Dear Ella and Holly,
 Today is an historic day. It’s the day Kate and Wills tie the knot. I was only a year older than you Ella, when Will’s mum and dad created headlines doing the same thing. So today, to mark the occasion, I’m sharing the story of the day your Dad and I said “I do’’.

Oh, and by the way, your Dad informed me yesterday that your genealogy-obsessed Uncle Kim has discovered he and your Dad are Prince William’s 13th cousins (on the Spencer side, thank goodness). We’re now wondering where our wedding invite is!

Me, looking for your Dad!

I awoke to a letter on my pillow and my soon-to-be husband (your Dad) gone. We couldn’t spend the night apart, so we made a vow – our first for the weekend – that your Dad would get up early so I didn’t see him before the big event. Me, being the suspicious one, and your Dad not caring either way.

We’d whisked the family and closest friends away to Tassie’s West Coast to a fishing village called Strahan. It was partly to make it a relaxing holiday with those who meant the most to us and partly to stop sticky beaks.

I spent the morning having my hair done in a simple up-do by my wonderful hairdresser. My natural-looking makeup was done by yours truly (until last year, I was a Mary Kay consultant for 14-odd years). I wanted your Dad to see ME, not some overly made up person, as I walked down that aisle.

Being the list-keeping, ultra-organised person that I am, this wedding was planned with military precision. All, that was, but the weather. It had been perfect in the days leading up to the event, but decided to become rather grey and gloomy as the time approached.

The ceremony was to take place on the balcony of the Macquarie Restaurant, overlooking the bay, the famous Abt Railway and the township itself. A spectacular view. Then, just as I was about to walk down the “aisle’’ and out onto the balcony, the music started playing and the clouds parted. It was magic.

Cousin Ned asked four times during the ceremony if we were ready for the rings yet.

The ceremony went better than I could have hoped for. Your Pop and I couldn’t hold back the tears as we approached your Dad, who had waited so patiently for his late bride. It was rare for me not to be on time but, according to photographer Grant, was expected. During the ceremony, this time it was your Dad who would shed the happy tears as he barely finished his vows.

We then had stunning photos taken at the Abt railway station, on the beach, the pier and the balcony itself with your cousins Ned (as page boy) and Sam (as flower girl). Our guests didn’t have to travel anywhere – they were already at the restaurant. They just needed to drink and be merry.

And merry they were. After the speeches (including a speech from your Mum), the gorgeous seafood buffet (if only I’d felt like eating) and cutting of the cake (which your Mum designed), the frivolity began.

As you can probably tell, we found some pretty ingenious ways of cutting costs. Another of those was to do away with flowers on the tables and replace them with goldfish. The fish cost something like $20 to hire and you paid $2 for each fish killed. So there was great amusement when one guest pretended to eat a goldfish, much to the horror of another guest.

Cousins Ned and Sam getting bored in the background.

As the night wore on, so did the stories. Unfortunately, I can’t share them all in such a public forum for fear of retribution! Maybe they’ll make some good bedtime stories one day.

Apologies for the quality - it's a photo of a photo.

This photo was one of the last for the night and was taken overlooking Strahan’s annual Christmas carols, which were being held on the pier. A year later I went on to host and sing an original song at that Carols event. It was the perfect way to spend our first wedding anniversary. I might even share the video of that song one day. Maybe.

Ella and Holly, we thought everything was “so complete’’ that day. Having you two in our lives makes us realise it was far from it. Our lives are so much richer for the two of you.

Love you both. xx

If you’d like to be part of the Royal Wedding meme, simply:

  1. Link up your wedding story (old or new) or your story about preparing for your big day with the linky tool below.
  2. Grab the button, created by the wonderful Lisa Warren from Life As We Know It, to add to your post.
  3. Link back to Three Li’l Princesses’ Royal Wedding meme
  4. Spread the comment love by commenting on at least three other wedding stories.
  5. An optional step, but feel free to take part in our Royal Wedding Pyjama Party tonight. We’ll share some laughs, gossip about the wedding (of course) and chat about the wedding stories linked up here.




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30 Responses to Royal Wedding Meme: Wedding fit for a princess

  1. Rebecca says:

    Beautiful just beautiful, your kids will love this when they are older… Your wedding photos are beautiful. I love the railway line one the best

    • Kel says:

      Thanks Rebecca! Yes, the railway pix were my favourites too. I had a few beach ones I really loved, but they’re hanging on the walls around the house so I wasn’t able to include them!!

  2. Thea says:

    Oh, this is just beautiful!!
    I am a wedding nut, I love anything to do with weddings and I love looking at wedding photos. Yours are stunning. What a wonderful story for your girls.

    I’ll be linking in a sec.

    Today’s the day…I’m so excited!! 🙂

    • Kel says:

      LOL!! You and me both, Thea. I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s wedding stories and sticky beaking at their pix! All so gorgeous.
      And wasn’t the wedding fantastic? Her dress was just divine!

  3. felicakes says:

    *tears* I just love it!! thank you for sharing.

  4. Beautiful!! Thanks for sharing.

    I just link my post up.

  5. Tracy says:

    Beautiful!! You looked stunning! What amazing wedding shots – I love the one of you hanging off the train. Sounds like it was the perfect day and your daughters are going to love reading and hearing about it.
    Now, I’m expecting a post of your song next ok?

    • Kel says:

      hehe!! When I get the courage, Tracy. Maybe at Christmas!!! LOL!
      Thanks so much. We had a wonderful photographer. We were very lucky. There were so many photos I wanted to include, but most of them were hanging off the walls around the house!!! Always the way…. 🙂

  6. […] more amazing wedding stories here. Related Posts:Only in Beverley Hills…A Gnome in any other name is still a […]

  7. Norlin says:

    What a beautiful post and wedding. Your kids would love reading this when they’re older. 🙂

    • Kel says:

      Thanks Norlin. I’m so glad I took the time to write it now. It was such a great experience reliving it all again. I don’t get the wedding photos out near enough!

  8. LisaW says:

    Thanks for sharing your beautiful story Kellie…and for kicking off this fab meme!! Just posted my story too.

    • Kel says:

      Thanks for taking part, Lisa. It’s been great to see how different everyone’s weddings were. And such a fantastic way to lead into the BIG event.
      Which brings me to another point…. Thanks for being my wonderful guest panellist on the Royal Wedding Pyjama Part-ay! Your Royal Wedding knowledge was invaluable. Such a great night. Haven’t laughed that hard in ages! 🙂

  9. Bernice says:

    Beautiful storry, Kellie. You’ve got me feeling a little guilty for being so sassy in my own post! But I’ll make up for it tomorrow 🙂 hahaha

    • Kel says:

      I loved your story, Bernice!!! The way you laid the story out was fantastic – easy reading and totally engaging. Plus those photos were gorgeous! 🙂

  10. i must admit i’m not exactly a huge fan of the whole royal wedding thing, but bernice told me about your plan, and i think the whole idea of everyone writing about their wedding at the same time is great!

    I love the letter to your kids. makes it that much more special, i think.

    • Kel says:

      Thanks Andrew. It’s been great to have so many bloggers willing to tell their stories. For most of us, we spend so much time talking about our kids, it’s nice to turn back the clock and talk about life before they came along (well, for me, anyway! LOL!).
      I loved reading Bernice’s story about your wedding day. I’m keen to read the follow up now!! 😉

  11. Tatum says:

    gorgeous wedding Kellie, you looked stunning. I especially love the train & train track photos! Tatum xx

    • Kel says:

      Thanks Tatum. I so wish I could have uploaded more photos, but didn’t want to overwhelm everyone. LOL!! I might have to do a “Part 2” down the track, so I can whip out a few more. Maybe on our wedding anniversary! 🙂

  12. Kym says:

    Oh my gosh so sorry I didn’t make it last night! I hope it was fun, little miss had to go to bed at the same time as the wedding and then everything was all out of whack, thank goodness for chase play on my recorder!

    • Kel says:

      Oh dear, Kym. 🙂
      Such an exciting night for little girls though, isn’t it? I’m hoping to find some vision of the wedding online tomorrow and show Ella. I somehow managed to get her in bed by 6.45pm, giving me enough time to sit down ready for the “party”!!
      Don’t stress about not making the live chat. We’ll more than likely have another one in the not too distant future. Was a great night. Plenty of laughs (and tears)! 🙂

  13. Cheryl says:

    This is just beautiful. I love the way you depict your day and the photos are idyllic.

    I found your link through Shelley’s blog…and I’m so very glad I did!!

  14. […] so often we pull out our wedding video from the beautiful fishing town of Strahan on Tasmania’s West Coast. Each time Princess Ella asks: “Can we go to the wedding, Mum?’’ We’ve long promised […]

  15. […] to Strahan, on Tassie’s West Coast, to show them the place where we exchanged vows. Long before the wedding day, I cottoned on to the fact this was going to be a longer commitment than the one we made the day we […]

  16. […] For bloggers, Three Li’l Princesses is hosting a Royal Wedding meme today. Just write a post about your wedding day (or how you’re planning for your upcoming big […]

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