My (Our) Wedding Week (Part 1)

I say Our...I mean My...

Actually the week of the wedding was one of the strangest weeks of my life. I felt like I was in limbo. My one job was to make sure that my nose didn't go red in the sun (a harder task than it sounds) but that was it really. The result of being well prepared perhaps?

As you all know, husband and I got married in Malta. Which is why I flew down ten days before the wedding, excited and ready to work on my wedding glow/tan/sunburn. Husband (then boyfriend) wasn't joining until four days later, so I spent the first four days having some wonderful ME time. Mum and I finished off the legal paperwork first thing Saturday and then we spent a wonderful day at the beach with my uncle and godson. The water was freezing, but we didn't care. The sand was too hot to walk on, but we didn't care. The beach was crowded but hey, guess what, we didn't care! And that, my friends, is the meaning of carefree.

Talk about an active social life, as that evening we were invited to family for a casual dinner. But a casual dinner at Keith and Marian's is never that: there was plenty of wine (and later frangelico), and a completely delicious meal with some pretty hilarious conversation (to be expected, as emotions were running high with the upcoming election). It felt like a complete throwback to my childhood (maybe not the wine), spending an evening with family without having to worry about anything much. There were the inevitable questions about whether we were ready for the wedding and so on, but not many, because these people know that my mum and I can throw a party. So the focus was on the evening, and that made it perfect.

Sunday dawned, a week before the wedding. We had no plans whatsoever, except to dip in the pool, play around in the garden and listen to some tunes on the radio. We cooked up some lovely salmon steaks for lunch and planned a casual BBQ for the evening. I delved into my Agatha Christie collection and got through the Murder on the Orient Express in the blink of an eye. Once again, it was like my childhood had returned and that was total bliss.

chilling in the sun

So I should mention an important wedding tradition in Malta at this point. Although people do tend to make good use of wedding lists in Malta, traditionally family and some friends prefer to give money or a specific gift as a wedding present to the couple. Therefore in the week leading up to the wedding, it is traditional and indeed not uncommon for wedding guests to turn up at the home of the bride's parents to present the bride with her gift. The gifts are traditionally displayed in the main dining room and the guests enjoy a chat, glass of wine, etc with the bride.

With the above in mind, I had mentioned to some people (family members in particular) that I would be receiving guests on the Monday and Tuesday before the wedding. Mum and I were planning to make little sandwiches, chill a bottle or two of wine and have some fun with it. But things never go to plan and naturally, as we were chilling out on the Sunday night and preparing to BBQ, people showed up, keen for a chat and to give me a present. Don't get me wrong - I loved it. But that just goes to show how random your wedding week can be - especially when you meet your mother's cousin for the first time in your life and she spends the whole evening telling you how she remembers you as a little kid and how cute you were (I was, and totes still am)

...We had our BBQ pretty late that night...

Monday dawned bright, sunny and mum headed off to work. Perfect bliss for me - I started reading another Agatha Christie in bed and sipped some tea. Sadly I then had to head off for a morning of getting my hair done (not too bad really - they gave me prosecco, did my roots and gave me some great chat - kudos to Dean Gera!). I did my 11,500 steps getting there and then met Ric for a delightful lunch at my fave...Mamma Mia. I love that restaurant. We had lunch in the sunshine, a cheeky bottle of wine, and then headed home for  a snooze. Perfect!!

Standard

That evening we had the first round of guests. My aunt (also my witness for the wedding) and her family and my uncle and aunt came round for some cheese, wine and gifts. The twins were there too (my delightful little pageboys) and totally on form. Oli was especially impressed with his fractured wrist (not a great look on a pageboy but he totes pulled it off!)

My happy boys

After a glass or two

It was a delightful evening. My sandwiches were excellent (I don't think we actually had a proper dinner) and everyone was getting pretty excited. And that's where I'm going to leave part 1 of week before the wedding.... not much of a cliff hanger, but all the exciting stuff comes next...PROMISE!!!