You never truly appreciate the challenges of organising a wedding until you organize your own. Having said that, ever since August 2011, I have a much better appreciation of the herculean task undertaken by generally the Bride and to a smaller extent the Groom. Although we were unable to get the hashtag #meeshwedsteg trending on Twitter in the UK there are many more “hi-tech” things I would have done now compared to six years ago but I digress.

When my brother-in-law proposed to Katy in Disney World, Florida, United States of America – we had little idea of what to expect on their wedding some two years later. Katy is an English graduate, an English Primary School Teacher and English Rose. Shakespeare would have to play an important part in the theme.

Summertime in the UK can be indifferent weather-wise, but nevertheless, I booked my time off work with 18 months notice. I could not risk having a team member taking the same week off. Did somebody say Logistics was my middle name?

You meet many characters in our lives. I would describe the gentleman who sold Steve and me our wedding suits as an Asian Delboy Trotter. We booked in 13th May (the weekend before the FA Cup Final) to trek over to London and get our tweed three pieces. My brother-in-law had done all the ground-work, so we knew the exact retailer who sold these Marc Darcy suits. Although I believe I should actually be given a gold medal for finding this particular clothing line in Derbyshire with less than a year to go. This is, in fact, is actually worth going on a little tangent for!

In late August last year we had a week-long staycation in the Peak District. You forget that there is some beautiful countryside in our beloved England. Our final tourist stop before we flew down to Northampton to collect my new car, was the quintessential village of Bakewell. While walking around the shops we found Rural Threads. I just had to take some photographs. We had just found the clothing line that would dress Mr. Steve Vicknesh Palanivel. My job was only half done.

Coming into London from Bracknell is a little more complicated than from Slough or Wycombe but we planned a great day out and I then had drinks for a friends birthday over in Shepperds Bush. Mission suit involved finding the shop and being greeted by the supervisor who quickly suited us up and Steve had his olive tweed three-piece for the wedding. I was proud to have helped in my own little way, although to be fair, Steve had done all the legwork to find the stockist in London with the biggest collection that we could browse. The next biggest warehouse would have meant a trip up to Manchester. We had a wonderful walk down past Westminster after our lunch at a Turkish restaurant in Wood Green.

Getting my outfit was a little complicated but I would rather no go into that. I do want to mention a little story. When I first met Steve, I picked him and Michelle up from their house in Langley and we drove to Krispy Kreme in Slough. On route, as it was sunny I put on my sunglasses. I asked my future brother-in-law for his opinion. He said “I could do better”. I knew when I finally got around to buying sunglasses again, some eight years later I had to be on point. The event I would buy those glasses for in particular would be Steve & Katy’s Wedding and I believe I got the blessing from not just Steve but his cousins. I never thought I could pull off the Hugo Boss plastic sunglasses look. More on that item later.

Such a wonderful English country wedding within the awe-inspiring grounds of Wasing Park. Katy looked so elegant in her dress. Walking down the aisle up to the Summer House. People, I would like to also mention that I have learned the art of self-control. I took only a selection of photographs which I am sharing publicly for the first time. Why risk the enjoyment of the day (my own and other guests) by being trigger happy on my camera phone. Katy and Steve were paying professionals to capture all those special moments. Plus friends would capture some amazing footage on video throughout the day.

It was a wonderful day – I had a wonderful time and I was lucky to able to have a front-row seat. Mainly as Michelle had been asked to sign the register alongside Katy’s younger brother Jordan. I got to meet Steve’s extended family, some of whom had been unable to attend our own wedding and therefore were new acquaintances, although they felt like old friends. In particular, I want to give a shoutout to one cousin from down under – Naren (or rather Renny as he prefers to be called). He was great company throughout the event alongside his brother Tharsan from Dubai.

I am strong believer the people that take the best photos of us all, are complete strangers. One of Katy’s close friends captured the day in such a candid way, she may have even done a better job than the professional photographer. Now how do I update my profile photo across all my platforms and should I really crop out Michelle?