The Perfect Civil Partnership Ceremony
Competition Entry from Geoff in Tyne and Wear
My partner and I have been together now for about ten years, and we had our civil partnership ceremony a year ago on April 18 2009. We decided to have a relatively small affair and only invited 50 guests, so close family and friends only. It worked out really well, as a lot of them already knew each other, and those that didn't soon did, so that by the end of the night everyone was getting on like a house on fire.
In the weeks before the big day, I'd scoured our photo collection for shots of everyone who was coming (the more humiliating the better!). I then put all of the photos onto a dvd and had this playing on a widescreen tv in the main room of the wedding throughout the afternoon. It was a fantastic talking point, and all day there were cries of shock and laughter as the photos from the past came back to haunt our guests!
Just before we had our meal in the evening I had organised a surprise for my partner, Mauricio. He's latino, so is always going on about how great latin dancers are, so I brought in a troupe of dancers to perform a medley of salsa and meringue for us. The girls came in covered in capes, so people were a bit baffled, then his favourite song came on (Suavemente) and they threw off the capes and danced the night away. Everyone was up on the feet, cheering and dancing, and the atmosphere was electric.
My one big regret of the night was that I wanted to keep the dancers a complete secret from everybody that I forgot to ask somebody to video it. We have a couple of clips that guests recorded, but I suppose my one piece of advice would be that although you might not think that you will want something recorded beforehand, chances are afterwards you will, so always ask somebody to record parts of your day.
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