We had asked my mum’s cousin Scott to MC the reception and he did a fantastic job. Although there was one part at the beginning of the night that Tony would love to take credit for but unfortunately it was just a genuine mistake. Before the day when giving Scott the list of the bridal party names we had listed Kayla & Georgie first. Just prior to the reception the bridal party stayed in a holding room with drinks and nibbles and it was decided that the bestman & maid of honour would walk into the room first (as we wanted to do the entry to the room slightly different and the big girls and little girls were struggling with where they had to be…) so as the music starts, Tony’s excellent choice of “hey hey were the monkeys” Scott introduces the beautiful flowergirls and in walks Charlie & Erin. It was very funny but a shame as Scott was nervous as it was about the MC job!
After the great meal, we cut the cake to Rod Stewarts “Have I told you lately” and settled in, for what seemed most the night, to listen to /give speeches.
As with tradition, the father of the bride speech was first. Dad was really good & it was funny. A few things of my childhood were mentioned that everyone got a laugh out of.
Charlie’s speech was the best “bestman’s speech” I have heard, he was hilarious with comments such as “I have contacted the Canadian Embassy and they have advised I don’t have to apologise for Celine Dion and you don’t have to apologise for Rolf Harris” and toasting everyone and everyone and stating that it was a great drinking game
Tony hates watching his speech but he did very well and also used humour, only the men seemed to do the funny speeches, and got away with reminding the Australian’s that they came from convicts.
The floor was opened to anyone who wanted to say a few words, which is traditional in Australia but not heard of really in the UK, and quite a few people spoke. Everyone had something really nice to say and although it went for a long time it was enjoyable, the only downside was by the end there was no alcohol left in anyone’s glass and the room was still mostly sober!
Tony and I then had our first dance to “I’ll see it through – Texas”. The dance floor was pretty quiet for a while until Tony & Charlie broke the ice when Bohemian Rhapsody came on to which they performed their traditional head-bang to.
We managed to squeeze in some fun songs, the bridesmaids and I managed to make it through “The Nutbush” and quite a few guests joined in “Superman – Black Lace”!
Towards the end of the night came the bouquet toss together with the garter toss which is very common in Australia but not done in the UK, both were done to “one way or another – Blondie”.
Just prior to Tony & I leaving we had yet another Australian wedding tradition of the guests standing around in what’s called known as the farewell circle so we could go around and say goodbye to everyone. All the guests then turned into a human arch for us to run through to make our way outside.
Tony and I stayed at the resort part of Twin Towns (the wedding ceremony and reception were held at the Twin Town’s sister RSL club). Most of the wedding guests were due to catch the courtesy bus from Club Banora to Twin Towns at midnight. After having a drink and relax in the room we decided that the night was still young and got ourselves over to the pub part of Twin Towns (still in wedding dress & suit!) to meet the guests who decided to stay out & drink for a while.
There was a live band playing and not long after we arrived one of the guests grabbed me and ran me across the dancefloor and lifted me on the stage as the bank were signing YMCA. The band then changed the tune midway through to “going to the chapel” and sung their own version of “she must be pregnant coz she just got married”
I then had to quickly get off stage as one of the bouncers was heading my way!
We had a few drinks there then made our way back to the hotel.
It was a fantastic day/night and everyone had a wonderful time – well worth the 10 months or so planning!
but I cant talk I didn’t even have a try after seeing both Mike & Anne kick arse on it – we still want one for home though! After work on Thursday I met Tony at Henley-on-Thames as we decided to go out for another meal though just the two of us, this was interrupted for a little while as we were cornered by a drunk local who wanted to talk all night about Saduko (an unexpected drunk conversation admittedly)Mike’s brother Pete has a band Pete & The Pirates who were playing a gig in a converted warehouse in Reading on the Friday, so Tone, Charlie and I went along. The entertainment was superb and we came away with 2 cd’s one of Pete & The Pirates and another of Ben Marwood who played first and was fantastic also.A great end to a fantastic week! Waiting with anticipation for the next summer holidays 