My week in USA started at my old Nanny family’s home in the state Minnesota. Last time I saw them was when I said goodbye, in February 2016. I was so excited about seeing them again, especially my little Nanny babe that I cared for from 9 weeks old to 15 months. Noelle ran straight into my arms and immediately said ‘Do you want to play with me?’ It was a special moment; the little girl who was just learning to walk and talk was now running and using full sentences. I had an amazing few days spending time with her and catching up with the other American Nannies I got close too, during my time in US a few years ago. I organised a play-date with all our little ones and we reminisced about the good times.
Thursday came around quickly and that’s when my best friend’s wedding celebrations started. I was so excited to see her, it had been 8 months since we last saw each other on my birthday in Dubai. Her cousin had prepared a low-key celebration at her apartment which was so beautifully set out and organised, we all said it felt like we’d just walked into Pinterest. 8 of us celebrated, playing typical hen party games in teams, eating delicious sweet treats and got stuck into the main activity of the evening, making our own body and hand scrubs. It was so simple, yet so much fun! I’ve added the beauty recipes below for you to try out yourself or if your planning on hosting your own evening, why not do this as an activity with the girls.
Wedding bells were ringing, only one day away!
Brandy and I spent 5 hours creating and putting together 5 bouquets for the bridesmaid’s and 1 for herself. We were so happy with the outcome, its not like we have any experience in floristry but everyone thought we’d done an amazing job. We also had the wedding rehearsal that evening followed by a groomsmen dinner. There’s something special about watching someone close to you walk down the aisle to soft music while everyone stops and looks, I cried numerous times, so much love in one room.
This was my first time at a full ceremony wedding that I would remember and being a part of the bridal party made it more special. The wedding was beautiful, from the location, the company, the music and the colour schemes. Lots of greenery, blush and white roses. My favorite part of the wedding was seeing Brandy’s spin on things, being an Artist she had creatively thought out every fine detail by making her own invitations, signs at the church and reception, including the menu and other added extras like guest book signing etc. All hand painted by her so elegantly, I felt it really made their wedding that much more personal, something she had talked about doing for so long.
Due to all of us bridesmaids being in different countries and states when the wedding was planned, we couldn’t get together to go dress shopping. So, Brandy had sent us a colour pallet to go off and a few pictures from Pinterest and we all went online to different retailers and found our dresses. We decided we’d all get slightly different so everyone would be comfortable in what they were wearing for the big day. On the morning of the wedding we put on our dresses and stood next to each other not knowing if they were going to look mismatched or fit perfectly, it was a moment that could have gone either way and we all held our breath, but to our surprise all 5 dresses complimented each other so beautifully. It was meant to be! We were all so happy with them, each one slightly different and unique, no one would have guessed we’d done it all without being together.
Photographs followed and the ‘first look’ for the bride and groom. The ceremony took place in the afternoon at the bride and grooms childhood church, a pretty little building surrounded by gardens and the lake in their home town. They had the reception in a beautiful location right on the Lake, and inside decorated with soft fairy lights, green garlands spread across white tables and candle arbor’s lit across the head table. It was so beautiful and exactly how Brandy and I had imagined her wedding when we talked about it a few years ago when we use to have girly sleepovers, picnics in the park and explore the frozen lakes of Minnesota. It was the perfect day and I am so grateful to have been apart of it.
I had no idea how much planning, organizing and preparation it took to have a wedding, so this was another experience I loved having. I’ve learnt lots on American weddings and some of the traditions they have that are different to your traditional British wedding. Here are a few:
- At an American wedding you can generally expect the toasts and speeches to be your standard touchy-feely fare, but in the UK the wedding toasts are more like roasts, they are usually rather rude and embarrassing.
- At American weddings it’s not necessary to wear a hat, whereas in UK traditionally wedding guests would wear fancy hats or fascinators.
- In an American wedding the bride enters the room last, but in the UK the bride, precedes her bridesmaids, who will hold up her train or veil as she walks down the aisle.
- In the US the groom faces the bride and watches her walk down the aisle, but at a British wedding, its customary for the groom to face away from the bride and only turn around once she reaches the alter.
