Where to start!
We had such a fab day…I guess I should start at the beginning!

We woke up early and nervous already! The weather was miserable and grey, drizzling that really fine rain that soaks you though instantly BUT we didn’t care. We were so excited about everything we had been planning with the dream wedding team the night before!

We had arranged to meet Jonas at ‘Volunteer park’ (not a park where you volunteer…just a lovely park!) to take some pre-wedding shots so we got Peggy all tidied up and spick and span and set off to the park. On route Alex had decided he NEEDED his suit pressing! (yes…pressing!) so we drove around Seattle looking for somewhere to get it done. The first place wanted $30 and quite rightly Alex knew I would loose my mind if he had paid $30 for someone to iron his suit so we drove on and luckily just before we arrived at Volunteer Park we found another place. It was half the price and done in 5 minutes with the (rather false) promise it will never need pressing again and we were off!

We arrived early at the park in the rain and waited for Jonas and Mary who soon arrived. The four of us took a walk through the conservatory which is full of rainforest plants and cactus and we thought it would be great to get some shots there but first we went for a stroll to the graveyard to pay our respects to Bruce Lee and Brandon.We walked along and collected conkers, explaining the game to Jonas and Mary and watched a man in awe as he successfully walked about 15 dogs at once!

Once we were thoroughly soaked and my hair suitably frizzed we went back to Peggy and made a good cup of Yorkshire tea to warm us through (thanks Nanna!) and started to get ready for the wedding!

I put my face on and got changed into my Tabitha dress in the van with Alex helping me fasten the 25 tiny glass buttons up the back.
Space being quite limited it was great fun and I stepped aside to let Alex change into his newly pressed suit.
Once we were dressed we finished our brews and headed out into the park to take some pictures in the gorgeous fall leaves. We had a great time with Jonas and Mary, we are both still terrible at having our pictures taken but Jonas made us feel at ease and found some great spots for shots.

Our time soon ran out and before we knew it it was 4.30 and we all jumped into Peggy to race to the market. We parked in a multi story carpark and ran down the street to the market to meet our guests.

We got a few strange looks and a few congratulations as we ran along and it wasn’t until we got to the market that we realised that the rain had stopped and the sky had brightened up and there was even a bit of sun peeping through the clouds!

Eileen handed me a stunning bouquet of Dahlias, lavender, lysianthus, rosemary, snowberries, sea holly and even kale! It was beautiful and reflected the fall colours perfectly, not to mention the divine autumn smells. I turned to see Alex having his boutonnière attached to his jacket by Bernadette and it looked gorgeous. Sea holly, snow berries and little pink buds all mounted on a piece of wood and finished in purple wire! I loved it and so did he!
He looked perfect with his open collar, loose cuffs and boat shoes…very Seattle!
Once we had said hi to everyone and a crowd had gathered around the pergola, Reverend Eric and Kelli gave me the thumbs up and I walked towards Alex to the crowd humming ‘here comes the bride‘! I couldn’t believe it, 30 strangers humming me down the ‘aisle’, it was such a great feeling and I giggled all the way to Alex’s side.

Once there my palms started to sweat even though it was freezing and again the nervous giggle kicked in. Alex fidgeted on the spot like a penguin looking for some where warm to stand but still he couldn’t stop grinning!

The service was amazing and Eric did a great job of keeping us focused on each other and his words even though there was so much going on around us.

We both loved exchanging the flowers and it is definitely something we will do in the future, it is so touching that part of the ceremony will be relived forever in our lives and could even be something we pass on to our children should we ever make the time to have them.

Once we had sealed the deal with a kiss everyone cheered and clapped, threw bird seed confetti and we were hugged all over the place and one lady even gave herself the task of bridesmaid and kept arranging my dress for me (which quite honestly was a bit worrying as she had one tooth, reminded me of the witch with the shiny red apple in Cinderella AND was carrying a suspiciously alcoholic smelling bottle of mountain dew!!) but it was so lovely that she just wanted me to look my best!

We walked through the market and were congratulated by everyone as we had our pictures taken, we were even given a lovely gift from one of the market vendors who had made a special trip to bring it for us. Kat and Jeff create intricate art tiles and had wrapped one especially for us. The Hamsa is now hanging in pride of place in the van to remind us of our Seattle wedding and offer us protection on our journey.

We saw some great Seattle sights on our 7 man photo shoot as we wandered the market. We were allowed behind a flower stall, watched the fishmongers throw fish (a true Pike Place tradition), we caught some AMAZING sunset light in Post Alley, had pictures in front of gum wall and lastly but by no means least, we had pizza, Nachos and Seattle ale by the jug to celebrate at the Pike Brewery.

Jonas ran off to start editing the images while Kelli, Eileen and Bernadette helped us with the jugs and we spent the next few hours chatting and drinking and eating until I could no longer breathe in my dress. Alex ran to the van and grabbed my jeans so I could fit more food in and then we set off back to Kelli’s.
We had decided we would spend our wedding night in a Walmart somewhere but Kelli insisted on us going to her house and we couldn’t refuse.

We all piled into Kelli’s to have one last drink and to see her crazy woofer play laser and to meet her gorgeous kitty with whom I had a lot in common…she is always hungry but to be fair she suffers from a hyperthyroid!
Kelli really made us welcome and I feel we have definitely made a friend for life.
The whole team were so great and made our day so enjoyable. We loved them so much it even crossed our minds to stay in Seattle for the whole weekend to spend more time with them but it would have only left us 4 days to get to LA which isn’t really do-able in Peggy!

Again, there just aren’t the words in any vocabulary to thank them all enough. Everyone’s generosity, hospitality and down right friendliness has once again blown us away and created a hundred more amazing memories for us to keep forever!

So many amazing wedding pictures! Thanks again Jonas, we love them every one! Xx

Photographer : Jonas Seaman | Wedding planner : Kelli Bielema | Florist : Eileen O Neill | Boutonniere : Bernadette | Reverend : Eric Warn | Introductions : Tawsha Connell | Venue : Pike Place Market | Dress : Charlotte Balbier | Umbrella : Bella Umbrella