So here it is again… in less than a
week’s time many of us will spend February 14th with our significant
other, shamelessly indulging in all matters of the heart. And, for me and my
Valentine, this day of love and romance has an extra special meaning; it’s also
our wedding anniversary!
This year (anniversary number six),
is apparently the year of iron – if he’s struggling for inspiration, and thinks
it would be funny to buy me a gift which comes with a three pin plug, a steam
button, and a 5 year guarantee, things are only going to end one way… I may
well ‘flatten’ him! I’d like to say he
wouldn’t dare… but he would. Actually he
did buy me a steam iron one Christmas, but I forgave him as the box also
contained a diamond ring!
Anyhow, I’ve organised our celebrations this year, and they have nothing to
do with ‘iron’! I’m really chuffed with
the modest but very thoughtful and romantic gift I’ve bought for my lovely
hubby (but can’t give details here and now as it’ll spoil the surprise if he
happens to read!). Our day of celebrations will begin with a chilled Street
Food feast at one of our favourite bars in Leeds, followed by an evening with
the awesome Kaiser Chiefs at Leeds First Direct Arena… excited!!!
Anyone that reads my posts regularly
(and I know from my Blogger stats that more than a few of you do) thank
you! Although I write this stuff because
I simply enjoy doing so, it makes it even more worthwhile if other people are
reading and hopefully enjoying it. Now where was I… oh yes… if you’ve read any
of my previous posts you may remember that I posted this time last year about
our wonderful wedding day back in 2009… My Best Valentine’s Ever! Well, having read it over, I just couldn’t
resist re-posting; so here it is, hope you enjoy!
Maybe it’s all about the flowers (the price of which would buy you the
whole florists shop any other time of year), or could it be the romantic intimate table for two in the
usually dead but tonight full-to-bursting restaurant, where you can choose from
a ‘special’ (and triple the usual price) Valentine’s menu. Perhaps a fancy box
of champagne truffles would be the key to your heart (even more-so if
accompanied by a chilled bottle of the bubbly stuff itself). It could be that
none of the above fit your idea of romance, and in fact you’re more of a good
Rom-Com DVD (if there’s such a thing), take-out pizza, few beers, and a cuddle
on the sofa kind of gal!
Well, for me and my Valentine, this day of love and romance has an extra
special meaning... it’s also our Wedding Anniversary!
No, we’re not a pair of incurable old romantics, although we can be at times -
to celebrate our special day this year, my hubby’s bought tickets to see ‘From
Paris with Love’, by Opera North at the Grand Theatre in Leeds (quite possibly
followed by a late-night McDonalds drive-thru, but hey you can’t have it all!)
Anyhow, back to the point, the only reason we tied the knot on Valentine’s Day
is that we both work in the education sector and simply wanted to get married the first
Saturday of the February half term which, that particular year, just so happened
to be Valentine’s Day.
And what a fantastic Valentine's Day it was! This was marriage number
two for both of us, and we wanted to keep things fairly low key, but obviously
still very special. So, we decided that our nuptials would have more the
feel of a celebratory evening out than a ‘wedding’. I didn’t want an
ivory ‘gown’, wedding cars, or bridesmaids, and Neil didn’t want a stag do in
Amsterdam (well at least that’s what he told me?!) or even a best man to get
him organised. I didn’t want to ‘surprise’ Neil on the day with my outfit so,
completely breaking with tradition, he came wedding dress shopping with me
– he was the one I
wanted to think I looked beautiful, quite frankly I didn’t care what anyone
else thought. I didn’t want to be walked down an aisle or ‘given-away’, and we
didn’t want a guest list as long as your arm, consisting mainly of long-lost
aunts, uncles and cousins.
After much deliberation, we decided on a guest list of just 24, and our
venue was a gorgeous little country house hotel on the outskirts of
Leeds. The ceremony itself took place in the hotel ‘Library’, a
beautifully intimate room, with a roaring fire and red carpet laid out
especially for the occasion! Being a pair of fairly modest souls, we
didn’t really want to make a grand entrance and so, when the time arrived, we
casually sauntered into the Library, together with our guests (still sipping
champagne), to the velvety tones of Nat ‘King’ Cole's ‘Let there be Love’.
Once the serious stuff was done, we made our way into the hotel
restaurant (exclusively ours for the evening), for our delicious reception
meal. The table was beautifully decorated ‘Valentine style’ with a
scattering of red rose petals, love-heart confetti, Valentine’s trivia and lots
and lots of tea-lights – perfect!
Bellies full, feeling happy and relaxed, and having sunk a bottle or two
of the old fizzy stuff, some of us (in fact most of us), let our hair down and
had a bit of a boogie before our wonderful day sadly came to an end.
That’s all five years ago now (I’d forgotten just how blonde I was! -
should I go back there? uugh!), and obviously we’re never going to top such a
fabulous Valentine’s Day – as you fellow married folk will know, the
honeymoon period doesn’t last forever. We knew this though, we’d both
‘been there, done that’ and we were well aware that our relationship would have
its ups and downs (and believe me, it has!) But here we are, still together,
still enjoying the good times and still working through the ups and downs...
and, most importantly, still very much in love.
So, this Valentine’s Day, once the champagne has run dry, when the red
roses are starting to wilt, and when the credits roll on the Rom-Com DVD
remember this (one of the readings from our very, very special Valentine’s Day
wedding) ...
Sooner or later we
begin to understand that love is more than verses on Valentines, and romance in
the movies. We begin to know that love is here and now, real and
true. Love is the creator of our favourite memories and the foundation of
our fondest dreams.
The following photo selection has been carefully chosen so as not to embarrass our off-spring too much, and put us in their bad books. It's safe to say they've all grown up quite a bit since 2009, and I'm sure wouldn't thank me for posting some of the shots taken back then.
What a thoughtful, considerate mum I am!!
Actually, Neil and I have changed a fair bit too - note I say 'changed' not 'aged'!
Thanks for reading!
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