THE wedding...

"This is like every idea on Pinterest in one wedding!" was the first line I spoke to Theo after he'd just tied the knot to his lovely wife (woohoo!) Lisa... after the traditional "congratulations, well done!" of course. Unique, glam, quirky, unforgettable, homemade, classy, beautiful, stylish are just a few of the adjectives that can be used to describe this incredible wedding in which Theo and Lisa had LITERALLY thought of everything...

We rocked up at the wedding just on time (don't ask about the journey... we left FOUR hours for a two hour journey and still struggled to get there on time - I hate the M25!) and were greeted by the lovely Mungo directing us to an old-school ice-cream van where we could choose any ice-cream we wanted on the house! I had literally protected my dress the whole way there - it had survived farewell to baby, countless one-handed swashes of water on the journey... even BURGER KING and yet my coca cola lolly dripped onto the hem within 2 minutes of being there - typical! The place was buzzing with excitement and anticipation as we all wondered... what would Lisa's dress be like (anyone who knows Lisa knows she is about the hippest chick in town and never fails to dazzle with her dress sense)

As we rounded into the venue in the baking sun (BOY was it hot!) we were greeted by handmade and personalised glasses with these gorgeous paper straws... so VERY vintage and absolutely stunning!

Cute vintage glasses modelled by the lovely Ellie!

The wedding was taking place in Lisa's Dad's garden, and WOW... what a venue. They had set up these beautiful huge teepees... wooden tables with benches lined with fur skins, photos of all the guests draped around the walls like bunting, origami paper birds hanging from every nook and cranny, and flowers... beautiful wild flowers, filling every empty corner. At the back of the teepee was a sweet shop, with old school striped paper bags and jar upon jar of sweety classics... In front of the teepee was a huge blank canvas, with a table beside it with glitter pens, stamps, hand paint, stencils, markers - you name it, they had it - everything ready for a HUGE canvas on which the guests could leave their special message for the bride and groom. On the other side of the teepee was a photo both with props galore, where every guest could have their pictures taken and then glue into a guest book with a message. It was literally stunning... every single little touch - from the blackboards littered around the garden to tell you what was where, to the wild flowers that had been planted in the raised beds THE DAY BEFORE, to the slates the puddings were served on - everything sent the message that every detail had been thought of.

And this is what summarises Theo and Lisa - creative, thoughtful, a love of beautiful things and an ability to make every single guest feel incredible special.

Once we were all seated in the marquee, we awaited Lisa's arrival with bated breath, a significant amount of fanning and a LOT of neck wiping! The best men, Elliot, Bryan and my Dave were doing their best to look cool and calm but struggling in the stifling heat! Theo on the other hand looked as cool as a cucumber and didn't seem to be remotely bothered by the sweltering sun!

The moment of truth arrived... following flapperesque bridesmaids armed with balloons, and Lisa's cute little brother carrying a "Here comes the Bride" sign, Lisa arrived in the dress she had designed herself... so different, so her; she looked stunning!

The ceremony was very moving, with Theo's aunt and Lisa's best friend giving two speeches that had the whole marquee in tears, and there were great cheers when it was finally announced they were man and wife and Theo could kiss his bride!

The party to follow all party's followed - great music, YUM food and lots of creative things for the guests to get up to as well as just mingle and chat. The speeches were brilliant - a perfect concoction of tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of utter hilarity and an awful lot of laughter...

 

The first dance was typical Theo and Lisa... yup, you've guessed it... they had a dance off - Lisa and her crew of bridesmaids against Theo and his posse of Best Men and Brothers! It was all out war!

And then, just as if we hadn't had enough excitement. Craig David arrived. He was friendly, enthusiastic and we just couldn't quite believe he was there! The happy couple clearly couldn't quite believe their luck either...

 

And then he did what we all hoped he would, but couldn't quite believe that he really would do... not for free, for people he didn't know from Adam and for no personal gain, surely?!? But yes, we headed down to the dance floor and he did about an hour on the decks - our own, private Craig David performance and wow, what a show!

And yes, I got footage! Here's a taster (I love the fact Theo and Lisa are loving it in the foreground!)

He was a legend. He managed to come in, do his thing, be totally approachable and friendly and not for one minute pretend that the day was about him. I guess the one worry I had was that maybe it would take the spotlight off the REAL stars of the day (T and L) but he was a totally humble, genuine guy who just wanted to make it special for them. Big, big respect... and yes, of course we got our photo taken with ALL the stars of the day!

The partying went on until long after I had left to head back to London for Ava... Dave was one of the many happy campers in tent village, a huge field lined with tents behind the garden so that the guests could stay overnight. Everything about the day was special, and fun, and just typically Theo and Lisa. They are a truly special couple who put on one amazing day of celebration. Guys - it was awesome!

And here's one of me and my lovely hub who did a fab job as Best Man!