Let's rock A
'n' roll
On the 29th September 2018,
Laura Butlin-Policarpo said
'I do' in front of a close group
of friends and family.
She shares her story
Photographs by
Sophie Darwin Photography
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s someone who has battled chronic
stress and anxiety, ‘You’re the calmest
bride we’ve ever seen’ was not the
image I had thought I would project
the morning of my wedding. Neither would I
have predicted I would feel calm, but I did -
even after my bridesmaids’ taxi failed to arrive.
My day started with an unplanned drive;
pyjamas on, maid of honour by my side. A
mild adrenaline rush, coupled with continuous
laughter next to two of my best friends. The
perfect start to the best day of my life.
We set up make shift beauty stations as a
slow, drawn out get-ready began. Drawn out
because, with the ceremony starting at one
thirty, we had given ourselves plenty of time -
or so I’d thought. How did midday approach
so quickly? Had I eaten enough? Who was I
kidding, three bacon sandwiches were more
than enough! The variety of smoothies we
had pre arranged; in case I wasn’t hungry…
had barely been touched. Hair and makeup
was drawing to a close. I chose to do my own
makeup, a decision I’m glad I’d stuck to. I
nearly talked myself into coercing the makeup
artists attending to my bridesmaids into doing
mine too. But the truth is, I wanted to feel like
myself, I’ve always loved skincare and makeup
so my fear of not resembling a better version of
myself won out.
Time got the better of us, it was 12 o’clock
and none of us were dressed. There was no
time for questions to flood my mind. How
was Danny feeling? Was he nervous at all? The
beauty of a modern wedding is you make your
own rules. We had decided not to speak after
we’d said our farewells the night before. When
planning our wedding we’d kept the traditions
we liked and shunned the ones that didn’t
resonate with us. Our engagement lasted under
a year, even though it had taken me a couple of
months to decide what kind of day I wanted.
My suggested wedding plans had varied from a
three-day festivity to a spontaneous elopement.
I admit I have never been the most decisive
of beings. I was lucky that Danny had been
hands-on with wedding plans, it was a labour
of love we worked on together. He is the yin to
my yang. I am the dreamer and he is the doer.
I hugged my mum goodbye and waved my
bridal party off. I sat next to my dad and we
drove for ten minutes before stopping. Not far
from La Hougue Bie, our ceremony location.
The butterflies I had been waiting for arrived.
This was it. This was the moment Danny would
see me, and I would see him. The moment I
would marry the love of my life. The moment
I would marry the love of my life beneath a
canopy of greenery, with the sun shining, in
front of 30 of our closest friends and family. I
took a deep breath, I was ready. My dad turned
to me, “let’s rock ‘n’ roll”.