Claire and Russell at the Marriott Tudor Park

A new year, a new start.  For MyWeddingStory and the Marriott Tudor Park too!  It’s a little while since I was over there for a wedding and in the meantime they have spent a reported £4 million on redevelopments.  It certainly looked pretty posh.  But I wasn’t there just to look, it was Clair and Russel’s wedding!

Of course that’s not Russell’s suit hanging up next to Claire’s dress.  It a gorgeous miniature suit for their son Harris.  Here he is with his mother in her tiara.  And yes, you’ll note that he’s not wearing his suit yet.  It took a short while to persuade him….

The guys were much more organised.  I’d already been over to take pictures of them getting ready (OK, mostly they were drinking champagne) at the Hilton in Maidstone.  Same suits, less fuss

And of course when everybody was ready, it was time for the wedding.  Harris played his part beautifully delivering the rings, Claire looked fabulous, Russell got nearly all the words right and Liam gave a perfect reading.  What did you expect?  Every wedding story is perfect.

After the wedding it was time for fun.  The weather was a little chilly, but that didn’t stop Claire and Russell popping outside for some beautiful portraits.  Even if Claire did have to nip into the gym to warm up!

While inside, there was a conjurer to entertain, err, the children….

While the guys managed to check out the improvements at the hotel….

…and show off their cufflinks.

Two things will stick in my mind from the wedding more than anything.  Firstly there’s the slightly unusual (but totally delicious) “cake”.  Yes they are donuts.  Yes they are crispy.  And the one I tried had cream in it.  That would make them a tower of Krispy Kreme Donuts.  And scrummy.

The second would be the amazing sing-along-a-speech.  Which followed the soon to be famous Mexican Cuddle.  Really – you had to be there.

And of course, no wedding could be complete without a first dance.  This time beautifully choreographed to the lilting sounds of the Fat Back Band.  What you wanted a normal wedding song?  This was the wrong day for “normal”.  We were there to have fun.

The kind of fun that makes you run round the room screaming!

More pictures when they return from honeymoon.  In the meantime you can leave your messages for the new Mr and Mrs Durnford in the box below.