When....

.... beautiful nieces get married and my kiddo is flowergirl, the blip a) takes several days and b) gets several photos. Not sorry. 

The last wedding we went to (a week before the first lockdown) was my eldest niece's. The first wedding we went to after the lockdowns was her sister.  

It was a beautiful day. So perfectly them. And it was a real joy to be part of it from the first moment. Katie and I had pre-wedding breakfast with my parents. We got quickly showered and headed over with one of the bridesmaids to the "getting ready" hotel. I was being the bookend-photographer.... photographing the start and end of the day.... and Katie obviously was part of all the getting ready. There was happy, relaxed time, with lots of laughter and quite a bit of Harry Potter top trumps. Katie had her hair "done" for the first time ever. She was quite funny to watch - she could see the curls in their OTT, not yet separated and relaxed way and then when she saw her finished hair, she was utterly delighted. She was very excited that the bridesmaids got to go in and help with the dress and be the first people to see her in it. She was very excited to travel in the car with just the bridesmaids as I had already gone to church to do usher duties. She was excited to have a special room and drinks for them while they waited. And when it was time to lead the wedding procession in, she was beautiful. 

The ceremony was wonderful. The smiles were an utter joy to see. And it was so special to be able to sing as a congregation. I haven't been to church and been able to sing since that last wedding. Katie did brilliantly for the whole day. She was wonderful with her little cousin who doted on her for the entire time. She stayed calm when it was all a bit busy for her and quietly requested little walks to reset and came back ready to party. 

She ate her weight in sweets, cupcakes and wedding cake over the course of the day and then hit the wall! By 9.30pm she was deep asleep in bed, her lovely flowers sat beside her bed.