staying on the farm until monday morning, then driving up to edinburgh for a couple of days, before we start biking.
Dave
I'd echo most of the positive comments about the day. I found that there was so much goodwill in the room that whatever I said went down well. Don't like to give advice, but I'd avoid the ale as much as you can (I didn't have any time to drink, it went so fast) - remember the day and take lots of photos, it will go past very, very quickly.
Have a great day - the worst wedding I went to was one where the bride's mother fussed over everything. It's also the only one where I had to call an ambulance (bridesmaid broke her ankle).
Paul (16 years and still happy)
Remember no-one. They don't matter. Don't let future MiL drag you around all evening like some new puppy to show you to aunty Hilda - whom probably can't hear anyway and will have popped her cloggs in 6 months time. I met dozens (literally) of my silly MiL's friends and I swear to god I have never clapped eyes on 95% of them again in 16 years of marriage.
Find your wife & friends you've invited, get a table near the dance floor, whenever anyone says "fancy a drink?" the only answer is yes, and make it an expensive one, you've just fed & entertained them for the last 8 hours. Keep the photographer happy by trying to make sure things run to time, although that is really a best man job. BM should also be the problem solver & "runner", don't get dragged into sorting out useless cr@p with the venue etc, it's your wedding day FFS!
Speech, keep it simple, people just don't understand bridegroom humour, especially when you're just trying to chill after a stressful couple of weeks.
I'll echo what Andy (ratherbeintobago) says about a drink before hand, my missus & I were coerced into so many introductions that we drank naff all all day, I went to bed with a pounding headache because of dehydration & stonecold sober.
Needless to say plans for future celebrations have left MiL & her friends out!
@Cheshirecat, need to check you were not at my wedding, my bloody MiL ruined it by fussing. Needles to say she was as chilled as buggery for her sons wedding (he who can do no wrong).
Look back as she's walking up the aisle (especially if her father missed the practice and marches her up it 3x faster than planned). Great day and all for it.
Just in case however, a word to the wise for all Dads who want joint custody of any kids - get child benefit paid to you - it keeps the CSA from the door.
Enjoy the day and take time to take it all in. It goes by so quick that you'll wake up the next day having missed bits that her in doors saw and you didn't and vice versa.
Take plenty of pictures and if you can get someone to video it, do it even if its a mate with a handycam type thing. We got married in Feb this year (still married too) and have priceless bits like me "hushing" her grand parents up when they were talking over the speaches and the glare i shot them. Didn't know i'd done it til i saw the film. Oh and picking on her mum for liking a drink!! 😆
Have an easy night the night before (stag night week before to give you time to get over it, get some cream to stop the itch, get out of prison.....)
Enjoy Scotland and Edinburgh, thats where we went too!!
Have a good one and all the best for the future.
Look back as she's walking up the aisle (especially if her father missed the practice and marches her up it 3x faster than planned). Great day and all for it.
Why on earth would you have a practice? 😮
Andy
i went for a 2 hour bike ride up Bredon Hill with a couple of mates several hours before my wedding!
my sister in law kept on insisting that the bride have a spray tan before the wedding (she never had one before, and will never have one again) and that is the only thing that i mentioned in my speach - that it has helped me decide what colour to do the fence !
as i was the driver to the hotel after the reception i didn't drink alcohol but i did drink gallons of tea that never came out the other end; so drink loads so that you don't get dehydrated.
Finally do enjoy the wedding night; i did and nine months later we have just had a baby boy who is a real star 🙂
only 70ish people coming to the wedding, which is on a farm in the peak district. civil ceremony, hog roast, live band, piss up
You marrying your sister?
Only kidding mate and have a good one. Best bit of advice I can give is to remember that its your day and that you will never keep everybody happy. Also, dont fall into the trap and take each other for granted after a few years.
Make sure you tell the bestman what you are up to..... I'm still trying to work out if I should tell my mate his newly wedded beloved propositioned me about 9 months before they went off & got married in secret. They'd been engaged for years & asked me to be best man but never got around to arranging anything - the only reason I didn't tell him was because I assumed I might just have some time to warn him off.....
Your wedding plans sound fantastic.
Just one more teeny thing.
On our wedding day, new hubby bought me a tiny present, some pearl earrings. I nearly cried with joy 'cos he's not really the romantic type. So I think a little gift for your new wife would go down very well.
Our wedding was the best day of our lives ( not so the honeymoon, but that's another story).
make sure you give your wife an orgasm on the wedding night
infact, she especially likes it if you stroke the small of her back very lightly 😈
seriously dont get p!ssed the night before , i look even worse than normal in some of my wedding pics
thanks to a reunion with my cousins/ uncles the night before
oh yeah and the wedding sounds ace
Make the most of the day it goes quick and it is a rare treat to have all facets of both of your lives relies and mates in the same place, even if they dont get on its your day so **** em
8 years on and two kids later I am more in love than ever and yes she STILL lets me go biking (although there is more discussion and less I'm off see you later)
Enjoy and try to have the speeches pre food so you can relax and enjoy after 😆
Some good stories coming out of the woodwork 🙂
keep them coming!
Dave
Don't get p155ed on the day, just have a few and take it easy.
Make a point of going up to guests you dislike ( or dislike you) and thank them for coming etc
Don't leave the party after the first dance, you'll miss the best bits of the day.
if there is a bust up at the party (and there will be at some point), DO NOT get involved.
Enjoy it (everyone else will if you will)
Don't drink too much - especially before your speech. Looking back, I had a bit too much to drink (but that had more to do with the hotel burning down, which I won't go into).
I don't usually respond to the 'any advice?' posts, but my wedding day was the best day of my life. It was actually amazing. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to talk about my wife infront of everyone in the world who actually meant something to me.
The best advice I can give about the speech is this:
1. It's the only opportunity you're going to get to stand infront of all of your family and friends, tell them what you're wife means to you and show them how well you've done! Enjoy that opportunity.
2. It's the best man's job to be funny, but try (although not too hard...) to show that you have a sense of humour! Let your wife's family and friends see exactly why she's chosen you.
3. You want her friends to know you're a top bloke and if you have any respect for your new Father/Mother In Law, you want to show them that you're going to look after their daughter for the rest of your life.
4. Give the in-laws a mention- dead easy for me as mine are absolutely brilliant (esp given that the first time I met them, it was a bit like the film 'Meet the Parents'...)
5. I wrote a speech and then practised and para-phrased on cards so as to use it only as pointers- DO NOT STAND THERE AND READ VERBATIM OFF A SCRIPT- it is truly crap!
6. Don't drink too much is good advice- have something to stop your leg shaking though!
7. Emotion is good and it was one of the most memorable parts of my day. Everyone (140+) had a little tear in their eye and as my best man said before he set off on his torrent of lies, banter and embellishment (!) "even the cake was in tiers"... [Groan....]
Good luck and have a great day.
