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The Big Day Part 1 (The IRL Wedding) The story of our big day, in Lisa's words. This first part describes the lead up to the Register Office Wedding, the ceremony itself, and the family reception afterwards. Note: You make want to print this out to read it - it's quite long! So much seemed to have happened in such a short span of time that this might be a little difficult to follow, but here goes.................. As is customary, the Bride (^Starr_), spent the night before the wedding away from her Groom (^Cloud9). 'To have a party?' you might ask. No, not a party, although her Maid of Honour ^Lissy^ (Lee Craine,^Starr_'s friend from Florida and also the one responsible for introducing Andy (^Cloud9) and Lisa (^Starr_) on IRC) tried her best with the help of P1NWHEEL (Richard Davey, of London, a friend of both Lee and Lisa's from IRC who neither had met until the night before) and Mush (Andrew Kellett, of Derbyshire, a friend of Lee's and a new friend to Lisa from IRC who, again, neither had met until the night before), to get a party started but ^Starr_ fell asleep on the sofa. Not even the offers of champagne to celebrate the following day from P1NWHEEL were heard. ^Starr_ has also been told that several photographs were taken of her whilst sleeping. Thanks guys!! Oh, and by the way, IRC stands for internet relay chat. The sheer amount of people involved in these wedding(s) is unfathomable, hence the fact that we don't have a total count yet. Cybercafes from around the world logged on to join in for the happy event(s). This is getting a bit ahead of the day, so let us back up a bit. ^Starr_ started the day off by rising early (off the sofa) and heading down the road from the bungalo that ^Lissy^ was renting from Mr. & Mrs. Male (it's called Lonsdale - Millers Farm) to the Heatherton Grange Inn, West Buckland, where she gave two live radio interviews - yes two! Even before her first cup of coffee! The first was with Radio Bristol at 8:50am and the second with Somerset Sound at 9:10am. OrchardFM taped an interview the day before and started broadcasting bits and pieces of it at 7:05am. We think all of Britain heard her american accent! There was also a surprise for ^Starr_ in both of these interviews. The woman who had made the much talked about computer wedding cake, Doreen, was also on the phone. It was the first time that ^Starr_ was able to thank her personally for the yet unseen masterpiece. The manager of the Heatherton Grange Inn, Steve, was wonderful to both of us in many, many ways. One of them being the fact that he let ^Starr_ use the hotels phone in the bar (only coffee at this hour!) for the early morning interviews and then let her check into the honeymoon suite afterwards so she could start getting ready for the next group of reporters! After a nice long soak in the tub ^Starr_ began getting ready. At 10:30am ^Lissy^, P1NWHEEL and Mush arrived to help her as well as to take photos (thanks guys!) of the Bride-to-be. The photographer, John Blount, arrived at about 10:45am and he too began snapping away. We can't wait to see the outcome! Some people might think that the above entourage would be enough to shake the calm of any Bride, but not to worry.........reporter Andrea Thomas and cameraman Mike from Westcounty Television arrived at 11:00am to do a 'pre-wedding' filming for their story. Andrea helped ^Starr_ button some difficult buttons on the sleeves of her wedding dress and Mike buckled her new white satin wedding shoes. How's that for getting everyone 'involved'? It should be noted that they had already met with ^Starr_ the previous day at the Taunton Cyber Cafe for two hours where ^Starr_ showed them around CUSEEME (a computer program that allows you to see the person that you are typing and speaking to), their own homepage and the virtual Church that they designed and built on AlphaWorld (another computer program that allows you build in a virtual world as you are simultaneously shown as an avatar). Andrea and Mike were gobsmacked at the sheer enormity of it all. The cameras began to roll! When the television broadcast was aired on the following day quite a bit of footage that was shot at the cyber cafe was pieced in. There was ^Starr_ talking to people from Japan, New York, and New Zealand all at the same time while demonstrating CUSEEME, and shots of their homepage as well as film of a walk around their virtual church on AlphaWorld, complete with the audio of church bells in the background. The flowers, by Judith Goss Florist, arrived in time for the filming. Absolutely beautiful, would be the only way to describe them. The following day ^Cloud9 and ^Starr_ met Judith Goss herself in the bar (is it my imagination, or does it always sound like we're in the bar?) of the Heatherton Grange Inn whereupon Judith came up to both ^Starr_ and ^Cloud9 and gave them her best wishes. The couple thanked her and then told her that the flowers were more than they had ever imagined. Now, back to the filming on the morning of the wedding day. Andrea had ^Lissy^ place the flowers on the bed (a country pine four poster with lace drapery all around!) while the camera was running (what a shot!) and then insisted that ^Starr_ dangle her victorian garter (a gift from her Auntie Joan in Florida) in front of the camera and say "....and Andy, this is for you...", (kind of corny, eh) but, would you believe it......that bit was aired! Time way flying by.........Andrea and Mike were just packing up, John was still taking photos and ^Lissy^ and ^Starr_ were getting hungry! ^Starr_ thought it about time to put on some clothes (enough with the satin dressing gown!) so, with full makeup and earrings, ^Starr_ donned her sweatshirt, jeans and high heels and then they headed downstairs to partake of a bite, prepared especially for them by Leon, the chef at the Heatherton Grange Inn. Incidentally, the food at the Heatherton Grange Inn is AbFab (absolutelyfabulous), for anyone that hasn't been there yet. While waiting for their food and chatting to the staff (by now we felt like one of the 'family') in walked David Garmston of BBC South followed by his camera man Ian. They had arrived for their turn at a 'pre-wedding' interview. The time was now 12:15pm. Unbelieveably cool, calm and collected, ^Starr_ invited both David and Ian to join her, ^Lissy^ and John for a bite. They all sat at a table and chatted away until the food arrived and then with tea cups in hand, David and Ian excused themselves to look around for 'location' shots. It didn't take them long, and with the help and cooperation (again) of Steve and his staff, a computer in the second bar (it was all that there was!) was made available for their use, hence the bit that aired of ^Starr_ typing away to ^Cloud9 (and trying not hit the scotch or vodka key in the process!) as if they were just starry eyed lovers with not a care in the world (think again, for as she typed she was ticking off things on the list in her head and ^Cloud9 had gone into work that morning and then was in the process of helping his father Paul set up the video camera and television sets in the cyber cafe for the cyber ceremonies later on that evening) and that every detail of the wedding was being taken care of by someone else! It was then back up to the honeymoon suite for more filming. At this point ^Starr_ began to wonder if there had ever been so many men in a honeymoon suite with a bride-to-be just before her wedding! Only the Guinness Book of Records knows the answer to that one for sure. Seriously, if a stranger were watching the procession of males entering and exiting (most with broad smiles on their faces) the room they would think that they were witnessing something far more sordid. A maximum of five men at one time were crowding around ^Starr_ and ^Lissy^ (thank you God!) to include, David, Ian, John, P1NWHEEL and Mush. It was now 1:00pm and time to get ready IRL (in real life)! David and Ian filmed ^Lissy^ and ^Starr_ attaching the fresh flowers to her headpiece and trying it on. Their comments were captured on film and were included in that evenings airing. When David began interviewing ^Starr_ and ^Lissy^ he asked John, P1NWHEEL and Mush to step into the bathroom out of the way so Ian could film away without a crowd present. The thought of placing these three characters in the bridal suite bathroom together must not have occured to David because it took alot of concentration for both ^Starr_ and ^Lissy^ to be able to conduct themselves in a serious manner and not to burst out laughing at their funny remarks (it's a good thing that we both have a good sense of humour guys!), and antics. An interview with ^Lissy^ alone followed. David Garmston was fascinated by the fact that both P1NWHEEL and Mush were IRC friends of ^Starr_ and ^Lissy^ and that they both travelled quite far just to attend the wedding and meet the people that they had 'chatted' with online. He even commented that we all appeared to be 'old friends' and that it was amazing that we had only met IRL the night before. ^Starr_ explained to him that this was just another example of how relationships forged online can be even stronger than ones initiated in person because there are no physical distractions and one person can get to know another person in the pure sense of the word. Time to get ready! ^Lissy^ ushered out David and Ian and made sure that John, P1NWHEEL and Mush stayed in the bathroom until ^Starr_ had her bridal dress on. The car that Father of the Groom, Paul Hunt, hired for the occasion was to arrive at 2:45pm. The car, from Special Occasion Vehicles, was an antique American car, a blue 1950 Chevrolet Styline. Who needs a modern limosine when you can be driven around in something like this. We couldn't wait to see it with our own eyes. At 2:00pm, ^Starr_ and ^Lissy^ made a glorious entrance into the bar of the Heatherton Grange Inn to show the staff (Steve, Leon, Heather and the rest) their wedding attire. The oohhhhs and aaahhhhssss were almost deafening. There was a couple waiting at a table by the large bow window and they caught ^Starr_'s eye. ^Starr_ walked up to them and said "You must be Mo and Pete!" "How did you know?", said Mo. "I just knew.", said ^Starr_. At that point Mo gave ^Starr_ a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Amazing how online people act IRL. Mo was an online friend of ^Cloud9 and had been chatting to each other for over a year and, like the others, were not going to meet until after the first wedding. In fact, Pete told ^Starr_ that up until recently (probably about the time that she came into the picture) Mo and ^Cloud9 had a standing 'date' online every sunday morning at 11:00am. Later in the day Mo and Pete told ^Starr_ and ^Cloud9 how fascinating it was to watch their relationship unfold online and that they wouldn't have missed the day for anything. Again, not to be repetitious, this is another example of friendships forged online. John now took several photos of ^Starr_ and ^Lissy^, as did P1NWHEEL and Mush. ^Starr_'s dress was beautiful indeed. In white satin with an off the shoulder fitted bodice of satin roses with pale pink buds inside each rose. The full length sleeves were also made of the same satin roses and the simple, straight skirt of the dress had some of these same satin roses scattered across the front of it. The back of the dress was adorned by a large satin bow that covered the deep slit in the skirt. The head dress was made by ^Lissy^ and ^Starr_ from the train of the dress that wasn't used. The light netting of the train with the white satin roses complete with pale pink buds was attached to a headband and then when the flowers for the head dress arrived with the bouquets they were then attached to the headband. Small, pale pink and white roses with baby's breath and traditional english ivy were the perfect compliment to the dress and of course to the bouquet that coordinated with it. A casual gathering of pale pink roses specially matched earlier to the pale pink buds in the satin roses on ^Starr_'s dress along with dried sea lavender (from Judith's own garden), baby's breath, fern, verigated and dark green ivy all tied casually with wide white satin ribbon to be carried in the crook of the arm so as not to hide the roses on the dress. Exquisite is the only word to describe how it came out. When ^Lissy^ was attaching the head dress in place on ^Starr_'s head her face had a look on it that began ^Starr_ worrying. "Is it that bad?" asked ^Starr_. "No, not at all. It's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! You look the picture of the perfect English Bride!" ^Lissy^ exclaimed. "Your kidding, really?" said ^Starr_. "The perfect English Bride?" "Oh, my God!" "Are you serious?", said ^Starr_ almost in disbelief. ^Starr_ looked at herself in the mirror.......the first twinges of nervousness had just hit! Now ^Lissy^ got ready and put on her dark green velvet dress, but at the last minute decided that the 'scoop' to the back of the dress, accented by soft flowing waves of dark green satin, would look better if she wore it 'backwards' (you got it - backwards). Now the soft flowing waves of dark green satin were 'flowing' on her front instead. If the truth be told, it did look fabulous. The story is digressing just a bit - time to get back to the facts. The antique american car arrived a bit early, so after several pictures of ^Starr_, ^Lissy^ and the car (mostly the car we think) they settled themselves in the back seat. The driver was dressed as a proper chauffer and he had decorated the car with white ribbons from the hood (bonnet) ornament to either side of the shaded windshield (windscreen). There were also white satin bows on the two door handles and in the rear window (just to be special) he had a Union Flag on one side and a Stars and Stripes Flag on the other. The drive to Taunton Register Office was not without any events of its own mind you. Besides all of the looks from people admiring the car, there was even a few people who admired the bride-to-be and her maid of honour! We drove through Taunton City Centre and while stopped at a red light we were first viewed by a couple of young men playing pool (they were probably looking at the car) when a woman, unknown to either ^Starr_ or ^Lissy^ stepped in front of the young men in the centre of the large plate glass window and began miming "Go Back!!" and "Don't Do It!!" while her arms and legs were adding emphasis to it all. She even shouted "Run!!", white imitating a runner. This brought not only smiles but laughter from both ^Starr_ , ^Lissy^ and the driver too! Upon the arrival at the Taunton Register Office of not only the antique american car, but of it's occupants ^Starr_ and ^Lissy^; they were (both car and humans alike) met by an unbelieveable amount of media persons as well as family and friends wielding cameras that then followed (the humans) into the reception of the Register Office. After a brief wait and a chat with the secretary (who told us that the media had been driving them all crazy) ^Starr_ was then ushered into the Deputy Registrars Office where she confirmed her details for the marriage certificate. In keeping with the tradition of the bride and groom not seeing each other until the ceremony ^Cloud9 confirmed his details just before ^Starr_ and was then ushered into the Marriage Room to await the arrival of both ^Starr_ and ^Lissy^. After verifying all of the details on the marriage certificate she was met by ^Lissy^ in the hallway leading to the Marriage Room. The Marriage Room was quite full, not only with the family and friends of the Bride and Groom, but with three, yes three, television camera crews poised and ready to film the event. Westcountry Television, HTV and BBC had set themselves up to film the entire wedding ceremony! No wonder the secretary said that the media had been driving them crazy all day long! The Deputy Registrar asked ^Starr_ and ^Lissy^ to follow her into the Marriage Room and then to take their seats in the front of the room. ^Starr_ and ^Lissy^ entered the Marriage Room and were both amazed at how 'full' it was. They then took their seats in the front, ^Starr_ to the left of ^Cloud9 and ^Lissy^ to her left. Christopher Hunt, ^Cloud9's son, who from now on will be known by the nick 'Rod' (he chose this because he is tall and thin like a rod - makes sense doesn't it?) was the proud ring bearer as he held the silver tray with the two wedding bands on it in front of all of the guests IRL and the television cameras. The ceremony was brief and went off without a hitch even though the camera lights were almost blinding. Immediately after the ceremony there were microphones and cameras coming at the Bride and Groom from every direction. Even the Deputy Registrar was quite surprised when she was asked to re-enact a portion of the ceremony for the cameras. Next it was cameras flashing as even more photos were taken of the couple signing the Registry Book and then pictures of ^Starr_, ^Cloud9 and Rod together behind the Registrars desk. The couple then asked the media if they could meet them outside to give family and friends a chance to photograph them. As they were leaving the Marriage Room to meet the media outside ^Starr_ spotted Mo and Pete and stopped abruptly in her tracks. ^Cloud9 looked a bit puzzled for a second until ^Starr_ introduced both Mo and Pete to him. Was he surprised! In all of the stress and confusion of the day he had forgotten that they were coming! ^Starr_ was holding ^Cloud9's right hand and Rod's left hand when the 'new family' emerged from the building to be greeted by the media. As soon as was humanly possible, at this point, Simes and ^Lissy^ made a 'break for it' and quickly got out of the line of camera shot. Hmmmmmm, why are they camera shy? When the happy trio now known as 'The Hunts' were in close enough proximity confetti was thrown at them from every direction. ^Starr_ even managed to 'catch' quite a bit of it in the front of her wedding dress! All the while the television cameras were rolling and the newspaper photographers were snapping away. By now you are probably wondering about the weather. Good ol' English weather. Cold and rainy you guessed? Blustery? Drizzly? Wrong! It was November 1st and unbelieveably mild - imagine that! But, the most amazing thing of all was that it never, ever rained on the wedding party! Nobody even needed a coat! While still in front of the Taunton Register Office surrounded by family and friends (who were almost outnumbered by the media) taking photographs, the well known 'CyberCouple' graciously gave each and every reporter an interview and posed for what seemed like a ba-zillion photos! Several of the photos were of ^Starr_ sitting on ^Cloud9's lap while he was sitting on the magnificent chrome bumper on the front of the antique car. The time was now about 4:15pm so ^Starr_, ^Cloud9 settled themselves into the back seat of the massive blue 1950 Chevrolet Styline. Rod joined them and was sat between them as they began the long, yet peaceful drive through the countryside back to the Heatherton Grange Inn for a small reception meal for family and friends. At one point the 'Cyber Family' considered doing the 'royal wave' to all of the curious wellwishers in the streets of Taunton. Their arrival at the Heatherton was not without any ceremony as all the customers in the bar and restaurant were calling out congratulations. There were a total of 17 members at the family reception: Bride (^Starr_), Groom (^Cloud9), Ring Bearer (Rod), Maid of Honour (^Lissy^), Best Man (Simes), Father of the Groom (Paul), Mother of the Groom (Jean), Aunt of the Groom (Greta), Brother of the Groom (Shogun), Brothers Girlfriend (Louise), Sister of the Groom (Jeanette), Cousin of the Groom (Lis), Photographer (John), Friends (P1NWHEEL, Mush, Mo and Pete). Again, photographs were taken (you know, the traditional ones of the whole family) and a wonderful hot buffet was enjoyed by all (thanks again Leon!) as well as a special 'Death By Chocolate' dessert shared by the Bride and Groom. At this same time, totally unbeknownst to the bride and groom, there were several television crews and photographers amassing themselves at the Taunton Cyber Cafe to continue the media blitz. They were beginning to get nervous and were pestering Phil Ikin (philski) of the Taunton Cyber Cafe and the Virtual Usher, Robert Nash (The_Usher) about the news deadlines that they all had to meet. Find out what happens next by going to The Big Day - Part 2 (The IRC Wedding).
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