The bells are ringing

...for me and my man.

Well, maybe we didn't have the bells or the church but we did have confetti and two wonderful witnesses as Stephen and I made honest men of each other when we married on Friday, 8th May.

I thought you were already married,' said by more than one person when told the news. We did, indeed, carry out an unofficial ceremony very early in our relationship ,in a marquee in the back garden of our then home in Sale. However, now that I am a man of means with independent wealth (i.e. my teacher's pension) Stephen wants to make sure he can get his hands on it legally.

So it was then that at 11am on Friday morning we set out with Ingrid and Dianne for Accrington Registry Office in time for the 12 o'clock ceremony. After a little bit of manoeuvring round the streets of Accrington (if Stephen wanted to know the post code for a car park then he should have said that, not 'Where is it?' which suggests he wanted the one for the office), Dianne parked up, changed her shoes and we headed for Willow Street.

Stephen would have it that it was like something from a Victoria Wood sketch. The Registry Office itself is in the Mechanics Institute, a fine old Victorian building, peopled by charming ladies of a certain age in Jacques Vert. We were ushered into the anteroom (why it had a no parking cone in it I am not sure - maybe they use it when local celebrities get hitched and they need to park the Audi) where much merriment ensued, which may have been due to mild hysteria or, more likely, to the fact that we were all so happy.

I was called through first to confirm the details for the marriage certificate and to go over what would happen during the ceremony, and then it was Stephen's turn. Fortunately, he had taken off his scarf before going in or there may have been some sort of investigation into why I was marrying him (based, I should think, on why on earth I would want to and did I know what I was letting myself in for).

And then it was time for the ceremony, which was all we wanted it to be. We exchanged our vows and rings and I read Song from Arcadia (which you can see if you click on the picture) before signing the register and taking pictures of the wedding party. Outside, there was a bit of confusion over the best way to throw the confetti (how?) and the chance for more pictures then it was back on with the sandals for Dianne as she drove us to the wedding breakfast at The Eagle and Child. (Again, if you click on the picture it will take you to the website.)

As always, we had a fab meal and friendly service - not to mention two bottles of prosecco and a pretty hand made chocolate box filled with caramel chocolates as our wedding cake, courtesy of the pub. We then headed home, where I opened my present from Stephen: a wonderful collection of mismatched china cups, saucers and sideplates, ready for English lessons with tea and cake when I set up business in Italy. And so it was time to kick off our wedding best and take the dogs out for a walk before slobbing about on the settee for the rest of the day, eating pizza for tea and watching Pointless.

The perfect end to a more than perfect day.