wedding wednesday: the rehearsal

So here it is wedding wednesday again and I figured I would talk to you about the rehearsal dinner. I wanted to break all of this up bit by bit not just to take it easy on myself in writing these posts but also so that you weren't taken over by a million things I wanted to talk about that happened on my big day!

I was told over and over again that I was a very chill and laid back bride. Most of my vendors would tell me over and over how thrilled they were to be working with Mike and I. This always made me feel amazing. The only time I did have a melt down other then the issue with me fearing I picked the wrong dress, was the evening of the rehearsal.

I am however getting ahead of myself. Friday morning I woke up ready to rock and roll. Mike and I had gathered all the items we needed to take with us to the resort in anticipation of leaving semi early in the morning. I was due to be at the resort Friday by noon. The organizers for our wedding we going to be there to meet with us to make sure everything was set up as needed in the hall for the reception and if anything needed to be changed they would make it happen. As we were loading the Jeep I felt great.... but we were running a bit late. Fast forward to a few moments after that... I started to feel horrible. Delayed hangover, such fun. Apparently we all partied WAY too hard the night of the Meet n' Greet. The only cure for this was food - when we arrived at Burger King they informed us that they stopped serving breakfast ... it was 10:15 AM!!! WTF? I've heard of 10:30 but that's just lame BK! So we opted instead for the gas station. Yes you read that right... the gas station. It was close and on our way. Thankfully this gas station was known for good biscuits and breakfast. I however had other ideas in mind, the minute I saw PIZZA I knew it was clear. 1 slice of cheese pizza and a coca cola and this bride-to-be would be set. It took me a long time to eat that single slice, lots of deep breaths but I did it!

Thankfully some of my bridesmaids had stayed at the resort Thursday night so they could be there to meet the organizers if needed. We arrived and I gave huge hugs to those that couldn't be at the meet n' greet and we got down to business. It was time to decorate. With my crew of bridesmaids and friends we got the hall all decked out within about an hour. Which was great. I never thought hung over women would work so well but we did!!!

After that we all decided naps were in order and retreated to our rooms. I couldn't sleep... instead I set up my suite so that it would be organized the next morning. I laid out all my accessories, perfume, make-up, anything I'd knew I'd need. Hung up my outfit for the evening and placed all the gifts for my girls neatly on the table. I had a huge suite in anticipation for the hair and make-up girls that would be doing all our hair the next morning, and basically it was the "honeymoon-esque" suite in the resort. I tried to lay down but was too excited... and it was strange being away from Mike. He had his own room on the other end of the hotel. I texted him to ask what he was up to... turns out he was hanging with my friend's husband and invited me down.

I spent most of the afternoon with my bridesmaid A and her husband B we all had a ball. I was thrilled to have this time with them since they weren't able to make it to the meet n' greet the night before. The hours flew by and before I knew it I was rushing back to my room to get ready.

At this point I discovered how burned I was from the tanning bed. Not brutal but it was pretty bad... needless to say I can see in my make-up it was WAY too light for my berry shaded skin [you'll see in pictures]. 

All of us met and waited at the patio for the rehearsal. I didn't have a wedding coordinator, and sort of wish I had gotten one just for the managing of this part of the big day. We asked Mike's Aunt and Uncle to help us out the day of but his uncle was ill that evening and not able to make it down for the party.

MOH T, Maid K, Myself {with the wrong shade of make-up}, Maid A, Maid K and my Jr. Maids T & R

As you can see the dress was casual, we were after all at a wilderness resort, that and it was FREAKING COLD OUT! I was originally going to wear a blazer, but the temperature had dropped so much in the days before the wedding it made doing that impossible so I opted for my back-up wrap around sweater to keep me warm.

Once the sun started to set we had everyone there and accounted for and then it hit me. I had all the important info about who was walking with who in my head but when asked how it was going to run, I forgot it all. Thankfully my MOH saw my look of distress and can always tell when I'm freaking out on the inside and she hunted down some paper and a pencil and wrote it all down for me. Once all lined up and ready to rock I felt better, but something as small as this made me near tears, the disorganization of it all. Seriously, I hate that. But everyone assured me all rehearsals are like this. Funny I've been in a lot of weddings [see all the girls above, yeah minus one I was in ALL their weddings, well not the little ones jeez!] and I NEVER remember it being THAT chaotic.

We ran through the ceremony a few times and felt like we all had a firm grip on it and decided it was time to party!!!

Mike's mother set up an UNBELIEVABLE party for us at one of the pavilions located on the land surrounding the resort. She had everything decked out in fall colors, she even brought TONS of mums to decorate the entire area. I wish, wish, wish I took better pictures, but I didn't. Martha Stewart would have been floored ya'll his mom is amazing!!!

Mike and I arrived to the party fashionably late to a loud round of applause it was a bit overwhelming and I almost cried. There was GREAT food his mom got from our favorite BBQ place in town, as well as great cake and wine! We had a BYOB policy for everyone and I planned to bring smores for the kids but forgot so they got marshmallows only - I mean I should have remembered it's like I was getting ready for my wedding or something ;)

REHEARSAL DINNER FUN & MAYHEM

{Mike's mom has all the amazing pictures, but I have to get them from her}

The Father of the Bride and all her maids n' friends from Maryland!

BEST GIFT EVER!!!

My maids totally BRIDESMAID-ED me with this gift. Between them and their husbands they made a box of memories and objects that reflected those memories. Each maid and their husband chose something that was a total inside joke to us all. Needless to say Mike's family then learned how loud I can fart, how I love to scream about Nascar when I'm drunk "LIL E IS GAWD!", how many tattoos I have [not a secret], and many other SWEET memories as well. They also learned about the time I stole a parking cone from my old home town one night while drinking and didn't realize I had done it when I sobered up the next AM and asked why there was a cone in my trunk... good times!!!

At around 10:30 PM the park ranger told us it was time to wrap up the party, which we were all OK with considering it was freezing, the fire was dying down and the food and beer were both slowly running out. We all helped Mike's mom clean up the place and migrated back to the hotel. Mike quickly piped up that he would be taking the Keg from the rehearsal dinner {our contribution} down to his hotel room and that the party was not over!!!

All of the "youngin's" and my father and his friend came down to our party. Seriously it was like when you were in high school and your older friends scored a hotel room and some booze and you'd all go party the night away... What? You didn't do that? To warn you myself and all my friends are 30+ years old. We have a few 20 somethings in the mix but everyone was legal at this hotel party. Some people just stopped by for a few drinks and conversation then left... the ones that left missed one hell of a throw down. I was supposed to duck out at midnight... tradition and all. Mike came over and kissed me and said "It's almost midnight, do you have to go?" and I whined like a 4 year old stating I didn't want to leave all my friends were partying... so we both decided to say screw it to tradition and I stayed well into the evening... I think we all retired around 2 AM! Hair girls were coming at 9 AM thankfully I didn't get wasted... whew!

MORE MAYHEM I LOVE THESE PEOPLE!!!

{may I remind you I said we're all 30 something...}

 Groom Keg Stand... awesome!

 PLANK PILE!

 I had NO clue then and I still have none!
FOR THE RECORD: That boa was supposed to make it to the photobooth for the reception... annnd we couldn't find it the next morning!

 Who need strippers when you have best friends?

 GETTIN' HITCHED YA'LL

 DOUBLE PLANK!

FINAL PLANK OF THE EVENING... but NOT the weekend!!!

Bottom line we had a BLAST!!! I can't believe we didn't get kicked out of the hotel we were extremely loud!!! Up next... preparing for the big day & First look photos!