It’s official – Super Sarah is now my Super Wife! After 11 and a half years, we have finally tied the knot! The delay was not due to the fact that we are both commitment phobes but because that is how long we had to wait before we could marry, rather than enter into a Civil Partnership. This was important to us and we were rewarded for our patience.

Even better news: my little brother and his lovely wife married just a month before we did! In a beautiful ceremony, they held hands and vowed to love each other forever. It has been a magical month and I am so happy for all of us newly weds!

Now how does someone with MS that battles daily fatigues make it through two weddings in a month I hear you ask? Well let me share the details:

At my brother’s wedding, I was too busy smiling to notice the fatigue. From watching my brother stare, mesmerized as his bride-to-be walked down the aisle towards him, to the moment they walked back down the aisle arm-in-arm, I was transfixed.

At my own wedding, anxiety was the key issue. I must mention that I was not apprehensive about marrying my beautiful Super Sarah. My MS has progressed and I do not spend a lot of time on my feet these days but I really wanted to walk with my love, down the aisle, to our seats. I was determined to do it but I was anxious about walking in front of all of our guests.

There were some very interesting incidents at my brother’s wedding, involving me, that I will share with you. I am sitting comfortably in my mobility scooter, aiming for the top of a grassy hill where the beautiful wedding photos will be taken when the power suddenly dies. It dawns on me that I am stuck half way up a grass hill and I start to feel a bit distressed when my lovely brother and his best man come to my rescue! I casually pushed up the remainder of the hill much to my relief. All I needed were grapes and a fan and it would have been true luxury!

After the photos were taken, I am quickly brought back down to Earth when I suddenly remember that I need to find a way down the hill without going into freefall! That is where my brothers friends, some strapping young men, come to my rescue! I am wheeled to safety and the scooter is abandoned in our hotel room whilst we await the delivery of my manual wheelchair by the Amazing Andy.

A short while later, we sit down to a fantastic meal. I treated myself to 3 whole sips of Champagne (I don’t drink alcohol due to my medication) as this was a special day. With a full tummy and 3 sips of Champagne, I suddenly realise how tired I feel. I don’t drink caffeine usually as it affects my anxiety but I was desperate to stay awake so another treat was had alongside dessert.

With a caffeine coursing through my veins, I felt invincible. The band started to play and Super Sarah and I danced the night away. I stayed awake until the very end, watching my brother and his new wife dance, cut cake and laugh. I slept like a baby that night!

I woke up the next morning with a funny feeling in my foot. Once I convinced my legs to roll out of the side of the bed, I slowly positioned my feet on the floor. I then heaved myself onto up and started to walk (well, my zombie walk anyway). I discovered that my limp was more pronounced and there was a strange pain in my foot! I continued my shuffle towards the bathroom when I stopped and turned to Super Sarah and shouted with glee “I have a dancing injury!”. And the term dancing foot was born!

After this amazing day, I knew I could handle my own wedding day, I just had to plan. With this in mind, I did not go near the exercise bike, to conserve energy, the week before our big day (my body is still punishing me for this!). Super Sarah helped me arrange everything in advance so that I actually had very little to do in the morning of our wedding.

The first item on the agenda was to visit the Amazing Andy’s flat for breakfast and to have our hair done. I should mention that the hairdresser was there meeting us, Amazing Andy is not getting anywhere near my hair!

My hair was perfect and all I needed to do now was simply climb into my suit. Except that I was a little stressed thinking about the room of people that I was marrying in front of so I had chopsticks, not legs that day.

But with a little help from my mum, the suit was on and I awaited Super Sarah joining me in the living room. When she came towards me in her wedding dress, my breath caught in my throat and nothing in the world could wipe the grin off my face. My beautiful future wife was by my side!

How is it possible that we know and love this many people? That is the question running through my mind after we arrived at the Registry Office and our friends and family filed past us on their way to the marvelous room where we would marry. Whilst feeling incredibly lucky, I had to marry my love in front of everyone. I started to feel a little apprehensive about the walk that I was about to embark on!

Standing at the doors to the room where we were to marry, hearing the chatter from those inside, my heart was pounding. Suddenly the doors opened and I could see the faces of our friends and family looking towards us. As the sound of Tracy Chapman’s ‘The Wedding Song’ floated through the air towards me, the big moment had come, it was time to walk down the aisle. I place my bad foot forward and started the walk towards my future.

You will be happy to hear that I successfully walked down the aisle, using my wheelchair as a walker, and I think I even managed a smile. It took me a good minute to convince my legs to bend when I reached my seat but everything felt right, I was sitting next to Super Sarah, holding her hand, exchanging vows. I should mention that she cried all the way through!

Our first hour of marriage consisted of a series of photographs with our photographer Gina of Mungo Love (I would recommend her to anyone, she was incredible on the day and caught the shots we so desperately wanted with ease). On this occasion, we were on concrete in a manual wheelchair without a battery pack so there were no breakdowns!

We had decided that it would be best for me to pop home between the ceremony and the reception to keep my anxiety and fatigue at bay – this was a brilliant idea. But soon after this, we joined Gina at our local beach for a wedding day photoshoot, just the two of us.

Whilst we were doing this, our close friends and family were preparing the wedding reception for us. They planned, organised and decorated beautifully. We were both so happy when we entered the building and were welcomed by their amazing work!

I didn’t have caffeine coursing through my veins this time as we had been so busy. Our first dance was pretty much me flopped over Super Sarah as she moved side to side, as a sea of faces looked on.

Have I mentioned our cake yet? Our cake was amazing! after a brief panic that it hadn’t arrived yet, I watched the cake being carried into the room and I was in awe! Let me explain this to you: it was a 3 tier square cake, from one side it looked quite traditional with the white fondant icing and lylic stars then as you worked your way round the cake, the icing started to pull away. The other side was decorated like Lego (Rainbow Lego) so it looked like the cake was actually built out of Lego! On the top, instead of the traditional bride & bride, we had a Lego Wonder Woman and a Lego Cat Woman figures. This made me very happy!

After dancing and chatting all night, the time came to draw the party to a close. I was exhausted but thankfully a kind friend stayed behind to drive the newly-weds home.

When we reached home, we were faced with a huge pile of cards and presents from our incredibly generous guests! Super Sarah went off to make toast (which actually turned into just buttered bread as she didn’t have the energy to make toast). and we the lept into the pile of cards with gusto. After opening two cards, we decided that we would appreciate the kindness of friends and family better in the morning! I slept like a baby that night too and I am happy to report that I woke up with no dancing injuries!

I have no lesson to share with you as a conclusion other than, even with MS lurking over your shoulder, the big days are amazing. Feel the joy and be carried away with these important moments. They will form the most amazing memories and make your life incredible!