The first highlight of the summer and a long anticipated event was Ness and Oli’s wedding at Sandhole Oak Barn. This wedding has been over 2 years in the planning and safe to say a lot has changed in our lives in that time! The first thing that has changed is the arrival of George, Ness and Oli’s baby boy, who changed the focus of their attention in the lead up to the wedding and who was a gorgeous addition to the celebration.

On the Friday afternoon we had a pre celebration at Ness’ house and I discovered how many people have had babies or are pregnant in the past year. We are nearing 30 apparently. Linz is due in under 2 weeks now and so we all hoped for a labour free wedding day and for baby Greenhalgh to stay safely inside, which they did!

I spent Friday night at Soph’s house eating a takeaway and watching an 80s horror movie, nothing has changed in 15 years.

The next day we were stressed about being late so we ended up arriving before Ness herself and before any part of the hotel was open for us. Proud of our promptness. In true Ness style, as she is an organisation queen, the morning ran to schedule with 5 minutes to spare before the ceremony. This even included breast feeding, entertaining a baby and providing breakfast. True superhero woman! I was slightly anxious because we had some bridesmaid dress issues and I hadn’t actually tried my specific dress on…or seen it for 2 years. Thankfully it fit perfectly and there wasn’t a last minute tailoring job for any of us!

We did some practise walking and then it was 2pm. Soph and I went first. Soph didn’t realise the wedding was outside until we got to the aisle so that was a surprise for her. We made it to our seats without falling or getting stung by insects.

Ness you looked absolutely beautiful. The dress was perfect. Oli you scrubbed up well. Perfect vows, the weather held out and all babies behaved themselves.

After the ceremony we had some amazing canapés and had our own photo shoots before the professional ones occurred.

Dan of course got involved with everyone’s photos and was honorary bridesmaid like last year. The setting was gorgeous with the lake and resident ducks. Obviously after tramping about in the grass our dresses were covered in grass stains but luckily it was then time to sit down and listen to the speeches.

I love the speeches at a wedding. They’re one of my favourite parts of the day. They’re always fun, emotional and slightly awkward at times. All the speeches were great especially Josh’s slideshow of childhood photos of Oli. We did lots of toasting to the happy couple and lots of laughing. Then we ate a lot of food. I couldn’t handle the amount of food! I’ve not got the stamina I used to have…but luckily I had Dan next to me to finish it off for me.

Then the drinking began. The wine was plentiful. We tried to take some boomerangs but they weren’t great.

Safe to say this was after quite a lot of wine had been drunk. Linz and I then spent some time hiding wooden hearts in Cameron’s pocket without him noticing and then it was time for the cake and first dance.

We then spent time dancing, drinking and chatting until it was time for the pork baps to make an appearance. I got slightly excited about the pork crackling (can’t be found in Malaysia) and ate quite a vast amount and some cake.

The wedding was such an amazing way to reunite with my oldest friends and celebrate after what has been a challenging 2018. I’m very lucky to have such amazing friends and it was a great opportunity to really appreciate our group and our friendship after many years. I was really sad to miss the hen do and was miserable the weekend it was occurring so I’m very happy I was able to be a part of the wedding itself. I loved every minute. The next morning was a slightly hungover affair and poor Georgie was unwell and had to go to the hospital so we didn’t get to say goodbye to Ness. Thankfully he’s fine now and enjoying his time in Cornwall. Someone (Dan?) put a bread roll on Soph’s car so it was covered in birds in the morning. Funny.

Ness and Oli, I wish you all the luck, love and happiness for the future. Your wedding was incredible and every little detail was meaningful.

Thank you for inviting me to be a bridesmaid, best friendships survive long distances without any issues ❤😘