Enlightened at Glamour Wedding

I’ve just come back from one of the most beautiful weddings I could ever imagine. And no, it wasn’t mine, but a very old – as in we have been friends a long time – friend who has been living overseas for the past few years.

Set on an island, swept off the coast of Sicily (bottom of Italy for those who have not heard of it before) it was private, intimate, beautiful and glamorous all at the same time. It would have also required a level of organisation and patience that I for one, can only dream of having. Lucky for my friend she has bucket-loads of both these qualities and extremely good taste to boot!

As well as having an awesome holiday, I did of course take my bridesmaid book and pen with me, there’s no slacking off in this job! I’m  happy to say that I can only report back really, really, good things.

Here are just a couple of the highlights:

In the case of this wedding, my friend had her sister as her bridesmaid. I love this idea, maybe because I have one sister myself who I know I would ask when the time came, but also because of the sense of familiarity and history her involvement in the wedding brought to the day. One of the nicest things I thought was that as the sole bridesmaid, she could also select her own dress that not only suited her wonderful personality but added a great sense of fun on the day!

She also made a beautiful speech. Now, I’m a firm believer in abandoning the rules whenever possible and my wedding etiquette isn’t yet at the level of knowing if this is de-rigueur  or not, but I thought it was a really lovely touch. And being the bride’s sister, she was able to share lots of anecdotes that were straight from the heart and clearly touched my friend very much.

As it was a wedding held overseas, and away from many friends and family members who could not be there, the bridesmaid also read out telegrams. I LOVE telegrams. They always conjure up images of the 1940s (trench coats, high heels and stockings with seams) and they are such a lovely way of bringing the voices of people who can’t make it to your wedding, straight into the room. Or in this case, the terrace of a hotel with a view to die for!

And finally, as the wedding party (not the actual wedding) was held over a series of days, it was not only a terrific opportunity for a holiday in an extremely exotic location, it meant the guests had a chance to get to know each other before the wedding day. I can imagine some brides/bridesmaids helping to plan weddings based over a couple of days or a little further away from home might worry about this, but after our experience, I can’t recommend it enough. The experience travelling together allowed for us all to really relax and kick up our heels together!

Image: the view from the wedding venue