I’m joining with lots of others in looking for little joys in the month of February, but we are a fair way through week three and I am just now getting round to posting last week’s FIGs. For all the details pop over to Elisabeth’s blog.

Monday 9th: We had another new family at our mainly music group. G went out to dinner with the boys for E’s bucks night. With his weekend travel lately it was very hard to get a date for them to do it but his best man finally decided they just had to do something and tonight was the night. I had dinner with the girls at my place.

Tuesday 10th: I don’t know whether I’m allowed to class this as a FIG, but I’m going to because the signs made me laugh while we were walking Riley.

Wednesday 11th: Anticipation and excitement. The big day was rapidly approaching. The jobs were gradually being ticked off.

Thursday 12th: Closed of my work for the week so I had a clear day on Friday.

Friday13th: We got up bright and early in the morning to drive to the Yarra Valley for the wedding rehearsal. It took a while but eventually everyone knew where they were supposed to be and when. In the evening the girls and E came over for take away which was lovely. Our last dinner together with the five of us while E was still a bachelor.

Saturday 14th: THE WEDDING! Unfortunately I didn’t take many photos because I was having too much of a good time, and the ones I do have I can’t share here. We began the day with brunch at a cafe in Camberwell with the girls, E and his groomsmen. Then the boys drove to the venue in the Yarra Valley, the girls and I drove to the hairdresser and G went off to find a nice looking bread roll for E and K to have during communion in the ceremony. I decided not to go with the fluffy, glamorous blow-dry that we tried when I got my haircut and coloured because it went limp really quickly. Instead I went with straight and shiny that I knew I would not have to worry about all day and night. H got a braid and curls which looked stunning. My mum was also at the hairdresser getting her hair blow dried.

With our hair done we drove to my brother’s farm in the Yarra Valley. It was our first visit and the house and garden are stunning. I still didn’t take any photos except for this one of an Australian King Parrot. We had a light lunch then headed to our accommodation to check in and get dressed. We were staying about 800m from the venue but we still needed to drive because they are country roads and not really made for walking.

We got dressed. I made sure my wrap dress was securely cinched so that it wouldn’t gape when I bent over to sign the paperwork as a witness. When we arrived at the venue there were already guests arriving so we caught up with friends and family. G and I were a bit concerned about whether his parents were going to arrive in time but they did. Unfortunately when his mum arrived I realised that she was wearing the same dress as my mum. My mum was not happy, but she gradually got over it. We tried to keep them at least a little separated in the photos they were in together and by the time entree was finished she was able to have a laugh about it so we took a photo of the two of them together.

K arrived about 10 minutes late, which was a bit concerning since she got ready at the venue, but maybe you still need to be fashionable late? The ceremony was beautiful, with Jesus front and center. They didn’t have congregational singing which was probably a relief for our non-Christian friends and family. After the vows and registry signing K and E took communion with Allan (the pastor) explaining that they wanted to start their marriage with Jesus at the center of it. This was really special and not something that I’ve seen at a protestant wedding before.

Once the ceremony was over we had a series of photos with all guests, then extended families, immediates families then the bridal party. Once we were finished we wandered over to where the pre-dinner drinks were being held and mingled a bit. Everything was so beautiful. The table decorations, flowers, all the little touches that K and her mum had been fussing over came together wonderfully. The waiters were very attentive. When I sat down at the table one came up to me and asked if I needed anything to drink. I looked at the full glasses of white wine and champagne they’d already lined up at my place plus the half-full one I’d brought in from the pre-dinner drinks and said “I’m right for now.” The food was yummy, the company was good. E and K did a fantastic job of their first dance and then everyone (well maybe half of us) hit the dance floor. I stayed there for most of the rest of the night moving around, dancing with different groups of guests. We had a ball.

Sunday 15th: Woke up not too early. We had a nice coffee and then a walk before meeting K, E and her family back at the venue to pack up all the bits and pieces. That was a quick job. I also scored a couple of containers of wedding cake since I hadn’t had any the night before. Today was all about my dad’s birthday which had been postponed because he was in hospital on his actual birthday. It was a nice way to prolong the family time over the weekend as well. Lunch was at Zonzo’s followed by cake back at my brothers. The happy couple also dropped in for cake.

That was a big week!