Chapter 41- wedding

As I began to walk slowly down the aisle I saw Azza boot Mouse, Mouse who was supposed to be walking behind me with Al, he quickly and not so discreetly walked down the side and came behind me, I got the giggles, as we hit the back of of chairs people began to turn around and look at me, 'awwwing' as I walked past them.

'You're not going to pass out on me today are you?' I heard Mouse ask Al 'mm not unless you start stripping and expect me to rub in some oil' she whispered back 'stripping....oil?' 'Hen night' I answered my dad he just rolled his eyes jokingly and we carried on walking. When we got to the arch it was decorated beautifully, white voile down the sides and blue and white flowers across the top. Whip was stood there still looking at the ocean my dad took my hand kissed it, I walked forward and whip turned round to look at me, he took a big breath, I looked at him, his eyes brimming with water. 'Dont cry' I said softly, he swallowed and raised his head up. Everyone was seated and mouse and Al stood at the side.

The priest began his speech 'Hello all, and welcome! We are gathered today to celebrate Ryan and Charlie's love for one another. Each of us has strengthened their character and brought happiness into their lives. It is through our continued support that they stand before us together. And, because you are so dear to their hearts, they have decided to make this ceremony short and sweet so we can all get to the food a little faster' everyone laughed, Mouse gave Whip my ring he placed it in my finger and said his vows. 'I Ryan before these nutter's assembled; take my granny pants wearing fiancé to be my wife, my friend and my lover.I will care for and protect you, nurture you and support you, and tell you when you are being a numpty and adore everything about you. I promise to love you tirelessly through perfect times and the merely fabulous times, regardless of how often you get distracted by something shiny. I vow above all things to remain unchanged in this, even if I should be momentarily distracted by something shiny myself. In the presence of our nutte... err our beloved family and friends, who found us despite the several venue changes, I offer you my solemn vow to be your godlike partner and lover; in sickness and in health, despite your granny pants. In good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow, I give you my heart, my love, my soul. I love you, now and forever' he took a big sigh of relief that he had managed to get it out. Everyone was in hysterics...my turn Al gave me Whip's ring I placed it on his finger, 'I Charlie , take you baby faced one to be my husband, my friend, my lover, my tormentor, my companion in life and my instigator in trouble. I will love you unconditionally, support you in your goals, honor and respect you, without TOO much sass (except on Fridays). I promise to love you faithfully through perfect times and the merely fabulous times. i hereby promise to resist the urge to beat your ass when you are difficult to get out of bed. In the presence of our family and friends who insisted on bloody tagging along, I offer you my solemn vow to be your Granny pants wearing girl in sickness and in health In good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow,I give you my trust, my love and my soul. I love you, now and forever.' I sighed that same sigh of relief everyone still laughing. 'You may now kiss the bride'. Whip let go of my hand and lifted the veil over my head, he placed a hand on my cheek and moved in slowly, his tongue touching my bottom lip playfully, the cameraman snapped away. 'Okay okay put her down!' Mouse shouted from the side. We broke away and started laughing . We both turned and walked down the aisle towards the lifeguard tower, a few of the lads had changed into boardies and were now shirtless...photo timeeee

'Okay bride and groom' we stood hand in hand my head resting on his shoulder looking out to the ocean, he snapped a back picture of us 'okay turn around' we did so and he snapped a few. 'Okay head bridesmaid and best man' Mouse and Al walked over, they had a few normal shots leaning in to each other then Mouse swept her off her feet and posed, they'd make a good couple. 'Okay lifeguards pick up the bride' Maxi, Corey, Kobi, Azza and Brad picked me up....oh my god please don't drop me was what was going through my mind at that point. He took a few photos. Everyone else had gone to the icebergs and were waiting there. 'Now bride and groom kiss on the lifeguard tower' well...we had to get that in somewhere Whip picked me up and walked up the stairs, we stood on the balcony, I was still in his arms, we kissed and the camera took snaps again. 'Last shots, best man and groom' they did 'bride and head bridesmaid' we did 'now all four of you' god he was bossy we all stood there posing. He finished with the camera shooting and headed to the icebergs.

When we walked in everyone had a party popper. We didn't know about this I actually screamed out loud. 'HURRAYYY!!!' Everyone cheered we all smiled and sat at the top table. The settings looked beautiful. Lorraine the owners daughter had made the most beautiful centre pieces, and they went brilliantly with Claire's flowers. We sat down and they brought the starter out, then the main, and then the pudding. Everyone seemed to be enjoying it. Then it was the speeches. Al stood up... She clinked a glass gently, no one listened...she stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled that got their attention...'When Charlie first asked me to be her brideslave - sorry, sorry bridesmaid.... I was over the moon - as one of my best friends it is a wonderful gift to be able to support her today in her marriage to Ryan. However, little did I know at that stage that she would also ask me to do a speech with less than 3 weeks notice! So, this speech is an opportunity for me to share some thoughts about Charlie on behalf of myself and my fellow brideslave Jo. Now the only guideline I have been given regarding this speech is not to tarnish Charlie's angelic reputation. However, Charlie and I have been close friends for 13 years now so this stumped me a little as I have so many anecdotes to draw from!!! BUT where there's a will there's a way!!! So to avoid the use of risqué anecdotes myself, I enlisted the help of Charlie's friends by asking them to describe a scenario that reminded them of their friendship with Charlie' she paused 'at which point two clear themes emerged....alcohol ....and boys!' She paused whilst everyone laughed 'One of the questions we asked was how Ryan would describe Charlie in one word, to someone that didn't know her' she pasued again 'Now given how wonderful Charlie is, we thought that this would be an EASY response for a husband to be, setting him up with brownie points for life - perhaps something along the lines of amazing, intelligent, sexy, funny etc etc etc.But no, only one adjective sprung to mind from the millions available...Expensive!' she paused everyone was in hysterics she continued 'Fortunately, several questions later, Ryan managed to redeem himself. We asked him what the single best thing about charlie was? And he didn't fail to disappoint us,' she took a breath 'and I quote Charlie is unique - she is the perfect blend of beauty, wit and personality.' 'NICE SAVE!' I butted in playfully hitting whip on the arm 'So, that's me done, I can go and get very drunk now!Oh and I don't suppose there was a 2 for the price of one deal where you got him was there?' She sat down every one stood up and applauded her. She was brilliant.

Everyone returned to their drinks when mouse stood up. 'Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Michael and as is traditional on these occasions, I'm here to welcome you all to this very special day. Firstly, on behalf of the Bridesmaids, I think everybody will agree that the bridesmaids look absolutely gorgeous and Charlie can I just say you look stunning.Whereas...Ryan just looks stunned.' he paused whilst everyone laughed 'When Ryan asked me to be his best man today, part of me was honoured, part of me was terrified, but mostly I was laughing inwardly that he's finally admitting what we've known all along, that I am, in fact, better than him.' He smiled his cheeky smile and continued 'Having never been a best man before, I had to spend several hours surfing the net to try and find out exactly what my duties would be. I also came across several pictures of Britney Spears, but that's a different story.So apparently the most important thing I had to do was make sure Ryan got to the wedding on time, looking presentable, clean-cut and sober. Given how nervous he was this morning, the 'sober' part was a minor miracle, and as for the rest, well, I got him there on time... Some of you, incidentally, may have been surprised by how calm and collected Ryan has seemed today - he seemed to have avoided the wedding day jitters and kept insisting 'I'm fine, really' all day. However, that's probably because none of you saw him at 10 o'clock this morning when he was lying facedown on his bed in my house, in shorts and a t-shirt, with his mum rubbing his back and trying to get him to eat just a few more cornflakes.' He turned to whip 'Sorry, mate, you know I had to mention it.' he turned to face the crowd again 'Anyway, where was I? Ah yes Ladies and gentlemen, on a final and serious note, please be upstanding and raise your glasses to my very best friend and his beautiful new wife. To Ryan and Charlie!' Everyone raised their glasses and copied him.

Now the only speech I was rather worried about was my dads, we had decided we weren't going to say much. He stood up and began 'Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen I did ask for an auto cue for my speech today, as I have a memory like a geriatric goldfish, but I was told that the budget had been stretched to capacity and any extras would have to be paid for by myself, I suddenly realised that this piece of paper is good enough!' He said holding up a scabby piece of paper 'For those of you who don't know me, I'm Charlie's Dad and on behalf of my wife Rachel and I, I would like to welcome you all here today to celebrate the marriage of our daughter Charlie to Ryan. This is the point where I am supposed to say a few embarrassing things about Her when she was younger but unfortunately she has been a perfect daughter. And anyway she has more ammunition against me than I have about her so I have called a truce. As she grew up, there were many milestones along the way. First steps wearing fluffy pink slippers.First day at school.First time away from home and a school trip.First falling over drunk and breaking her nose...sorry, I was told not to mention the nose incident. I've mentioned it once and I think I've got away with it. Every Father hopes his daughter will find a reliable, sensible, and considerate partner and as much as you try not to interfere in their lives, you always hope your children will make the right choices in life. Charlie chose Ryan. And what a perfect choice that was' He turned to look at Whip 'There is no challenge in a marriage that can't be overcome by one or more of the following:I was wrong! You were right! Yes Dear I love you!' Everyone nodded laughing 'Finally, if you would all be upstanding, I would like you all to raise a glass for the health and happiness of the bride and groom' everyone stood up an gave a round of applauds.

My mum stood up 'well pretty much everything I've wanted to say has been said soo ' she threw her cue cards away 'just leaves me to say this....love you Hun and hope you have many happy experiences in the future with Ryan' short and sweet I liked it.