Oh, I've just noticed the date. June 3rd. My wedding anniversary. Not that I'm married anymore but it is the only wedding I've had. 29 years ago.
It was a scorching hot day. Too hot for suits and formal attire. I had a blinding headache the whole day from the stress of it all. We spent as little as we could - bought my dress from Miss Selfridge and the bridesmaids' from Top Shop. We were going to have everyone round to our 2-up 2-down terraced house and I was going to cater but Adrian's mum said we should not do this. I think she gave us some money to help hire the community centre for the reception and the local pub to cater. My parents gave us a casserole dish as a wedding present and told us it was very expensive and that we were very lucky. (Actually it is a very good dish, makes chicken taste wonderful and I still use it regularly)
My mouth muscles hurt from all the smiling but it was good to see all the friends who came to the do. I even got to see my granny for the first time in a very long time. We were never close. Shame that.
The next day, well the next week, was cold and wet. We drove down from Manchester to Cornwall to stay in my new sister-in-law's parents static caravan. I lost my watch on the way down there when we visited a tourist information place. We were the first ones at the caravan after the winter so had to clean it out. We had very little money after paying for the wedding so were hoping for picnics on the beach. Instead it was miserable weather so it was picnics in the car 'cos we couldn't afford restaurants. This was before fast food restaurants and pizza places. Cheap food was served in greasy cafes. Although we were very grateful for the free loan, the caravan was not a place we wanted to spend time in.
So we cut our honeymoon short and spent a few days at my parent's place! We didn't even like my parents but they lived in Taunton which was on the way home, and we weren't ready to go home quite yet. On the way back we called in at the tourist information place and asked about my watch and were gobsmacked that it was handed to us! An Australian family had found it.
We were best friends, my husband and I, I remember and I met him for the first time in many years at my eldest daughter's wedding last summer. It will be her first wedding anniversary soon. I hope they are still together 30 years later.
