If you want to skip the slightly self-indulgent report and go straight to the photos, click here.

Introduction

It’s a funny thing, sitting down to write about the best day of your life. This one day that stands out so much more clearly than all the rest. A day when all of our emotions were heightened, when nothing could have been any better, when there simply wasn’t any room for anything remotely negative.

I like writing. It’s what I do. John takes our pictures and I write our stories. It’s just always worked like that and it’s one of the many things that has always made it feel like we ‘fit’. And when I sit down to write I’m very rarely lost for words, but still I find that I don’t know where to begin trying to get our most special day down on paper. There are only so many superlatives you can use and it feels like I’ve written them all a million times over the last few days. You should perhaps brace yourself for a few more in what is sure to be a bit of an epic…

You see a few months ago we were planning a big wedding in February 2011 for over 100 people. And then in April we learned that the cancer my George had been battling since the start of the year was terminal. We talked a lot about what the wedding meant and decided that, to us, two things were important. One – we wanted to be married, to become husband and wife, to make vows to each other promising to be together forever. And two – we wanted to make those vows in front of all the people, our families and our closest friends, who we love the most.

So we did. Three weeks later.

I suppose some people might feel it’s very egotistical to put all of this out there. To presume that people might want to read about a day which, lets face it, is not that important to anyone but us in the grand scheme of things. But we like to keep a record of our adventures, a journal of the many fabulous, special and sometimes bizarre things we get up to. We like the idea of our grandchildren one day asking “Grandpa, what was it really like when you and Gran got married?”. And us being able to look back, 50 years in the past, at every single detail of our day. That’s the main reason we like to write things down. For us. And for those grandchildren.

The Thursday

After 18 days of chaos, 18 days of planning, shopping, designing, cutting, sticking, printing and packing, we finally made it to the wedding-eve-eve. Work was a blur – the usual faff of trying to have one day off by cramming five days’ work into four – punctuated only by a pause for cake in the morning when we were presented with a lovely card and some John Lewis vouchers from the firm. The little one was starting to fight her emotions and so the other one of us said a few words to thank our team for how accommodating they had been over the last few weeks. We were fully aware of how much work time had been spent emailing menu choices, calling florists and sorting out table plans and our firm had been amazing about it all.

Come 6pm the little one headed straight for the ladies to prep for the big hen night. What had started as ‘a few drinks after work’ seemed to have gathered momentum, much to her delight and excitement. The night began with specially created cocktails at Oloroso -named Pink Princess, Harvey Waller-Banger, Doris Daiquiri and Mini Mo – and obviously there was no reason not to try them all… After a few civilised drinks the little one was presented with the requisite tiara, rosette and flashing sash – and then the night really began… A fabulous dinner at Tony’s Table led on to much more champagne (and perhaps a couple of Jammy Dodgers) in Tiger Lilly, where the ‘got-to-work-tomorrows’ finally drafted off and a hard-core party of four remained to finish the night off in style in Lulu. We probably shouldn’t go into too much detail about the forbidden lift, the never-ending corridor, the food-transporter and the new friends we made… The grandchildren don’t need to know about such things. But the fact remains that it was one of the best nights out of the little one’s life, and the perfect to start to our wedding weekend.

The Friday

A late night led into a lazy start, our only incentive to get up being the boys’ 11am tee time at The Braids. We were joined by our good friends, Claire & Graeme, the boys heading off to play golf and the girls to do some last minute errands in town (plastic champagne flutes, of all the things to forget…!) before getting our nails done. The staff there must have thought they had some absolute idiots on their hands, with not one but both of us managing to touch and smudge a nail during the ‘drying period’… And then from manicures to lunch, all the while imagining what our lives could be like if we were to win the lottery. We caught up with Joanne and Laura and discussed in Great Detail the events of the night before…

Meanwhile the boys were playing the slowest round of golf in the history of the world… One of us is rather proud of the way he played, in particular his eagle on a par 4 which he drove through the green.

(He specifically asked for that to go into the wedding report.)

We spent the afternoon packing up what felt like a million boxes of wedding paraphernalia before checking in to The Balmoral with Claire & Graeme.

The girl who showed us to our room described it as her favourite in the whole hotel. One of us wasn’t really focusing on anything at that point, while the other one of us was starting to think it unlikely that her favourite room was your bog-standard classic double. And he would be right. We were shown into the most gorgeous suite, the J. K. Rowling Suite no less, where the lovely Jo commemorated finishing the seventh Harry Potter book by signing an a marble bust of Hermes. We’re not too cool to admit that we let out a collective gasp as we walked in. I mean, we like nice hotels and all, but it’s not often you get upgraded to a suite which is bigger than your entire flat, and by quite a considerable way!

We spent the next half hour (i) running from wall to wall like a couple of kids on a Haribo high and (ii) laboriously photographing every room. It’s just what we do… Once we’d suitably captured the furniture, the floral arrangements, the toilet even, we headed down to the Forth Suite to meet with Claire, officially the best wedding coordinator in the world. It’s no secret that the two of us like things to be just so. We’ve got very definite ideas, we’re just not that great at delegation, hey some might say we are picky… We know this. And poor Claire, bless her, listened to every single one of our requests and took care of everything for us. She was a star.

Responsibilities handed over, we ran up and down our suite some more before heading out on one last date as boyfriend and girlfriend.

The thing is, it’s not all that long ago that the two of us spent a summer pretending to ourselves that we were just friends. When we finally realised what we’d been missing (and what our friends had been anticipating for months) we kind of just skipped the whole ‘Oooh do we like each other?’ bit and shacked up. We did have a couple of early dates though and we thought it would be nice to go back to one of our old haunts the night before our wedding. Given that we didn’t fancy re-creating a client night out to the Bierfest, we settled on a romantic walk across town for dinner at A Room in the West End. We managed not to snog our way through the whole meal this time though. Well, maybe just a little…

The Saturday

We liked waking up in our suite. It felt like home. We really would move in to The Balmoral if we could, not least because of the breakfasts…. We met Claire & Graeme early doors, as one of them was quite concerned about having enough time to pace himself through a minimum of four courses. To be fair, his plan was well thought out – the buffet was actually amazing and we could have spent a whole day there grazing on waffles, smoked salmon, blueberry muffins and of course the classic Scottish fry up. We even discovered Bircher for the first time – every day’s a school day.

After breakfast we headed out to M&S to pick up some last minute things. It felt a bit surreal queuing at a checkout on the morning of our wedding, but we loved it! We loved that it all felt very natural, neither of us was the least bit nervous and we were just doing the sort of normal things we always do.

We also loved the fact that we were together. We had always assumed we would spend the night before apart, it being tradition and all, but in the end it was lovely being able to share that time, the build-up and all the excitement. With hindsight, we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

We got ready together, make-up and dressing punctuated by occasional bursts of excitement when we did some more laps of the living room and jumped up and down on the sofas. One of us snapped away as he always does. The other one of us posed for the camera. As she always does…

About an hour before the ceremony we split. Our guests had started to arrive and check into their rooms, the guys heading down to the bar and the girls heading up to the suite for a glass of fizz with the little one. At a loss for things to do, she had been pacing up and done the room waiting for them to arrive and was standing at the door ready as soon as she heard them coming along the corridor. And then she opened the door to find – bridesmaids!

We knew we would ask Joanne, Fiona, Laura and Claire to be bridesmaids before we even got engaged, but when we decided to bring the wedding forward and drastically cut the guestlist it seemed a little bit silly for them to have such a designated ‘role’. They were special by making the cut and to be honest we didn’t have time to think about anything but the bare essentials so we told them just to come as they were and have a fabulous time.

But they had other ideas, and were not about to be demoted without a fight….! They had, unbeknownst to us, been out the weekend before and kitted themselves out with exactly the type of grey dresses, pink flowers and vintage jewellery we had been imagining – and they looked absolutely stunning. The little one was so touched with the effort they had all made, the fact that they’d traipsed around town trying to find a dress that would suit them all, and that they’d been so pleased to be asked to be bridesmaids that they weren’t about to relinquish the title. We loved it. Everyone loved it. They are amazing.

Fighting back tears, the little one served champagne and passed out our presents to them – vintage-style glass perfume bottles with a little bottle of Stella McCartney to fill them. Catherine joined us and it felt like the girls had all known each other for years. It was such a special time and by the time her mum and George arrived to join the party our ‘lets-try-not-to-cry-too-early’ discussion was long forgotten.

Meanwhile the guys were shepherding the rest of the guests up to the Forth Suite where our ceremony was to be held. Once they were all seated and settled, the wedding co-ordinator was dispatched to pick up the little one. We were all systems go. Until at the last possible minute, with the entrance music about to start and the bride excitedly waiting in the corridor, the best man stood up to ask his brother whether now would be a good time to pop out to the bathroom.

Um, no. Now would not be the time. There couldn’t really be a worse time, Andrew. And one of us would like to apologise for the language he used in conveying that message to his brother. We don’t think the grannies could hear but everyone else certainly seemed to…

With the best man back in his seat, the faint opening strains of Canon in D could be heard as the little one’s mum came in and took her seat at the front. One of us was grinning from ear to ear as he waited at the end of the aisle, while the other one of us was grinning from ear to ear as she walked down towards him. It felt like there was no-one else in the room at that moment, and we don’t think we stopped smiling from that point on.

It was all just perfect, we were so glad we spent time thinking about exactly what we wanted to say to each other as it felt very personal and very us. We kept it relatively traditional – we’re not exactly the type to swap vials of blood – but also really thought about the promises we wanted to make and amended the traditional wording to incorporate those words. There were tears, there was laughter and we loved every second of it. If you fancy it we have a brilliant video (thanks to Paul) which, once we have figured out how to resize and split it, we will link to here.

While we signed the register Fiona played the piece of music which she wrote for us as an engagement present, ‘The Proposal’. We are so grateful for the thought and effort that went into that gift and it was so lovely to have it played on the day.

The formalities over, it was on to champagne and canapés in the Esk Suite, a gorgeous room on the second floor of the Balmoral which overlooks the hustle and bustle of Princes Street on one side and the gardens and castle on the other. One of us didn’t manage to get any canapés (and is still upset about it) while the other one of us finally got to enjoy his much-anticipated haggis won-tons with whisky dip. We hear the king prawns in filo pastry and the smoked salmon and dill were equally good…

After a celebratory glass or two of fizz it was time for the photos. We all headed down to the front of the hotel on Princes Street for some group shots, where we caused quite a stir amongst the crowds of Saturday shoppers. We were amused that said shoppers had a few comments to make about the groom’s Converse trainers – gosh what rebels we are…

We spent a bit of time getting some couple shots before re-joining our guests at the drinks reception. The little one’s uni friends had organised for a couple of singers to provide some background music – such a lovely present – and everyone seemed to be getting on really well. That made us happy. We were announced into the room as the new Mr and Mrs Waller, amidst much cheering and applause. That also made us happy (and it made one of us cry…).

Our first official duty as Mr. and Mrs. was to cut the beautiful cake that Craig made for us. He didn’t have much notice or time to have a few trial runs but he clearly didn’t need them as the cake looked and tasted perfect.

The other one of us had been keen to do the speeches before the meal to, in his words, ‘get it over with’, so once everyone was seated we stood up together to say a few words. We basically wanted to thank everyone for coming, say a little bit about how much we like each other and then sit back down but, as we are wont to do, we got a bit carried away.

After we’d finally sat down (with more than a little lump in our throats) the little one’s mum got up to thank us for bringing the wedding forward so that everyone could be there and enjoy it. She also gave the little one a gold locket which her Gran wore on her wedding day, with old pictures of both her and the little one’s Grandpa inside (which made one of us cry…).

And then finally we had some much needed light relief from Russell, who made no secret of his desire to start buying Rangers babygros, Rangers bibs and Rangers rattles. This was met with some rather hearty approval from the little one’s parents too… who couldn’t really care less what team it supports as long as they get a grandchild.

Finally it was time to eat – goat’s cheese in puff pastry with salad, chicken wrapped in parma ham and chocolate crème brulee for dessert. We finished off with coffee and homemade chocolates and we loved it.

After the meal we headed back up to our suite to freshen up while our guests checked in to their rooms. We actually don’t remember this half hour at all – crazy. It was a blur of excitement and talking through every thing that had happened so far. We just kept saying “Can you believe we’re married now?” over and over again. It took a little while to sink in! We met back in the Bollinger Bar for a couple of G&T’s before heading back up to the reception room for our first dance.

One of us had been dreading this part of the day. One of us had been really looking forward to it. No prizes for guessing which is which. Our first dance song was a gorgeous version of Feels Like Home by the lovely Edwina Hayes, which can be heard here. And it made one of us cry.

As the light began to fade we headed up Calton Hill with almost all of our guests, ostensibly to watch the sun go down. Well, there wasn’t much of a sunset, but we loved going out for a wander in our wedding clothes, looking over the city from somewhere we’ve spent many happy times together. We drank champagne, we took photos, there was confetti – it was fabulous.

And then after that the evening was a brilliant mixture of music, chat, drinks, dancing, photos, tears and laughter.

The slightly cringeworthy bride v. groom dance off to Beyonce’s Single Ladies was topped only by an excruciatingly bad performance of Steps’ 5,6,7,8. One bride, two bridesmaids and a complete inability to all turn the same way. It wasn’t a great look.

Our candy buffet seemed to go down well, although putting Craig’s box of handmade chocolates in amongst the other sweets was a total schoolboy error.

At one point our friends gave us the most amazing present, a DVD they’d put together (which must have taken them hours) of photos and music that are really special to us. And in between it was interspersed with videos and messages from absent friends, people we would have loved to have been there in other circumstances. It was incredible – they had messages from all sorts of different people, people they barely know, people from Edinburgh, from Glenrothes, from Gourock, from London. It was just so special. Oh yeah, and it made one of us cry… You can see why here [link to be added].

After an impromptu rendition of Forever Love on the grand piano, and an impromptu posing session by the bride, the night ended with a couple more drinks and some nibbles in the Balmoral Bar.

We say nibbles.

That’s because it sounds better than chips.

But seriously, those chips were amazing. Good times.

Elated and exhausted, we headed up to our suite at about 2am. We were loathe to leave, we didn’t the day to ever be over. But all the best parties finish on a high and so it was time to call it a night. One of us was carried over the threshold of our weekend ‘home’ to find a gorgeous bottle of champagne from our friends Melissa and Janet and their families and even more champagne and some rather fabulous strawberry tuxedos from the hotel. There were even rose petals on our bed. Now that’s a rather good turn-down service.

The whole day was better than we could ever have imagined. From start to finish, we loved every single second of it. We were Mr. & Mrs. and we couldn’t have been any happier.

The Sunday

One of the best things about having a smaller wedding was that we were able to arrange for everyone to stay overnight in the hotel and make a weekend of it. We all had breakfast together on the Sunday morning, which was lovely as it felt like the celebrations went on and on. Eventually though, it was time to check out and get back to reality.

Well, not quite yet. We decided to stay in holiday mode and have little micro-moon down at North Berwick for the day. We dumped the many boxes of wedding paraphernalia in the flat, jumped in the car and headed to our beach for a walk in the sun. It was far too short of course, but we were so happy to be married and to have had such a perfect day with all the people we love most in the world. We knew that things were going to be difficult for us and for our families over the next little while but for that weekend, at least, we were on cloud nine.

“It feels like home, to me. It feels like home, to me. Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong.”

Our George passed away, peacefully and with my mum beside him, four weeks to the day after our wedding. He was a kind, gentle and very-much-loved man who will be hugely missed.