Before I start this post I must warn you all that it is long and has lots of photos. So if you need to get a cuppa or go to the toilet do so now!
If you have been following along you will know that yesterday our eldest daughter Emma married her fiance Ryan and that the ceremony was held in the garden in front of the shop. For months I have been working in the garden, madly trying to pull it all back into shape after neglecting it badly when I was working on 'Prudence'. It has been very dry this year as we have missed out on nearly all of the rain that has fallen in other parts of the state. I have been watering like mad to keep the grass green and the garden fresh and flowering, while all the time watching the level of the dam drop lower and lower. I just wanted to have enough water to last until yesterday and I made it.....phew!
On Friday we headed to the Port Campbell Surf Life Saving Club to start setting up for the reception. It is always cooler at the beach so it was a nice release from the 34 degrees that was at home. White table cloths, serviettes, chair covers & sashes, flowers, candle holders, name tags, and gifts.......all contributed to making the room looking wonderful.
Emma and I had spent time during the week boxing up the 'Emma loves Ryan' candy and covering glasses with fabric from the shop for the candles.
It was perfect.....nothing could go wrong.....right? Well no.
Emma and Hannah were involved in a car accident at 4.15pm just as they were leaving Port Campbell to head back into Timboon to do just a few groceries for the weekend. An elderly lady pulled out in front of them on a corner and Emma ran straight into her. Imagine how I felt when I came around the corner 2 minutes later to see the bride-to-be standing in the middle of the road waving her arms in the air, the maid of honour sitting in the bus shelter in shock, crying and with burn marks on the fronts of her thighs from the airbag, and Emma's 14 month old car with a smashed in front end, broken windscreen and airbags like giant balloons. My heart sunk. Locals raced to help and provided cold water and ice for Hannah's red painful and swollen legs. The police arrived......they just had to walk 100 metres around the corner from the Police Station. The car was undriveable and was towed to Timboon. I took the girls to get checked out and thankfully they were not badly injured. I was relieved when I received a text message yesterday morning to say that they were much better......sore and bruised.....but much bettter.
The worry of what we were going to do if it rained quickly turned into what are we going to do it is so hot! Every inch of shade had someone under it! It was 36 degrees, the occassional cloud cover gave some relief but when the sun came out it was vicious.
Emma arrived and she looked beautiful. I could not possibily have been biased as lots of other people said the same thing.......and it wasn't just her Grandmothers either! My talented sister Cathryn made her dress, and it was stunning on her. Emma has the most beautiful red hair and Sarah from Timboon Hairitage did a fabulous job of showing how gorgeous it is.
They wrote their own vows......which made quite a few laugh. Emma promised to listen to Ryan's lawn bowl stories, and Ryan promised to give Emma a fortnightly massage.....there were lots of other lovely bits......but of course I can't remember them today.
The bridal party.....my niece Lillian, Hannah, Emma, Ryan, Adam (Ryan's brother) and Jordan (hopefully a relation to be.....Lillian's partner)
The boys would have been very hot in their black suits but they did look very handsome.
The drinks and the finger food was welcomed by everyone, especially those who had travelled long distances to attend. With everything that had happened the night before with the car accident, I called on a very good friend to come earlier in the day to prepare the food for me. Thank you so much Lyndell.....without your help they would have been eating cold sausage rolls and quiches and making their own sandwiches!
It was then time to line up for the photographer to take her shots. Sarah had wandered around the garden earlier in the day and selected some positions to take photos. Of all of the lawn area available she selected a part that I hadn't watered at all, hence the dry dead grass that is usually green lawn. It was also lucky that I had spent a whole week weeding my overgrown vegetable garden as we were all standing right beside it! In the background is our farm, also dry from the lack of summer rains that we usually get. Of course everyone else is also snapping away madly. So here are some of the 'better' ones.......
Just the boys
Now just the girls
With the Grandmothers
I suppose you would like to see this one
Ryan with the White side of the family
And now with the Goode (my) side of the family
It was time to pack up and head to Port Campbell for the reception. My work was over and it was time to sit back and enjoy the rest to of the day with friends and relations, and to meet the people who work with Emma as well as members of Ryan family. The ladies from the Timboon Golf Club catered for the meal and it was just wonderful. I can highly recommend them. Emma took on the role of reading the speech and did a great job of thanking everyone.....I was thrilled that I was the first one she thanked :)
Emma and Ryan had also put together a presentation of photos that were played to music. The first were all photos of Emma, then photos of Ryan, then photos of the two of them together. I was very glad that I had seen it the day before so that I had my cry then....along with Hannah and Emma......and didn't cry on the night! They were great photos except for the one of me with shoulder length hair and huge glasses taken 24 years ago......what on earth was I thinking!!!
They cut the cake
Loved the topper....notice that the bride has red hair!
They danced beautifully
as everyone watched on
The night was over before we knew it and the room was cleaned up and packed away by 12.30am. We stayed in Port Campbell and although I have had very little sleep over the last two nights I don't feel too bad.......I think that I might go for a walk along the beach to work off the three pieces of wedding cake, the two biscuits and the four peppermint ball that I have eaten while writing this blog post for the last 2 hours. I hope that you have enjoyed reading about our special family occasion and as I am now finished you can go to the toilet.
Linda :)