Lovely Tonight: The Beach Party

Now that our mid-morning wedding rehearsal was complete, we had plenty of time to spare before our rehearsal dinner that evening!

Since we had the wonderful beach house at our disposal, my family planned a beach party for the afternoon! And my, oh my, was it a beautiful day!

We invited the bridal party, family, and any out of town friends that wanted to spend some time in the sun. My brother and his girlfriend, along with my Aunt S, Aunt J, and Grandma, had arrived at the house when our rehearsal was taking place, and they set up a wonderful spread for lunch! We had assorted sandwiches, chips, and other munchies...as well as a bunch of leftovers from the previous night's sunset wedding shower.

Our guests quickly filled their plates with food and grabbed a cold drink...

After we had our fill, it was time to frolic in the sand and surf!

Even the pups got in on the action: Stewart showed off his swimming skills with Cousin J and sorority sister J...

Meanwhile, my beloved Theodore chased his frisbee. He also decided to explore the rest of the beach when our heads were turned...oops!

After some fun in the sun, we retreated to the house to relax (for what seemed like 2.5 seconds) before moving my bags to the hotel, since I was staying there that evening. My mom read a book to our flower girl, and GM J decided to take a nap...right in the middle of the house. I kid you not - he slept on those cushions for about an hour or so, even with about 10 or more people chatting around him! I wish I could learn that trick...

All in all, the beach party was a great success! When we first realized that our rehearsal would have to take place early in the day, I was a bit skeptical of how the day would work out. However, our time schedule couldn't have been more enjoyable! Both my family and Justin's family were able to get together in a casual environment, and I was able to spend time with both my family and my friends who had flown in from out of town to be with us! Plus, a little extra sun kissed glow before the wedding never hurt anybody...

Next up - our rehearsal dinner!

Did you have/are you planning to have some down time with friends and family on the day of 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 wedding party rehearsed
  

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
  

Rehearsal...lunch???

Source

So, pretty much any and all weddings I’ve seen/heard of featured a rehearsal dinner. Seriously, with my penchant for perfectionism, a rehearsal for the ceremony is absolutely essential. Practice makes perfect!

However, there is one little snafu with the plan.

Since we are getting married on a Sunday, our rehearsal would (typically) take place on Saturday night. Except for the fact that another bride is getting married at my venue that evening. Insert conundrum…here.

Hmmm ok, so what are the options then? If we want a night-time rehearsal at the venue, we’d have to hold it on Friday night. Well, sadly, that just won’t do for us, seeing as our guests/family/etc might not be arriving until that night. I wouldn’t want to be tied up with the rehearsal and miss welcoming them to our wedding weekend!

We also considered holding the rehearsal on Saturday evening, but at a different location. Potential? Yes. Cost? Not a fan! Most likely, we’d have to shell out extra money to rent out a space for the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner…it would be a very big party (around 70+ people), and probably not easy on the checkbook! Scratch that…

That brings us to Saturday morning. The venue WILL allow us to hold our rehearsal during the morning/early afternoon, before they start setting up for the wedding that evening. Whew…breathing a sigh of relief here! However, that does present us with a somewhat “different” time schedule of events.

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Rehearsal LUNCH, anyone?

As it stands, we’re going to hold a late morning rehearsal at Carlouel with the bridal party and immediate family, and then hold a lunch afterwards with that group. We figure that the guests who aren’t involved in the actual ceremony won’t be upset that they will get to enjoy some beach time, while we are busy rehearsing! Then, hopefully we can join them all for some sun and fun for the rest of the afternoon!

Have you been to a wedding/did you have a wedding that held a rehearsal dinner at a different time than “normal?” What did/do you think?