Wedding :: Marriage

I married my husband Paul in September 2011, at Lake Bled, Slovenia. Here's some more details:

:: The Engagement ::

:: Arrival in Stockholm, Sweden ::

Paul proposed back in February 2010. We'd gone to Sweden on holiday. It was really cold and snowy. We flew into Stockholm and then flew to Kiruna in northern Sweden (Lappland). It was cold it Stockholm but the temperature dropped -20 degrees as we headed north. Brrr.




We had a great time in Kiruna, sampling local specialities like reindeer meat (very nice, quite strong tasting) and going snowshoeing and trying skidoo-ing. Both snowshoeing and skidoo-ing were loads of fun.

:: Gotham City room ::

On the day of the proposal we had hired a car and so took the opportunity to go and see the famous Ice Hotel. My favourite room was the Gotham City room. I loved the city scene ice sculptures.

:: Absolute Ice Bar ::

We also visited the Absolute Ice Bar where we had cold drinks out of glasses made of ice.The Ice Hotel was amazing. Definitely worth visiting. I didn't realise but it melts every year and they wait till it freezes and then they rebuild it.

After spending time at the Ice Hotel we drove onto Abisko National Park. The plan was to have some food then take the chairlift to the top of the mountain. On a good night there would be the opportunity to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) but there were no guarantees.

:: -23 temp & -30 windchill ::

We had elk stew in the restaurant (very nice; not as strong as reindeer) and got our tickets for the chairlift. We were given all-in-one snow suits to wear on top of our normal ski suits. We thought "how ridiculous" but actually we were eternally grateful. It was -30 degrees C at the top of the mountain. Soooo cold.

We took the chairlift. It was an open seat for two. We heard the next day that the night before it had broken down and people were left for over an hour in the open air in -30 degrees. I can't imagine how cold that would've been. We reached the top successfully and wandered onto the snow.

As we travelled up the chairlift we saw the beginnings of the Northern Lights. Paul wanted to go and take some photos so I joined him for a while before I headed inside to get warm. My hair and glasses were freezing with my breath. After a while Paul returned inside and told me the Northern Lights were really doing their thing and being very impressive in terms of the show:

 :: This photo came from the webcam at Abisko National Park ::

Paul invited me outside and we went and stood together, a bit away from the rest of the people on the moutain. Paul had his iPod with him and suggested I listen to a couple of songs with him. He asked me to listen to Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars and Shut Your Eyes.

Chasing Cars is a lovely song and many people will know it. It's a song about lying close beside someone. 

Shut Your Eyes takes a slightly different slant. It begins with

"Shut your eyes and think of somewhere
Somewhere cold and caked in snow"

which, as Paul said, was totally apt for where we were. More importantly it suggests that when you are down that you think of a special place and it should help de-stress you.

After we had listened to the songs I noticed Paul seemed a bit nervous. I thought nothing of it and enjoyed the moment. The lights were going mad at that moment, really lighting the sky. It was like a graphic equalizer.

Paul turned to me and told me he loved me (more than once). For a moment there was silence....I filled the silence with waffle about people looking at the Lights and noticed that Paul was no longer stood next to me and was in fact down on one knee.

I couldn't quite believe it. He said "Will you Miss E* J* do me the honour of being my wife?" I said "Are you serious? Are you joking? You'd better not be joking" so he repeated it again. I was in utter shock. He had bought a ring before we came away on holiday and so I knew it wasn't a spur of the moment decision which I initally suspected - I thought he might've got swept away in the moment. 

I was thrilled. The ring was exactly the type I wanted. I went for a traditional Trilogy representing past, present and future. 

:: :: :: :: ::

And so we began planning our Wedding...

 :: The Wedding ::