This is a continuation of my previous post which you can read here.
We were taken to Brookfield Hall in a beautiful 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air that mum arranged for us, which I actually only just fit into because my dress had so much tulle! We made our leisurely way to the hall, giving Ben text updates on our progress along the way. We were having a laugh and enjoying ourselves up until the hall came into view and we saw all those people! It seemed like there were a thousand people waiting for us and Erin and I immediately started to panic! Not in a bad way, it was just overwhelming to see so many people in one place waiting for us!
I tumbled out of the car and the girls straightened my dress while mum made sure everything was sitting OK and then we heard the song we’d chosen for me to walk up the aisle (Grim Grinning Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion) and we knew it was time! Erin and I couldn’t stop muttering “holy shit, oh fuck” as we saw everyone staring down at us… so many eager faces! Erin set off first, followed by Sarah, with mum and I holding hands at the back. It was a bit of a walk over uneven ground while we were all wearing heels but we made it up without any twisted ankles. I actually don’t recall all of the details of this part but I’m told people gasped when they saw what I was wearing (no one was expecting me to wear white, mwahaha) and when Ben finally saw me he said “holy shit” which was about the reaction I was hoping for!
Our ceremony was short and very personalised. There’s a lot about marriage that makes me uneasy, so we took out all the bits we hated and made it fun and unique to suit us. Which means yes, we weren’t legally married that day but we covered that by getting legally married two days beforehand so we could do our wedding our way on Halloween. We swapped “I do” with “Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needly in my eye” and our wonderful friend and “celebrant” Billie said many lovely words about us. We both had our own vows which were just us talking about why we love each other, which I’m pleased to say made everyone laugh and cry a lot, then we kissed and we were done! To complete the effect we signed a special marriage certificate Billie created for us which I’ll forever treasure over the boring legal one :)
If you were wondering, no I didn’t cry. But I’m a bit of an emotional wasteland, so unless I’m watching a movie where an animal dies, I rarely cry. I think it’s a coping mechanism I developed to avoid wrecking my makeup, haha. I was still pretty damn nervous though, I won’t lie. Not because I’m scared of commitment or was apprehensive about marrying Ben, but because I had to speak in front of so many people! the fact I knew almost everyone there only made it scarier too. But once I got going and made people laugh with my feminist remarks about the patriarchy, I felt pretty calm. Also, seeing Ben tear up made me swell with so much love!
It was exactly the kind of ceremony I wanted. Over the top but not in a typical wedding way. Unique to Ben and I with it’s combination of creepy and pretty decorations. It was short and sweet and quite casual, plus our guests got to unwind with a beer or cider which is something Ben and I were passionate about providing. I also LOVED how many people got into the spirit with their outfits! Everyone looked classy and a bit creepy and there weren’t any tacky costumes at all (well except for Ben’s pop who came as Dracula, but he pulled it off perfectly).
I’d like to thank the following people for their help in this part of the day:
- Ben and Kieran for busting their arses to get everything finished at the hall, racing off to get ready and then finishing up before the guests arrived. Total champs!
- Jodie and Marjana for helping decorate and set up and just being a great help
- Billie for being the best damn celebrant we could have ever hoped for
- Leif for looking after the music and audio for the ceremony
