Shout out to Mr & Mrs Orndal.

Part of the reason of me heading back to Manchester in December was to be there for the marriage of my brother Alex to my  now wonderful sister-in-law Claire.

Obviously no one told them that red and green should never been seen.

I jest of course, they look wonderful and the pictures are beautiful. Their photographer was my lovely friend Jade Langton-Evans (you can like her on Facebook here!) and this photo was from their engagement shoot.

I got back just four days before the wedding and for two days I played the role of bridesmaid. All day Friday by helping set up and then all day Saturday just looking beautiful.

Friday was rather stressful as we tried to turn the church cultural hall into a wedding wonderland. Alex and I spent 5 hours trying to create some kind of marquee. I felt like Bob the Builder while hammering the fabric onto the frame and fixing it to the walls. Once that was all up, the tables had been put in place and chairs covered, it was time to begin tying the bows on the chairs. By the end of it all, I think the transformation had been a success. Claire and her family had so much effort into creating all the little details and all their hard work( really paid off. It looked beautiful.

Once I got home there were still plenty of little jobs that needed doing but unfortunately jet lag had caught up with me and I passed out. In my defense though it was like 11pm.

I didn't take many pictures on the day, mainly because I was a little bit too busy and carrying around my camera wasn't really a priority. The service was lovely, the reception ticked the right boxes: good food and an amazing playlist, even if I do say so myself. My younger brother David was best man and I knew he was nervous about giving his speech, so I was nervous for him but he did an excellent job and he didn't even use any of the material I had prepared for him. I swear I wasn't offended.

It was also wonderful to see all my family that I hadn't seen since getting home - My dad, Jamilya and my baby brother Erik, (who is gorgeous and has grown up so much!) my aunts, uncles and cousins. It was lovely to see my aunts and cousin from Norway who I hadn't seen for about 18months. My aunts were looking beautiful in their Norwegian traditional dress.

Had a blast at the evening reception dancing the night away. The highlight for me was the end of the night when there were just three people left on the dancefloor - two young beautiful girls and my Grandad. The song was S&M by Rihanna and my Grandad was having the time of his life.

Congratulations Alex & Claire!!

[my dad's photos]