A Wedding In England

Finally, right? You think you waited? This wedding has been on the books for a year and a half so we were all SO ready to celebrate Annemor and her chill, incredibly-likeable new husband Matt. First, do you recognize the setting? Have you seen Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 version with Kiera Nightly? If not, watch that YouTube clip and then watch the whole thing because it's excellent. Oh my goodness, Mr. Darcy! Swoon! But what I'm trying to get at is that the ceremony took place in that breathtaking temple in the rain scene. I basically died when I found out.

Everybody got all gussied up and we ladies did each other's hair while The Swede schlepped bridesmaids from the hotel to Stourhead. Jambo was ADORABLE in his little suit. I mean please. Just look. There was a necktie that came with the suit but he refused to wear it and insisted on the bowtie instead. And naturally, since when am I going to go to a wedding in England again, I wore a fascinator and loved every single second of it.

It was a little bit of a hike to get to the temple from where we were getting ready so we were thankful that Annemore suggested we wear flat shoes. We took a bunch of pictures up there before everybody else arrived since the setting was so beautiful. I also spent this time working up a gigantic lump in my stomach over the fact that I would be singing a couple of songs (Kärleksvisan and When I Fall in Love) during the ceremony. The accoustics were unreal in there, though, so it went well and I was then able to concentrate on the fact that Jamie was whining full-volume during the vows. Jambo aside, it was a lovely ceremony.

Directly afterwards, there was a champagne reception on the grass and lots more picture-taking. I was hoping for one with Christmas card potential, but Jamie and his uncomfortable shoes had other plans.

Otherwise, the pictures were taking themselves. I mean, you cannot find a more beautiful backdrop. One of the things I really loved about this wedding was that they kept the decorations to a minimum and let the location do the wowing.

Even at the reception, which had a lovely modest interior, they used simple touches like the colorful paper lanterns, lots of randomly-arranged wildflowers in recycled glass jars, and the adorable place cards below to make it special without everything feeling too perfect and overdone.

Well, actually the flowers and the cake and, now that I think about it, everything, was pretty perfect. 

I got to sit across from these two, who, per their usual, held an unofficial "Who's The Funny One" contest. I'm a terrible judge, but I do love to be in the audience. Papa Swede made a perfect, concise toast, we all shed a tear when Matt toasted Annemor, and we laughed hard as we learned more than we probably wanted to about the groom during the best man's speech. 

Then we danced the dang night away. Everybody got in on it and it was a blast.