We did it!

OMG! We did it!! We're finally married. After 2083 days (or 5 years, 8 months and 13 days) of being engaged we finally tied the knot and we really couldn't be happier (unless we win the lottery of course). It's a relief to have finally done it but we're glad we waited as long as we did as it gave us the chance to develop as a couple and really understand what we wanted from our wedding day. Plus we saw some of our old photos recently and we would have looked like we were playing dress up if we had got married in 2008 like we originally planned to.

It was a beautiful day and we were so glad that we had our families there to share the day with us. You can view some of the wedding pictures taken by guests and our "minimoon" photos on the Photo Album page. We should have the official wedding photos back soon and we'll put them up on the site as soon as we can.

Marie-Anne looked incredibly stunning in her dress, like something out of magazine and Daniel was very dashing too. The ceremony was wonderful and we both couldn't stop smiling the whole day.

The reception was fantastic too and we both ate so much we though we were going to burst out of our nice clothes.

Keith gave a lovely speech and we're told Daniel's wasn't too shabby either (it made Daniel's sister cry!)

And to finish off a perfect day we stayed in the most beautiful hotel, Bristol Hotel Du Vin, in a stunning room with a complimentary bottle of champagne.

After a lazy start to our first day as a married couple and an amazing breakfast we made our way home and Mr Cowan carried Mrs Cowan over the threshold and enjoyed a lovely meal at home courtesy of Marks and Spencer's Dine in for £10 deal (stuffed mushrooms followed by a posh fish pie and a yummy lemon cheesecake). Maddy enjoyed a few bites of the posh fish pie as it was her 7th birthday!

On the Sunday we had a long drive to Cornwall as we hit some traffic problems on the way but we weren't in a rush so that was okay.

We had a lovely time in Cornwall doing some Treasure Trails which are set walks with a twist. The idea is to spot things on your way using the clues and use the answers to crack a code to save the world from an evil genius, work out who the murderer is or where treasure is buried. It's a bit cheesy but they were good fun and as Daniel has a deep dislike for walking just for the sake of it (he prefers walking to get to where he is going) it was a great way to explore the area as the puzzles in the Treasure Trails had a purpose and a destination.

We had a nice day in the Eden Project and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at a "Cyder" farm with free tastings of ciders, fruit wines, jams and chutneys.

It was really nice just to get away and have a break and now we can't wait for the proper honeymoon in the New Year. We still have a little more to save towards the honeymoon but we're almost there.

Thank you to everyone for our wedding presents and contributions towards the wedding and honeymoon, we really wouldn't be able to have our dream honeymoon without all of your generous gestures.

Until the next update!