f o r t y - s e v e n

my wedding dress & boquet

my wedding hair

my shoes

bridesmade dress

Niall's suit

the rings

the table layout

the cake

the invitations

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Niall and I planned the entire wedding ourselves, apart from a small bit of help in booking the church from Niall's parents and sending out invites from my dad and Carol. Niall had begun recording his album mid way through planning so he was busy a lot of the time which made planning take slightly longer than we'd hoped but it was ok. It gave us more time to get everything absolutely perfect.

Liv, Maura and Carol all came with me when I went dress shopping. It took a few days but as soon as I saw the dress I knew it was the one I wanted. I decided not to have a veil. I'm not sure why it just seemed better not to have one. It took me a while to decide on the shoes. I was torn between 2 pairs but in the end I chose the ones I decided would look best with the dress.

The wedding was held in Mullingar. Niall and I figured it would be best to get married in his home town because hopefully there would be less paparazzi there than in London. There were still a few but no where near as many as there would've been.

We didn't invite huge numbers of people. Obviously our families came and our close friends, for me that was only Liv and Peter, but for Niall that meant the rest of the band and a few others I'd never met until the day.

We decided on a rustic/terracotta color theme for the wedding. I wasn't sure how it came to that it just sort of did.

When my big day finally came on the 6th or June, I was not ready at all.

"Lily?" Liv's voice came from outside the bathroom, "Is everything alright in there?"

I groaned and rested my back against the cool tiled wall of the hotel bathroom. Niall had insisted on getting me a room in the best hotel in Mullingar for me to get ready for the wedding seeing as though he was getting ready at his parent's house. And I'll admit, it was a very nice room.

"Unlock the door," Liv ordered. I groaned again but pushed myself up just enough to unlock the door and let her in. She bent down and looked at me, "What happened?"

I just shrugged, "One minute I was fine, the next I'm puking my guts out into a toilet bowl."

She scrunched her nose and pulled off a bit off toilet roll, "You have sick on your chin."

I chuckled as she wiped it off for me. We really were best friends. 

I sighed and leant back against the wall again. She put her hand on my shoulder and smiled sympathetically.

"It's just nerves babe," she said, "I mean you are getting married."

"Yeah," I murmured, "I think I'm ok now."

"Your sure?" she checked as I started to stand up. I nodded and she just smiled a little.

I flushed the toilet and washed my hands before we exited the bathroom and walked back into the hotel room where Carol, Maura and Peter were waiting for us.

"Hey sweetie," Carol said and walked up to me. She squeezed my shoulder, "Bit nervous huh?"

"A bit," I said and chuckled anxiously.

"Aww don't worry. Everyone is on the big day. As soon as you see Niall you'll be fine though," she assured me and I smiled. I was certain she was right. I hadn't seen Niall all day and to be honest, the one thing I needed that morning was a hug from him. Peter had even taken my phone away just to make sure nothing was ruined.

There was a knock on the hotel door and Maura ran over to get it.

"Hair and makeup team are hear!" she said excitedly and walked back into the room followed by 3 people, 2 woman and a man. I only expected there to be one person coming to do my hair and makeup, not 3, but I didn't complain.

My hair and makeup were done fairly fast. I sat still in a chair infront of a mirror that had been set up and smiled when I saw Liv in her bridesmaid dress. She looked so unbelievably beautiful I could have cried. Peter wore a dark grey suit that made him look incredibly handsome. Carol wore a beautiful silver dress and Maura wore a beautiful blue dress. They looked like goddesses stood side by side. All 4 of them got changed all while I was having my hair and makeup done so when it was finally my turn to get dressed, I was the last one.

Liv helped me into my dress behind a room divider and I stared at myself in the mirror. I must admit, I looked like a princess. The dress seemed even prettier than when I'd tried it on in the shop.

I took a deep breath before stepping out from behind the room divider. The entire room just gasped and I smiled.

"Ta dah," I said with a nervous laugh and Carol clapped her hand to her cheeks.

"Your so beautiful," she said and a tear escaped her eye.

"Carol are you crying?" I said and it took all my strength not to cry with her.

She shrugged and said truthfully, "Yeah."

I laughed and pulled her into a hug. I couldn't have asked for a better step mum than her and having her with me that day made me so unbelievably grateful for her.

When I pulled away I turned to Liv.

"You too?" I said and despite my efforts, a tear fell down my cheek.

She chuckled and sobbed at the same time, "You're actually getting married. Actually, properly, really getting married."

I laughed and hugged her too. I rubbed her back and she laughed, "Why the fuck am I crying?"

I just laughed more and squeezed her tighter.

"Ok dear, it's time," Maura said and I pulled off of Liv. Maura stood next to Carol and they both smiled widely at me. They had become very close friends and I liked that.

I walked up to Peter and he took my hand.

"Time to get married!" he squeeled and I laughed.

We said bye to the hair and makeup people who would be showing themselves out and all exited the hotel room. The entire hotel was empty because Niall had been so so stressed about there being any paparazzi at the wedding that he had done every little thing possible to keep anyone from getting the chance to snap a picture.

I walked down the stairs of the hotel and saw my dad waiting in the lobby. He was wearing a black suit with a perfectly folded hanky in the pocket. Any normal person would think the hanky was useless but I knew he would be needing it during the ceremony.

"Oh Lily," he said when I reached him, "Look at you, hey?"

I smiled and took his hands. The tears were already forming in both of our eyes.

"My baby girl, getting married," he said and sniffed, "Your mum would be so proud of you."

I nodded, "I know Dad," I said and touched my rings around my neck, "But she's right here with me. Experiencing every bit of it just like she should've been able to."

My dad smiled and hugged me tightly. I sighed and relaxed a tiny bit in his warm embrace.

When he finally let go of me I wiped under my eyes a tiny bit and inhaled heavily.

"Enough of that," I said and shook my head slightly, "I do not want to cry today."

He chuckled and nodded in agreement. I smiled and he took my hand. We walked out to where his car was waiting outside, followed by the others, and I climbed in carefully. I had to lift up the bottom of my dress a little as I stepped into the car but it didn't matter too much.

The church wasn't far from the hotel at all so the car journey was only about 5 minutes. I stared out the window the entire time and when the car came to a stop my body froze.

This was it. I was outside the church with all the guests inside about to get married to the man I love more than anything in the whole entire universe.

And I was so ready for it.