Diary of a Boho Bride – Rachel and Philip, Entry 6: Our Ceremony and The Final Weeks

Today we hear from Rachel in her penultimate diary entry. With less then 7 weeks to go before her Big day Rachel is super busy but not at all stressed. Today Rachel asks if her state of calm is normal, or will she start to feel the wedding planning burn in the next week or so. She also shares with us her wedding music choice, as well as her wedding readings. Rachel will be back for her very last Diary of a Boho Bride entry 2 weeks before her big day!

I’ll pass the Blog over to Rachel……………….

With a mere seven weeks until our wedding rolls round, I thought I’d write a little about the main event of the day – the ceremony!

There was never any question that Phil and I were going to have anything other than a civil ceremony, so it was with delight that we realised that the local registry office is the very beautiful Council House in the centre of Nottingham. We hired the ballroom within days of getting engaged – the room is designed based on the Palace at Versailles and has loads of huge windows which let the natural light pour in – plus it’s got quite the aisle for my ten bridesmaids to strut their stuff down. It’s fabulous.

So, we had the room sorted pretty quickly. But piecing together the actual ceremony took rather a lot more thought.

Music

I knew what I wanted to walk down the aisle to almost immediately – considering we’re getting married the day after our seventh anniversary as a couple, ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes?’ by Sandy Denny, one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite singers, was an easy choice. I’ll be walking down the aisle to the last verse of the song:

‘I am not alone when my love is near me
And so it will be so, until it’s time to go
So come the storms of winter
And then the birds of spring again.
I do not fear the time.
For who knows how my love grows?
And who knows where the time goes?’

The rest of the music was a bit of a headache though. I’m a huge music lover, whereas Phil really isn’t, so it was a challenge to find pieces which meant something to both of us to include which weren’t completely ridiculous (we’ve saved that for the first dance!). We’ve managed it with one very geeky choice and one very happy and jolly choice for us to leave to.

Readings

Our relationship is romantic in as much as we do lovely things together, do thoughtful things for each other and spend a lot of time investing in our relationship… but it’s never been a poetry spouting, flower giving, staring into one another’s  eyes sort of an affair. What we actually do is spend an awful lot of time laughing our heads off and being incredibly happy, and it wasn’t easy to find readings which expressed that side of love in a way that we were comfortable with.

We chose ‘Us Two’ by A A Milne and ‘The Lovely Other Dinosaur’ by Edward Monkton in the end, and they’re exactly what we were looking for.

Us Two’ by A A Milne

Wherever I am, there’s always Pooh,
There’s always Pooh and Me.
Whatever I do, he wants to do,
“Where are you going today?” says Pooh:
“Well, that’s very odd ‘cos I was too.
Let’s go together,” says Pooh, says he.
“Let’s go together,” says Pooh.

“What’s twice eleven?” I said to Pooh.
(“Twice what?” said Pooh to Me.)
“I think it ought to be twenty-two.”
“Just what I think myself,” said Pooh.
“It wasn’t an easy sum to do,
But that’s what it is,” said Pooh, said he.
“That’s what it is,” said Pooh.

“Let’s look for dragons,” I said to Pooh.
“Yes, let’s,” said Pooh to Me.
We crossed the river and found a few-
“Yes, those are dragons all right,” said Pooh.
“As soon as I saw their beaks I knew.
That’s what they are,” said Pooh, said he.
“That’s what they are,” said Pooh.

“Let’s frighten the dragons,” I said to Pooh.
“That’s right,” said Pooh to Me.
“I’m not afraid,” I said to Pooh,
And I held his paw and I shouted “Shoo!
Silly old dragons!”- and off they flew.

“I wasn’t afraid,” said Pooh, said he,
“I’m never afraid with you.” 

So wherever I am, there’s always Pooh,
There’s always Pooh and Me.
“What would I do?” I said to Pooh,
“If it wasn’t for you,” and Pooh said: “True,
It isn’t much fun for One, but Two,
Can stick together, says Pooh, says he. “That’s how it is,” says Pooh.

The Lovely Other Dinosaur’ by Edward Monkton

The fierce Dinosaur was trapped inside his cage of ice. Although it was cold he was happy in there. It was, after all, his cage.
Then along came the Lovely Other Dinosaur. The Lovely Other Dinosaur melted the Dinosaur’s cage with kind words and loving thoughts.
I like this Dinosaur thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. Although he is fierce he is also tender and he is funny. He is also quite clever though I will not tell him this for now.
I like this Lovely Other Dinosaur, thought the Dinosaur. She is beautiful and she is different and she smells so nice. She is also a free spirit which is a quality I much admire in a dinosaur.
But he can be so distant and so peculiar at times, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. He is also overly fond of things. Are all Dinosaurs so overly fond of things?
But her mind skips from here to there so quickly thought the Dinosaur. She is also uncommonly keen on shopping. Are all Lovely Other Dinosaurs so uncommonly keen on shopping?
I will forgive his peculiarity and his concern for things, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. For they are part of what makes him a richly charactered individual.
I will forgive her skipping mind and her fondness for shopping, thought the Dinosaur. For she fills our life with beautiful thoughts and wonderful surprises. Besides, I am not unkeen on shopping either.
Now the Dinosaur and the Lovely Other Dinosaur are old. Look at them. Together they stand on the hill telling each other stories and feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs.
And that, my friends, is how it is with love. Let us all be Dinosaurs and Lovely Other Dinosaurs together. For the sun is warm. And the world is a beautiful place.

The Final Stretch

I don’t know if this happens to other brides, but I’ve kind of hit a very chilled out, accepting space. There are things to do (quite a lot of them), but as long as we pay for everything now, there is going to be a wedding. Excitingly, my hen do is on the 30th March too – I know nothing about it and can’t wait to see what my lovely girlies have up their collective sleeve.

There’s lots of little details left to finalise, lots of double checking on things to do, lots of handwritten orders of service to finish (!), but I’ve got a very detailed list and I’ve got a wonderful group of supportive friends and family who are willing to help out with anything and everything.

I’d love to hear from other brides about whether they hit a period of calm in the run up to their wedding? Or is this the calm before the storm? Am I going to snap and go a bit mad in a couple of weeks? I’ll let you know when I write just before the big day!

Rachel xxx

Photo source: Rachel and Philip, Nottingham Council House,  Ballroom inside the Council House,