{Part 4} Happily Ever After
It’s been a while since I posted the last post in my wedding series, mainly because we were in beautiful, sunny Italy on our honeymoon. If you haven’t read them yet, the first part in the series is all about me getting ready on the morning of the wedding, the second part talks about the ceremony, vows and the crazy fun photo shoot that followerd on the streets of Manchester and the third part focused on our intimate family meal and the surprise visit to the set of Coronation Street.
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However, a wedding just wouldn’t be the same without an open bar and drinking till we dropped, would it? Here’s how the last part of our magical day went down:
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Hair: Carl Gambrell | Makeup: Michel | Dress: Michelle Rodrigues | Bridal Bouquet: Flowercraft | Venue: Great John St. Hotel, Manchester |Photography: Everthine Photo
After a bit of rest, a glass (ahem) of champagne and a much-needed touch-up to my now tousled hair and smeary makeup, our wedding photographer, Lucy and I decided to take advantage of the hotel’s beautiful, old-world charm for my bridal photo shoot.
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We started on the wooden stairs, made our way up past some gorgeous vintage clocks, paused for dramatic effect with the massive chandelier and were just finishing up on a balcony Juliet would have been jealous of, when Lucy suggested we take a few pictures on the rooftop of the hotel.
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What we didn’t realize, however, was that James and a few of his friends were already there celebrating the wedding with music and a few drinks before the party kicked in full swing. So I quickly finished up our pictures, grabbed some more champagne and did the rounds of the room with our first few guests.
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Shortly after, we were joined by our moms and the rest of the wedding party staying at the hotel. The catering team passed around hors d’oeuvres and James and I greeted the rest of our guests and made sure they all had drinks.
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Soon, the band we had booked for the evening, Champagne Skies showed up. We had seen them perform at a bar we were at about a month prior to the wedding and fell in love with their sound. We couldn’t believe how lucky we were when they happened to be available to perform on our special night!
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Since we decided to skip the formalities of a first dance, speeches and a cake, there was nothing anyone wanted to do but get on the dancefloor and give it all they had possibly got while the band belted out classics we all new and loved.
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I’m not sure if I was high on champagne, love, low energy reserves or the electricity in the room that night, but when James twirled me around in my massive sparkly dress, I had never felt happier, more beautiful, more in love or more alive.
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In the end, when the band finished playing and somebody plugged in their iPod, the crowd moved on from champagne to jager bombs and everyone was craving Chinese food at about 2am, we decided to call it a magical, memorable night.
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After thanking the absolutely lovely hotel staff, the band, the photographer and our wonderful, supportive friends and family for being there, we made our way back to our romantic hotel room, stared into each other’s eyes as I took off my dress and decided it was time – to eat ham and cheese sandwiches from room service in our pajamas and rip our wedding presents open like animals!
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We couldn’t be more grateful for a day that was so incredibly ‘us’, for a family who supported our every little weird whim and fancy, for my best friends back in India who made me feel like they were with me the whole time even though they couldn’t be there, for people I had barely known welcoming my family into their hearts with open arms or for Tinder for bringing us together.
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In case we haven’t said it enough already, thank you. A million times thank you. – Mr. and Mrs. Moore.