Life Round Clarina's: Weddings, wildflowers and wide-awake toddlers!

Yesterday we dolled ourselves up, jumped in the car and headed to Lurgan for my cousin Nuff and his bride, the lovely Lyndsey's, wedding. There's something lovely about family weddings... Catching up with friends and family, some of whom you haven't seen for literally decades, and the general atmosphere of merriment!

Nathan and Lyndsey are a fun-loving, lively couple, and their wedding reflected them perfectly... From the moment the ceremony began, there was a sense of fun; the ceremony was filled with laughter, the music excellent, the church decorated beautifully - simple country style with gorgeous wildflowers, handsewn bunting, scrabble tile messages and flower-filled jam jars. The attention to detail, throughout the whole day, was incredible... These guys had worked hard to put on a good party, and boy did they succeed!

When the ceremony was over, they headed off in their cars (the bridesmaids and groomsmen in a very funky Volkswagen camper) and we followed. The venue was beautiful: the grey skies cleared and the sun appeared and we sat on the lawn drinking tea, coffee, homemade lemonade and fizzy berry, and eating scones layered with jam, cream and fresh berries... Yum!

I could go on about how brilliant every little thing was, but instead, I thought I'd share my top five highlights!

Highlight #1: The happy couple... Both radiant, both beaming... Nuff had cleaned up nicely and Lyndsey looked beautiful. Her dress was almost Grecian style... Simple and yet stunning with this gorgeous detail on the back. They smiled and laughed/giggled their way through the ceremony, and it was just so clear how right they were for each other, and how happy and excited they were about this new stage of life.

Highlight #2: The attention to detail... So many special little touches and quirks! The bunting covered cake, the chalkboard signs dotted around, the BAGFULS of goodies for the children, the fairy lights, the photo bunting, the games, the gorgeous wildflowers, the vintage tea-cups, the bottles of lemonade for the children... Every little thing had been thought of, and everything was just so pretty!

Highlight #3: Onsite babysitting service... Ava quickly made friends with some boys who were WONDERFUL at looking after her! Shame none of them are old enough to qualify for babysitting services yet... They were so sweet with her; playing with her, dancing with her, showing her around and explaining things to her. She made it until 12.30am before she totally crashed on her Papa and transferred easily to bed when we got home. Heidi, on the other hand, fell asleep in her buggy at 8 and slept through the ceilidh and disco... In the same room! Perhaps weeks in hospital have enabled our Bubba to sleep through absolutely anything!

Highlight #4: The food... Like actually AMAZING! Seriously the best wedding food I've ever had! There was SO much of it and absolutely everything was absolutely yum! They totally catered for Ava as well... She loved her fruit face starter, sausage and chips and wolfed down her ice-cream! We were spoilt for choice... Dave was particularly chuffed when they showed up around half ten with mini buckets of chips and fancy bacon butties! Then of course there was yummy wedding cake, plus a constant flow of Shloer, wine and elderflower cordial!