It’s a sad indictment of the times when it means I am too busy to do my second favorite thing after marrying people, which is writing. But if the fact that I’m too busy marrying people is the reason why I don’t have the time to write my blogs, then of course, that is a fantastic reason for my lack of blogs this summer!!
I have had some amazing weddings this summer already and even more to look forward to, including a sparkly, big international wedding at the Ritz in Madrid and a pantomime themed winter wedding in December!
I’ve been spoilt by presiding over some of the most beautiful and heartfelt ceremonies I’ve ever done and hearing some of the most emotive vows I have ever heard and somehow I have managed to steel myself (just!) when the couples and their families are in tears!
I’ve had so much originality to enjoy, too. Mark and Anthony’s wonderful gift exchange (go to my facebook page to see the beautiful wording), Rebecca and Jon’s brilliant ‘I love you despite/I love you because’ quotes that they wrote to each other, Nicole and John’s all-singing, all-dancing country bonanza of a wedding, and Beatriz and Jonny’s sand ceremony using sand from Asturias (Beatriz’s home area) and from Portrush (Jonny’s home area). And that’s just to name a few.
This summer has seen a lot of ‘firsts’ too.
I married Ana and Silvia in my first ever Spanish ceremony. I quite often do bilingual (Spanish-English) ceremonies, but this was a first just in 
Spanish! It was truly wonderful to hear such positive and amazing comments from their guests who had only ever been to Catholic weddings! Ana and Silvia have told me that the word is now going around that beautiful, personalized, non-religious ceremonies in Spanish do exist, so watch this space!
I married my first ever Russian couple, in English may I add (apart from being called Natasha, that’s as much Russian as I know!). Although only the bride and groom and a few friends could understand English, the ceremony was extremely passionate and everyone understood the meaning and the emotion, which seemed to translate quite effortlessly.
I married my first groom in uniform (him, not me). A serving officer in the army, he proudly wore his uniform to marry his bride, which really added to the intimacy of the ceremony and made it all that more special, knowing that soon after he was going back to Afghanistan.
I had my first wedding in a castle; that was exciting. Up in the tower, with views of a beautiful lake and the Spanish countryside.
And my first ever ceremony, where the bride and groom walked down the aisle together with their guests singing ‘That’s Amore’. Never before have I seen wedding guests used as processional musicians and it was totally fantastic. Such a brilliant way to start the ceremony.
So many weddings, I wish I could discuss them all, but that would make this a novel and not the blog it is supposed to be.
Here’s to my remaining weddings of the year!