wedding recap: friday rehearsing

after the trip to the courthouse, we headed up the mountain to the lodge where the wedding and reception would be held the following day. some key wedding party memebers were still in transit, so i went over the details with cheryl, friend and coordinator extrordinaire. i gave charlie her flower girl basket;she collected leaves and nuts, so she could practice dropping things on the ground. eventually, everyone arrived & we were able to do a couple run-throughs...i won't say that everyone really knew what they were supposed to do, but at least they had a general idea & cheryl took good notes.

while we were doing the rehearsal outside, a group of people were setting up for an even being held at the lodge that night. the lodge was full of autumn decorations including mums which was a key item we had yet to purchase. my sister spoke with the woman in charge & asked if we could have the mums and a few other things for a donation to her charity (can you tell she negotiater for a living?). deal!

by the end of the rehearsal, i was reaching my wit's end. i knew the questions and answers were important, but everyone was asking me some kind of question..."what time do you want to cut the cake?"..."what time do you want to leave the reception?"..."what time should i get here tomorrow?"..."when do you want to do the first dance?"..."is it okay if i wear this?"..."what should i wear?"..."you asked for a wooden sign, do you still want that?" i couldn't take any more. i was tired of being the only one who had answers, so after that moment, i was done with questions. i told people if they weren't sure of something to either ask someone else or make it up. i honestly wasn't a bridezilla kind of bride, so i was fine with whatever they came up with. that moment was my only "freak out," and i was totally fine once my no-more-questions decision was made.

from the lodge, my maids of honor, flower girl, and mother of the flower girl, and i made our way down the mountain to the small nail salon i go to to have our nails done. yes, even charlie. she picked a fabulous shade of yellow for her fingernails & gabbed away with while the rest of us took our turns.

next on the schedule was the rehearsal dinner which was held at a local mexican restuarant, casa blanca. we convinced them to let us reserve the patio for the 50 or so people we were expecting. it was so much fun! we had our closest friends and family there, & they were there to celebrate us. it was wonderful.

















one favorite moment that was not at all embarassing was when my dad made everyone (yes, everyone) stand up and introduce themselves & explain who they were in relation to the bride and/or groom...there was speech giving. some of which was helped along by some margaritas beforehand. my little brother gave a very sweet speech that even got him a little choked up.



my sister gave one too, in the style of a lawyer presenting to a jury.



an unintentional effect from her speech was that part of it made danny's grandmother feel like she had to stand up for her family & me a little taste of the threats my siblings (who really love danny) had been doling out to danny...oops. my maid of honor, natasha, gave a wonderful speech that i'm sure was lost on some family members, but it meant so much to me.



all in all, a basically perfect night. from there, it was off to gather all the stuff we needed for the next day & head to the hotel to rest up for the big day!