The past few days have passed in a blur of work and getting ready to be away for a week. Packing clothes, jewellery, fascinators, shoes, bridesmaids gifts, cards, presents etc are all fraught with worry in case I forget something essential.

I am especially fraught as I forgot to book our trip over to France before now, so we are left with either the option of leaving around 3.30am (and getting there in plenty of time), or leaving at 8am (getting to the wedding 1 hour before it starts). This would give us more sleep and ensure we would not be grumpy by lunchtime, but wouldn't leave us with much time to change etc and also I have to adjust my sister's jewellery as she'll decide on the necklace length she wants on the day. Neither option seem ideal.

In the end we leave at 7am and head for the Eurotunnel with our fingers crossed we can get on an earlier crossing. Fortunately we do and soon we are driving through the empty French roads.

When my sister chose her wedding date, and venue, we all began praying for sunshine. Unfortunately the sheer amount of rain we have suffered recently hasn't left us hopeful. But as we leave the house there hasn't been rain for around 24 hours and we are ever hopeful. Then by the time we hit France the sun has come out and shines all around us. Now we're worrying if we'll be too hot!

With the wind behind us I get to my parents' house in time to sit with my sister and see her getting her hair done, say a quick hello to all the relatives from Ireland that I haven't seen for about a decade (where does the time go?) and adjust jewellery.

Soon it's time to squeeze into my new dress and shoes and place my blue-glitter adorned bird fascinator on my head. He's now blue as I decided orange or red didn't make him stand out enough and by the time I tried to paint him again he was getting smudgy so the best solution seemed to be covering him in glue and glitter. I wish I could apply that simple formula to anything else in my life which needed fixing.

Then it's a 2 minute walk to the church where the ceremony is very personal. The couple had asked 11 other couples to write words of advice based on these words from Corinthians. Being non-religious these meant nothing to me before the ceremony, but hearing people speak with wisdom and humour on what the phrases meant to them in their lives and relationships, they seem pretty good words for anyone to live by.

Ceremony over, and the first of many emotional tears shed (it's a weird experience seeing your baby sister getting married) it was time for photos before the short walk back to my parents' garden where we all waited for the food and celebrations to begin. Fortunately my sister had planned for the hot day, and is not one to leave a second unplanned (or unenjoyed) so we all got to enjoy glasses of Pimms, eat vanilla ice-cream or strawberry sorbet in cones and pop along to the 'photo-booth' where a digital camera was set up with a range of props (including fake moustaches, glasses and beards) where we could all take photos of each other and get to know the other guests better in moments of ridiculous hilarity.

Fortunately my sister is blessed with good taste (what do you mean it must have skipped me?) and I knew the day and all she had planned would be simple, elegant and personal to them and it was. Anyone who says the whole wedding was an excuse to by fabric and crockery would be lying. That's only the second reason she's having a wedding.

The meal, a buffet with a lamb and pig roast, took place in my parents garden and we all sat on hay bales (bought especially for the occasion), covered with beautiful cushions made by the fair hands of my mum and my other sister (130 cushions is a lot of fabric buying and a lot of making) and ate and drank from vintage, un-matched plates, bowls and cups my sister and parents have spent the last 10 months accumulating.

Once dinner was over, the toasts enjoyed and the cake cut, it was time to hit the dance-floor (and in some of our cases the childrens' trampoline) and enjoy the evening, as darkness fell, catching up with people we knew and making friends with others we'd just met.

I'm sure everyone understands the difficulty parents must have watching their children grow and accepting they are at some point adults with lives, mind and families of their own. But it had never occured to me that as a sibling I would feel the same thing. After many years of being asked for non-parental advice (all I'm sure ignored) and being the go-to-person when mum and dad would not open their wallets any more, it was a delight to be there and see all that happened.

Watching my sister on her wedding day, happy and beautiful, marrying the man of her choice and surrounded by the friends and relatives she had chosen to share her special day with, and whom she obviously felt were her 'tribe', was an experience I will never forget. I took time to watch her from afar as she laughed and socialised with those she loved and was pleased to realise that whilst she is now a grown woman with a husband, a home of her own and a responsible job, she will forever be my idiotic and annoying little sister.