Heather and Mark’s Real Life Wedding
Heather and Mark
2nd October 2000
How did you meet?
Mark and I met three and a half years ago in our local pub (we lived very close to each other), and were engaged on holiday in Dublin two and a half years ago. We then decided to set up home together and the rest is history.
Tell us about your wedding ceremony and reception
Neither of us is particularly religious so we immediately searched for a suitable civil wedding, and eventually decided they were not quite right for us. That’s when we started looking abroad – a decision I definitely have no regrets about! We chose Moon Palace Resort in Cancun and flew direct to Cancun on the 25th September with Air 2000.
We were lucky enough to have a flight upgrade, which was wonderful – the 10 hour flight really wasn’t that bad. We had a lovely week preparing for the wedding and topping up our tans! The wedding coordinator was excellent and the greatest difficulty I had was choosing my bouquet from such a huge selection (there was a wedding album full).
The hotel was absolutely huge but a dream come true for us – the beautiful rooms all had a double Jacuzzi. On arrival we were greeted with a bottle of champagne on ice, a vase of roses and a fruit basket and petit fours! On the day of our wedding, the room was decorated throughout with towels shaped as swans with “just married” on them! The wedding day was wonderful – we had a bit of a scare as there was a hurricane which was edging closer and closer to us. It was actually in Belize, but for two days before the wedding we had torrential rain and it looked as if we were going to have to get married inside! However, luckily, on the wedding day things were fine. The weather was absolutely fabulous – we sunbathed in the morning and then prepared for the ceremony at 5.30pm. This was the latest a wedding could be organised and I was very glad as the sun set during our photographs, and it was far far cooler for us than some of the couples who married at midday. We also have a beautiful album of 40 photographs and a video so family and friends were able to appreciate the wedding day too.
After the photographs, we went for a special meal where a candlelit table was set-aside for us in one of the restaurants, which was very private and felt special. We enjoyed loads of champagne with our meal and then had our wedding cake for desert (well a slice or two anyway). We then made our way into the hotel lobby bar area where an orchestra were playing – everyone in the bar area stood up and clapped and cheered our entrance, and the orchestra played ‘My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion for us! I was wearing a traditional satin wedding gown in a 50’s style with a huge train (Mark was gob smacked as I usually wear very simple clothing) and it was worth all the effort of transporting it to Cancun. Mark wore a sand coloured suit with a gold tie, which showed off his tan no end!
The hotel has just over 2000 rooms so there were loads of weddings and even more honeymooners. We enjoyed breakfast in bed a couple of times and we had a special honeymooners cocktail party with canapés where our picture was taken and we received a free print – afterwards we enjoyed our privacy at a special honeymooners meal (almost completely alone – except for the wonderful waiter). Cancun was very very nice – we had loads to keep us occupied. Mark tried windsurfing and scuba diving; we both went snorkeling, on jet skis and even on a speedboat! I tried decorating ceramics (tried being the operative word!) and we went to the magnificent pyramids and ruins at Chitchen Itza, on a romantic lobster dinner cruise, on a jungle tour – we really had a wonderful, wonderful time!
When we came home, we had a reception for 200 at a club where we are both members, the Beaky Club in Cockbrook, Ashton Under Lyne. A female cabaret artist called “Ember Lee” provided the entertainment, and we had a disco – we had a wonderful night and the club was packed to the rafters. Afterwards we stayed at a local hotel as a final treat before we returned to reality. A friend’s mum rather kindly made our wedding cake which consisted of a suitcase on a beach with all the stickers from places in Cancun – everything was edible including the beach and the seashells (everyone commented on how wonderful it looked).
