Wedding Recap - Rehearsal Dinner

As I stated in my first wedding recap, I loved the rehearsal dinner just as much as I loved the actual wedding.  I don't know if I've ever been so happy or smiled so much. 

The rehearsal dinner was a casual affair.  My fiance (errrr....husband) bought all the men Detroit Tiger shirts to wear and we served ballpark foods.  We had hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, pretzels, cheese and crackers and cookies.

The rehearsal itself went off without a hitch so we quickly headed straight for the food/drinks.  I can still hear all the laughter emulating throughout the tent from our family and friends.  I will never forget the moment that I stepped back and "took it all in".  I've never been in one place with so much love in the air.

Don and I smiled the night away as we drank, talked and toasted with our loved ones.

Everyone knows that the Rehearsal Dinner is where the real party starts....so here are some pictures from ours

Leaving the hotel heading to Rehearsal

Holding my "leaf" bouquet since we forgot to use the bouquet we made at the bridal shower

Matron of Honor - my sister Rachel with her "leaf" bouquet

Mom and Dad practicing the walk down the aisle

Dad shaking Don's hand and cracking a joke of some sort, I'm sure!

Nephew and Brother in Law cooking the food

Bridal Party

Bride & Groom

Detroit Tigers

It was a perfect, warm summer evening.  I had a great time and I know that all of our family and friends did too!

Wedding Recap #1

It's so funny because I've been following wedding blogs for almost 2 years now and after each bride got married I read their posts explaining how difficult they found it to start their wedding recaps.  I never quite understood why they were having a problem.  Start with the beginning and move forward...seemed pretty simple at the time.

And yet, here I am 13 days after my wedding and I don't have a clue how to begin putting into words the sheer magnitude of what took place and how I felt (and still feel).  So my apologies if my wedding recaps seem a little scattered, out of order, and filled with a ton of pictures.  I will also apologize right now for the sheer amount of posts that will soon follow.  There are SO many things I want to talk about (and so many pictures to post).

So, as I patiently wait for our professional pictures to come back, I will start with the days leading up to the wedding and will then move onto our rehearsal.

Our wedding took place outdoors at my mom and step dad's house so I spent nearly every waking hour in the weeks leading up to the wedding working in their yard.  And when I wasn't spreading mulch or laying down flooring under the tents I was finishing centerpieces and the other gazillion little details that needed to be done.

Besides all the "physical" work and the sore muscles I encountered, I would honestly say that the most difficult part of the entire process was when I finally had to open myself up to the idea that I needed help from family and friends in order to pull off this shindig.    It was terrifying planning this huge party by myself, but for some reason in my mind I found it "more" terrifying to have to ask for help in doing it.  And to my surprise, the moments in the days before the wedding where I recognized and accepted this as a necessity, will remain some of the most important and most memorable moments of the whole wedding process.

On the Friday before the wedding, my family, wedding party and close friends pulled together as a team.  We had people hanging paper lanterns, stringing lights, ironing the linens, setting up centerpieces, folding napkins, putting final touches on our photo wall, pulling weeds and blowing leaves, and so much more!  It was such beautiful chaos and it brings tears just thinking about it.

Centerpieces waiting to be distributed

200+ Paper lanterns

Brother in Law working on the photo wall

Grandma ironing the table linens

Best Friend Kevin blowing leaves off the "wedding aisle"

Bride to be with Mother in Law hanging Lanterns

As soon as everyone arrived and we started setting up and I could really see things coming together, it was as if someone waved a magic wand over me and all the pre-wedding anxiety was gone.  I absolutely, without a doubt, loved this day just as much as my actual wedding day.  Totally AMAZING!!!

Failure turned Success

I'm 37 days away from the wedding and it seems like everything that "can" go wrong, IS!!

In the past week we had to "let go" of our current pastor and find someone else, the hotel that we are using to block rooms is not being cooperative and has changed the pricing on me (dramatically), my DIY bouquets for the bridal party were a complete failure and I failed to make the final payment to our photographer by the due date because I have somehow LOST our contract and didn't know it was due!

I'm emotionally drained. I have never wanted to give up on something so badly as I do this wedding! Why didn't we go to the courthouse or elope?

But, I can see light at the end of the tunnel.....

Our new officiant is so totally cool. She understands our "vision" and hasn't tried to push us to do something we are uncomfortable with. Not to mention that she has such a great personality. She is funny and a bit of a wise-ass just like my fiance! What a perfect fit!

Yes, the hotel has raised their prices but they are at least working with me on other areas. Originally, as most hotels do, I had to block rooms and whatever rooms were not used I was responsible for payment. They are now letting me block rooms and whatever rooms are not booked they will just open back up to the public a couple weeks before the wedding and I will not be responsible for the cost. The downside is still the fact that I have to make sure my guests book their rooms in the next couple weeks as the blocked rooms are only good up until a certain date.

After giving up on the idea that I would make all the bouquets, I finally broke down and went to a florist. I'm in L-O-V-E with the bridesmaid bouquets that we picked out.

Inspiration picture:

And here is the inspiration picture for my bouquet:

And lastly, I spoke to our photographer yesterday and explained how sorry I was about missing the payment and she was totally cool. A check went in the mail and all is right with the world again!

Now if only I could make some progress on our rehearsal dinner.......

Bridal Shower Pics

Bridal shower pics can be seen here

What would I do without my sister???

So, I had my first wedding dream (nightmare) last night! Don't you think it's a little early for me to be dreaming about the wedding? Most likely it's because there has been nothing but wedding talk around my house for a couple weeks now. As soon as the clock struck twelve and it was 2010 we realized we need to get on the ball and start moving. We get married in 186 days so the checklist has been brought back out along with a to-do list that's a mile long.

Anyway, back to my story. So in my dream I woke up the day of my wedding to find that I had slept in my wedding dress and it was all wrinkly. Well, as always, my sister Rachel was there to save me. She had a "spare" dress that was identical to my dress and she simply slipped the new dress on me and away we went.

I know it doesn't seem like much to those of you who don't know me, but that dream just solidifies the fact that I could NEVER face anything as big as my wedding day without my sister by my side. She has been, and always will be, my saviour.

Bridesmaids....My Besties

I thought when I got engaged last October that my most favorite part was going to be picking my bridesmaids, asking them in the most creative, meaningful way to stand beside me and then life would be perfect and the wedding planning would begin! Well, to be honest.....choosing my bridesmaids was the hardes thing I've done so far. I have been fortunate in life to come across an amazing group of girls who have touched my life in ways words cannot describe. I would have been honored to have them all stand beside me on my special day, but once we started the actual wedding "planning" I quickly came to realize that it wasn't going to fit into our "plan" to have that many bridesmaids. My heart was crushed and I stressed over this for months. Almost 8 months to be exact! Until finally it was time to bite the bullet and finalize the wedding party.

I am in no way upset about my decision, but there are days when I wish things could have been different and I could have had all my "besties" standing up there supporting me. I wonder if this will ever settle right in my heart or if I will feel a little regret over my decision up until my wedding day?

I am moving forward and ready to introduce my BRIDESMAIDS to the blog world:

Matron of Honor: Rachel, my older (and much wiser) sister who has been my rock for as long as I can remember. I can't even begin to imagine how my life would be different without her. She keeps me pointed in the right direction when life tends to throw me off path and she is one of the most creative people I know.

Bridesmaid: Sarah, the friend I've had the longest. She has shared more of life's challenges with me than anyone else. We went to school together since kindergarten and everyone has always mistaken us for sisters. In college it was hard to convince people that we were not related. She is one of the funniest people I know and there is never a dull moment when she's around.

Bridesmaid: Megan, another friend who I have known since early childhood. Megan is another hometown friend who has become a "necessity" in my life as I have gotten older. We were friends growing up, but the past few years she has become that friend who you cannot live without. She is one of the most intelligent woman I know and I look up to her for more reasons than I can list on this here blog.

Bridesmaid: Lindsey, She has been with me through almost everything I've ever experienced in life and she has taught me so much (even though I'm the older, wiser one..haha). Her friendship to me isn't one big thing - it's a million little things. She is my key to sanity in an insane world. I can't imagine my life without her by my side.

Bridesmaid: Kerri, who wasn't introduced to me until my adult years, but has been an important person in my life since. She is so outgoing and always comes up with these fantastic ideas about how to have fun. She is strong-willed and I love her for that. She is the friend who will tell it to you "like it is" and won't sugar coat anything. Everyone needs somebody like Kerri in their life.

And there you have it........my bridesmaids! What a fantastic group of girls to have standing beside me on the biggest, most important day of my life!

Besties......

One of my best friends happened to be in town last Friday visiting her parents, and so I got the chance to meet her for lunch. I sometimes forget how much I miss her.......but we have that relationship that allows us to jump right back into things as if not a day had gone by that we didn't see each other.

She has been with me through almost everything I've ever experienced in life and she has taught me so much (even though I'm the older, wiser one). Her friendship to me isn't one big thing - it's a million little things.

She is a part of my past, will be beside me on my road to the future and she is my key to sanity in an insane world.

Thank you Lindsey for being the best friend any girl could ask for!

Now enjoy these pictures and remember all of the good times we have shared....Love ya!