Getting married abroad means a lot of people aren’t going to be able to make it. It’s just an unfortunate fact, and one you have to seriously consider before deciding to take the plunge on a destination wedding. For us it was a huge decision as there are a lot of people we really wanted to be there, but we felt that as long as our family and most of our absolute closest friends could be there it was something we would have to accept in order to have the type of wedding we really wanted. And, on the whole, they did.
Of course there were some for whom it just proved impossible, but those that did make it (including one friend who unbelievably actually cancelled a visa application and went back and forth from the passport office a ridiculous number of times just to get there) were just an incredible group. It’s always difficult to know whether groups of people from different parts of your life will really get on, but all of our friends bonded immediately.
The value of great friends really shines through at a wedding; when your mates step up and really go the extra mile for you it makes the whole event more special somehow. Several of our close friends had already been helping us hugely getting things organised (and even making customised wedding favours for every guest!) in the run up to the wedding, but this continued for the day itself. When Dom and I decided last minute to go, with the storm approaching, for our First Look the day before the wedding our friends cancelled their plans for the day IN THEIR HOLIDAY and several helped Dom get ready whilst others took over from my self appointed task of putting up bunting at the church. They were amazing, and later that day they were even more incredible…
As we demonstrated in yesterday’s post we had a huge transformation of the restaurant to make the night before the wedding. We couldn’t get in until after the restaurant closed and so it meant a pretty late night for all concerned and a hell of a lot of hard work but they did it… and they did it happily. The job they did on it was amazing and couldn’t possibly have been achieved without them. In fact when they could see me getting stressed about it they ordered me to sit down and stopped me actually doing anything other than pass on orders! Their flair and creativity as well as their willingness and eagerness to make everything look the best it possibly could meant it ended up looking better than we could ever have imagined, and we can’t thank them enough for all they did.
photo by Ed Peers
It didn’t stop there though, they were all fantastic throughout the day and later got involved once again with turning around the room ready for the dancing. Even more impressively though, the following morning despite (I suspect) many hangovers, they were there once again taking everything apart and had more or less returned the restaurant to its usual state before I even got there! Even after the wedding day they jumped in organising the BBQ and doing absolutely everything they could to make it as enjoyable for everyone as possible. In fact they kind of stole the show… I’m sure when the groom is complimented it’s not supposed to be a compliment on how amazing his friends are… 😉
So I guess the moral of this post is don’t be afraid to get your friends involved! Sometimes you can get so caught up in trying to look after your guests that you forget that what they really want is for you to have the best day of your lives!
And to the La Palma ninja posse…
You’re all flippin’ epic!
THANK YOU!
