Lovely Tonight: The Rehearsal Dinner

After a lovely afternoon of sun and fun at our beach party, it was time to get pretty for our rehearsal dinner! I rushed to our hotel to jump in the shower and threw on my dress, and then it was time to head to the hotel lobby to start a caravan for our guests! Remember our rehearsal dinner nightmare? Our OOT bags/info featured directions on how to get to the restaurant. Well, since plans had changed, my mom and dad organized a caravan for our friends and family to get to the NEW rehearsal dinner location. Thankfully, we all arrived in one piece!

Uncle D, Aunt S, and Grandma & Grandpa Buttons

BM K and MOH L had a chat while they waited for dinner to start. MIL Buttons made all of the pretty flower arrangements herself!

Sorority sister J, Sorority sister (my twin) M, my great grand little J, and her boyfriend

Grandma, Aunt J, Cousin J, Aunt S, and Uncle J

BM K and MOH L with their fiances

BM L, BM A, Sorority sister J, and her boyfriend

I had been pretty upset when we first learned about our closed rehearsal dinner restaurant, but our new location was fabulous! It was right on the water, and our guests were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset, along with a few dolphin sightings to boot! The staff at the restaurant were MIRACULOUSLY able to recreate our original menu...I was so amazed! Although it wasn't the enormous Italian feast that we had been expecting at our original location, we were all fed, the food was delicious, and we were all together!

BM L was awesome enough to remember to photograph her appetizer plate...

...and her yummy tiramisu...

We posed for a bunch of photos after dinner was complete; you have to get group shots when your girlfriends are all together for the first time in years!

...with BM L...

...with BM/little sister A and great grand little J...

...posing with our adorable ringbearer...

...all of the ladies together again!

...Justin and I had to take at least one photo together...

A band started playing, and my mom danced with GM J. The other people in the background are random patrons of the restaurant that joined in!

GM J then tried to convince Justin that he had made the wrong choice of who to marry the next day (just kidding...he's married too, for the record), but Justin was having none of it!

Then...it was back to the hotel for an "after party" to complete our evening!

Need to catch up?

• The bachelorette party commenced
  
• We had a night out on the town
  
• Relaxation, excitement, and slight panic
  
• Something went awry with our rehearsal dinner
  
• We had a sunset wedding shower
  
• The wedding party rehearsed
  
• We had a beach party
  

Lovely Tonight: The Rehearsal

So...where did we leave off?

After a wonderful sunset bridal shower, the bridesmaids and I spent the rest of our evening catching up and cleaning up the beach house in preparation for the following afternoon. I was relaxed and having a great time. The clock ticked, and soon it was after 10pm. I logged on to my computer, and it instantly felt like a train had hit me when I pulled up my to-do list.

I hadn't finished writing the vows!

I hadn't made a CD with our ceremony music to play during our rehearsal!

I didn't have a CD player or set of iPod speakers on which to PLAY the music!

AHHH! Weren't these important details? HOW IN THE WORLD HAD I MANAGED TO FORGET ABOUT THIS!?!?

It was going to be a long night...

So...what did I do? I hunkered down at the computer, plugged in my printer, and GOT TO WORK! We tore apart the beach house and discovered a boom box that played CDs in the living room. Whew! Then, I frantically called Justin. He was at his "bachelor party" (yes, I used quotations...it involved the guys playing Putt-Putt golf and eating dinner. I married a wild one, I tell you!), and his brothers/friends wouldn't let him answer his phone. They figured that I was just calling for mushy gushy talk. WRONG!

Meanwhile, MOH L took the opportunity to put together a ribbon bouquet:

After hitting 'redial' about 10 times, Justin finally returned my call. I am pretty sure that I started speaking so fast that he couldn't understand me, but he ended up getting the message that I needed him to go to the 24 hour drug store ASAP and buy some CDs for me to burn music onto. He delivered them, gave me a kiss (or two), and left me to my work. I crashed into bed somewhere between 12 and 1am.

The morning of the rehearsal, I woke early, jumped in the shower, and gathered up copies of our vows, readings, and the music. My parents picked me up, and we arrived at the venue early to meet with the manager to go over the wedding day schedule one last time. Our DOC Kyle (from Weddings by Eventions) arrived next, and quickly began to organize everyone as they arrived.

Apparently I thought it was time for a mid-morning nap...

Our rehearsal was in the morning due to the fact that another wedding was being held at our venue that evening. However, since the weather was nice and the wedding was taking place outdoors, Chuck (Carlouel's manager) had already instructed the staff to set up the chairs for our ceremony!

Dang. This was all becoming a little bit real. My heart started beating at a rapid rate. I had no idea what I should be doing. Thankfully, Kyle and our officiant Rev. D did!

Now, my wedding was the very first that I have ever been a part of, so I am not sure if this is a typical order of events for a rehearsal...but I thought it was very smart! First, Rev. D gathered the entire wedding party in the spot that we'd be standing for the ceremony. We stood in formation and went through our entire ceremony. As we did this, our flower girl, ring bearer, and their younger brother were able to play...

After the ceremony itself was rehearsed, we practiced the recessional. Then, once we had recessed to the lobby, it was time to practice the processional! Everyone took their places and waited patiently for their turn...

Some were maybe a little LESS patient (i.e. our flower girl and ringbearer). Meanwhile, BM A and L were sporting identical pensive looks...

One of the highlights of the rehearsal was definitely our flower girl and her sprint down the aisle. Look at her hair flying: she was on a mission!

MOH L snapped a photo as she practiced her walk down the aisle.

Once the entire bridal party was up front, it was my turn...

And then, as quickly as it had started, our rehearsal was complete. Now it was time for a big beach party!

Did your rehearsal fly by before your eyes? Did you forget to prepare a few important things before your rehearsal?

Need to catch up?

• The bachelorette party commenced
  
• We had a night out on the town
  
• Relaxation, excitement, and slight panic
  
• Something went awry with our rehearsal dinner
  
• We had a sunset wedding shower
  

The Bachelorette: A sunset bridal shower

Once our busy day of nail salons and flower previews seemed to be complete, the bridesmaids and I had one last activity! The girls had put together a small bridal shower for that evening - how fun! We were joined by sorority sister J, who had flown in that afternoon, as well as my mom, both my grandmothers, and my Aunt J!

The girls laid out quite a lovely spread of appetizers: hummus, pita chips, assorted veggies, homemade guacamole (YUM), baked brie, spinach dip, fruit salad, and some yummy desserts.

The big hit of the dessert spread was definitely MOH L's apple dip - it consisted of a whipped cream cheese layer, caramel apple dip, and heath bar crunch topping. My mom also discovered that it tasted ridiculously good when spread on top of a brownie. We are so healthy...

And of course, there were drinks...MOH L crafted some adorable drink tags for the guests.

Each came with a beautiful handmade wine charm from an Etsy artisan. I loved them: each featured a different combination of beads and bird charms...they matched our wedding theme wonderfully! We had a spread of assorted wines, champagne, and even some champagne punch that the ladies whipped up!

We made some quick work of that champagne punch though...

After we stuffed ourselves silly, it was time to play a few games. For one, MOH L had contacted Justin and put together a list of questions/answers about himself that I had to answer.

For the most part, I did well. However, we all had a good laugh when MOH L asked me who Justin's best friend is. Of course, I confidently said it was me (yep, I'm vain)! But...apparently Justin had answered that his friend/groomsman J was! Sheesh! Of course, with the most perfect of timing, my phone rang right after that question was answered. It was Justin...and you can clearly see that I had to give him the 3rd degree about it...just kidding...a little teasing WAS an order though.

During our "game time," the beach house had some visitors. BM K's fiance and sorority sister J's boyfriend had spent the afternoon down at the beach, and returned to the house to retrieve their belongings. My grandmothers and Aunt J were excited that the "entertainment" had arrived, and requested that they perform a little dance for all of the ladies. Needless to say, they weren't biting at that offer...but it didn't stop my relatives from trying to persuade them!

We all found it pretty amusing...

Finally, the sun was setting, and it was time for a champagne toast! We trekked down to the beach with our fancy schmancy plastic champagne glasses for some sunset photos! BM A apparently wanted two glasses...

MOH L gave a short and sweet toast to the upcoming wedding weekend...

And we all enjoyed the beautiful sunset the evening had in store for us. We couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous night!

Need to catch up on the wedding week festivities?

The bachelorette party commenced

We had a night out on the town

Relaxation, excitement, and slight panic

Something went awry with our rehearsal dinner

The bachelorette festivities commence!

Since the bridesmaids are all from out of town, we realized that the easiest plan for bachelorette festivities would be to hold the events a few days before the wedding. That way, each maid only had to purchase one plane ticket (what can I say...I like to save money when possible)!

The girls all arrived on Wednesday; MOH E's flight was in the morning; we grabbed lunch, and then spent the afternoon packing things up for the beach house. After picking up BM K and A later that evening, we stopped by the Cheesecake Factory to share some appetizers, drinks, and (duh) cheesecake while we waited for BM L to arrive. Side note: their new Stephanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake is seriously TO DIE FOR. 2 layers of red velvet cake, 2 layers of classic cheesecake, cream cheese frosting, and white chocolate shavings. Just...look...at...it:

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It was so great to catch up with everyone...and it was almost as if no time had elapsed since we were last together. Once all of the girls were packed into my car, we drove to the beach house to settle in for the night. However, we did have to go dip our toes in the ocean before we did so!

The next morning, we woke up bright and early (well, I did at least), as we had a fun trip in store! The ladies and I took a trip to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium for a special visit!

Now, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is probably not what you would consider the "typical" aquarium; it is definitely not Sea World. However, it stands for an awesome cause. The aquarium focuses on rehabilitation of the animals it takes in; unless the animals are unable to return to the wild for some reason, they are rehabilitated and released. Look at these cutie pie otters!

We took a "behind the scenes" tour of the facility, and learned some interesting facts! Did you know that sea turtles can be "stunned" by cold water? We had an incredibly cold winter in Florida this past year, and with the cold water temperatures, many sea turtles went into shock. Their bodies freeze up, and they appear to be dead. The aquarium received many calls from concerned beach goers who came upon cold stunned turtles and thought they were dead. However, once the team at the Clearwater Aquarium brings them in and warms them up, they "unfreeze" and can be returned to the wild!

The volunteers at the Clearwater Aquarium also babysit sea turtle nests; during nesting season they scout and mark the nests that they find, and when it is close to hatching time, a volunteer babysits, especially at night time. When a sea turtle hatches, it naturally heads towards the light (which, originally was the moonlight...reflecting off the ocean). However, now that the beaches are filled with hotels and houses, there are lights everywhere. The baby turtles can get confused, and sometimes head away from the water (towards the hotels and houses) instead of to the ocean! Poor little guys...I'm glad that there are volunteers that are at the ready to assist them to the sea!

After our tour, it was time to see the dolphins! There are a few resident dolphins at the Clearwater Aquarium; each of them was unable to be returned to the wild for different reasons. Nicholas was found on Christmas Eve in 2002, stranded with his mother Noelle. Noelle passed away, and Nicholas suffered severe sunburn (yes, did you know they can get sunburned? Dolphin skin is very sensitive). He has to remain at the aquarium because of his dependent status at the time of his stranding. Indy was found with both shark and dolphin bites on his body. See the marks?

He was unable to be released to the wild because they were unsure if he could survive since he was stranded at such a young age, and he refused to eat live fish while in captivity. These two dolphins put on a show for us; we were able to sit right at the edge of the tank!

However, there is one very very special dolphin that resides at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Her name is Winter...have you heard of her before? As a 3 month old baby, Winter was discovered tightly wound in a crab trap line. They were able to rescue her, and after many nights and days of volunteers holding her up in the water so she could breathe, she survived. However, due to the injuries she sustained, her entire tail and a few vertebrae were lost. Yes...Winter is a dolphin without a tail. See?

However, she has amazingly adapted to a new swimming pattern. In doing so, trainers at the aquarium realized that by moving her tail from side to side to swim (similar to a shark) instead of up and down is bad for Winter's back, so they began the process of creating a prosthetic tail!

Winter is first fitted with a stretchy plastic "sleeve," similar to those found on human prosthetics. Then, her tail fin is attached. Winter has training sessions where she learns how to properly use her tail; how awesome is that?

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We were able to get our hands on her prosthetic tail. BM K was especially intrigued by Winter's tail - she currently works with human prosthetics herself, and apparently Winter is a big celebrity in her field!

Winter's favorite "toy" is her floating mat in her tank. She shimmies onto it and floats around.

She is so cute! The entire time that we were there she was vocalizing...a LOT! Winter's chirping is adorable, and it seems like she has such a spunky personality.

What a cute little dolphin...

After the aquarium, the girls and I chowed down on a delicious lunch at Frenchy's (ummm blackened fish tacos? Yes please.), then spent the afternoon frolicking on the beach.

Yep - thats us out there in the water!

Our plans for the evening: a night out on the town! But, I'll get to that later...

If you would like more information on the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and/or Winter the dolphin, visit their website:HERE. You can even make charitable donations to help them; they are a nonprofit organization and they work hard to not only help injured sea creatures, but also to educate about respect for marine life and our environment.

Did you take a fun and/or educational trip as a part of your bachelorette festivities, or am I the only nerdy one out there?