see the actual marriage part of a wedding. Claudia was the most beautiful bride (in exactly the kind of dress I’d pictured her choosing), the ceremony was a lovely non-religious one and the singer who serenaded them down the aisle had the loveliest voice.

After the ceremony, we all headed outside (where it was MEGA windy and a bit chilly but thankfully not raining) to chuck confetti over the new Mr and Mrs Hill (with my grandma having officially been bumped to third in line to the name).

And then it was time to party! My Uncle Tony brews his own beer so he’d made some special edition ones for the wedding; it was nice but I stuck to the prosecco (and lots of it!). Following their beautifully made seating plan, we moved into the other half of the venue for the meal. I always find it weird how it’s still called the “wedding breakfast”? I had burrata and tomato salad followed by blade of beef, followed by my share of the incredible dessert platter! I thought there’d be arguments as that came out but luckily, half the table wanted chocolate tarts and half wanted creme brulees (I sat firmly in the latter team) so it all worked out perfectly.

  

I didn’t expect them to but the after-dinner speeches made me cry; Claudia’s mum’s speech made me cry, Tony’s speech made me cry and Dan’s speech made me cry. Luckily I was able to spend the rest of the night replenishing the lost fluid with more wine than I cared to think about the next day. We watched the first dance and we watched the cutting of the cake and then we laughed, drank and danced until the carriages. It was so lovely to be a part of their special day and to finally, officially welcome Claudia to the family (it only took like 8 or 9 years). It was also amazing to be accompanied to a day all about love, with the one I love most of all by my side.