As you may have guessed by my 3 month absence, it’s been a challenging term in many ways. But those thoughts and musings aren’t for now, as this last weekend has been so very special. To be a part of my little brother Joel’s wedding to his very lovely Charlotte was amazing, to be with my family, and to watch my girls having the best time as flower girls, it was beautiful and definitely a weekend worth celebrating and remembering.

So no apologies for the wedding spam, this post is purely for sharing some of my favourite memories of the day, especially the ones I can’t share on Facebook!

Before the ceremony began…

Waiting with some nervous flower girls for the bride to arrive – M had a proper wobble outside the church, and I was getting genuinely concerned she wasn’t going to perform, but once Aunty Esther arrived I ran off into the church and left them to it!

The ceremony itself was sincere, reflective, and emotional. Much to my surprise not one of the children had a meltdown, and the girls did us proud with their flower girl debut! I find weddings always make me reflect on our marriage, hearing the truths about what love really is, and being reminded of the vows we made nearly 12 years ago fills me with huge gratitude for what Liam and I have.

The whole wedding was such a lovely family event. From Nathan on ushering duties, Emma giving a blessing, to Esther, Megan, Maisie and M being bridesmaids. Mum and Miriam sewed vast amounts of bunting, and Mum produced 5 amazing different flavoured cakes. Liam was on woodwork, and the fruit stand, arbour, and log cake stands were all his handiwork. The loft in the barn was the perfect place for the kids to chill out during the reception, when they weren’t running around the field or dancing the night away.

The reception was at a beautiful barn in Hampshire. The speeches were particularly poignant, and it was good to be real about how much we missed Dan being there. He adored Joel and Charlotte, and would have been the most excited to celebrate this day. But the wedding was a great reminder that life carries on, joy can still be shared, and despite the pain, the laughter and love can keep us moving forward with hope. The kids partied non stop, the 3 little ones slept at various points, but M somehow kept dancing until 10:30pm, by which time Megan and Maisie were looking absolutely exhausted, so we dragged them all reluctantly away to bed in the hotel.

Sometimes you need a little break from bridesmaid duties, but the photographer finds you and it’s back to business!

And because it’s very rare to get a photo of the 8 of us…

And now it’s the first day of the holidays, the kids are still recovering from the weekend, and I’m wading through the washing. Flicking back through these pictures has been a great distraction!