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 state of our union

Hello again everyone! Guess what? Today marks 3 months since Justin and I tied the knot. Let me tell you, time flies.

Pilster Photography

I thought that I would give you a little "state of our union" address at this point...you know...to keep you updated on how things are going, and to give you some insight regarding married life.

• I know I alluded to it already, but marriage, for us, doesn't feel all that different. And to be honest, I don't think I would want it to be. I absolutely love how comfortable Justin and I are around each other, and if things happened to change drastically after rings were placed on our hands...there'd be a problem.
• I now find myself lost under enormous piles of laundry in amounts that I was not previously accustomed to. That also includes sweaty gym clothes. Ah, love.
• I now have a personal cheerleader for the trials and tribulations in my life, and I have become Justin's biggest cheerleader as well. The mentality of being a "we" and a family has really started to sink in. Justin receiving a bonus at work is not only his personal victory, but a reason for us to celebrate as a couple. When I am frustrated with searching for a new job, he shares the burden with me.
• The two of us are still adjusting to each other. Justin has had to learn to deal with some of my quirks, including the way I like hangers placed in our closet (once something comes off a hanger, it has to be placed in one spot, because I HATE going through the entire rack to find empty hangers when I am doing laundry) or how I can't stand dirty dishes being left out on the counter. And, on the flip side, I have discovered things like the fact that Mr. Buttons isn't a fan of me being on my computer 24/7...so I try to limit my usage and put it away when he gets home from work.
• It is really comforting, and really quite nice, to wake up next to Justin every morning and to give him a kiss goodnight each evening.
• I find my inner domestic diva coming out to play much more often than in the past. I have tried dozens of new recipes since Justin and I moved into our new apartment 3 months ago, and thankfully he is very open to trying each and every meal that I place in front of him. Bless his heart, he has even been willing to humor me with my strange recipes...including black bean brownies and chocolate cookies made out of cannellini beans (by the way, both of them are very tasty).
• Over the past 3 months, we've started establishing some give-and-take types of routines. For instance, I cook dinner every night, and Justin is in charge of washing the dishes. I do the laundry, and he takes care of our furbaby, Lucia (I am not a fan of picking up poop).
• I've learned that it is absolutely impossible for me to be mad at my husband. If we get into a bit of a disagreement, I find myself immediately trying to work things out, and vice versa. We don't relish the thought of going to bed mad at one another, so we've made a conscious effort of resolution before that time (not that it happens a lot). We do say "I love you" every night before we go to sleep.
• The novelty of calling Justin "my husband" has still not worn off yet. I still find myself trying to insert the phrase when I'm conversing with others.
• We are still very excited about what is to transpire in our lives in the coming months. The two of us are starting to contemplate when, where, and how we will take our honeymoon, since we weren't able to go on one directly after the wedding. We're hoping to relax in a tropical locale at some point before our first anniversary. Ideas have been spinning around in our heads as of late, and I'm excited at the prospect of sharing our experiences with you!
• Three months after our wedding, the day itself is indeed a little bit blurry. Every detail that was incredibly important to me during the planning process has started to blur together a little bit. I feel as though I've been left with an "overall feeling" of the wedding day as time has gone by. And, I'm trying to focus on the big picture rather than hone in on every little detail. The truth of the matter is: even though some small details of the day might have gone awry, in the end I married the love of my life. And that, my friends, is the most important detail of them all.
  

So, there you have it...the state of our union!

For those of you married ladies out there: have you noticed some quirks about your spouse since you got tied the knot? Have you had some pleasant discoveries regarding married life?

You don't get a "do-over"

Hello there everyone! I know I've gone MIA in the past 3 months; waiting for your pro pics to arrive is definitely a study in patience.

However, in the days/weeks after our wedding, I've been going through an incredibly varied range of emotions. For the first couple of weeks after the event, all of our family and friends couldn't stop talking about the day. We reminisced about the fun we all had, and how smoothly everything ran. It was bliss.

Then a few more weeks passed. The online photo gallery became available to us, and the questions and nit-picking started to occur. I was officially depressed.

Source

This is the thing: it doesn't make a lick of sense. We had a wonderful day, overall. The weather was lovely, Justin and I were able to share our wedding day with our family and friends, and the party was a fabulous time. So, why the heck am I upset over it? Here, I'll make you a list of a few things:

• I'm sad that it is all over.
• I'm sad that we don't get to do this again, ever. The planning (and the party) is complete, and you don't get to have a "do-over."
• I wish I would have made a few decisions differently during my planning.
• I wish I would have had more time to enjoy our reception.
• I'm depressed that our first look was only one photo, especially because that was one of the aspects of the day that I was most looking forward to.
• I'm devastated that there aren't photos of my bouquet and the bridesmaids' bouquets: I was so incredibly in love with them, but they didn't get a moment to shine in our photos.
• Was I the most beautiful I've ever been on our wedding day? No. Justin even confirmed this with me: I always thought that he'd say something to our kids like, "on our wedding day, your mother was the most beautiful I've ever seen her." Eh, I guess not (for the record though, Justin said that the most beautiful I've ever been to him was the first day we met...when I had no makeup and dirty hair up in a ponytail. It is cute that he thinks it, but kind of depresses me that I put a lot of time, work, and money into how I looked on the wedding day, and I didn't really feel that it was my best in the end.).
• Even though we will [eventually] go on one, I'm sad that Justin and I still haven't had a honeymoon (actually, we have never been on any vacation together yet...not even a weekend getaway. Nothing).

I think that during the wedding planning process, it is easy to become enraptured with the ideal. You and your fiance will have a stunning wedding and reception, you will head off on an incredibly romantic honeymoon, and then return to newlywed bliss...for eternity. Now, I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but if you haven't already guessed, the ideal is not what most people are going to experience. Don't get me wrong; I love Justin, and the life that we have together right now is very happy. VERY happy. However, we definitely feel like we've missed out on a few things.

The most common question I get asked nowadays is "how is married life? Are you loving it?" I never know what to say to them. Married life feels...the same. Justin and I have a similar schedule to before the wedding. Sure, we live together now, but the two of us already had a routine that we were comfortable with. I guess I figured that I would feel a little bit different. And...maybe we will...when we finally get to have a honeymoon in some shape or form (aka spend uninterrupted time together to really enjoy one another). Or, maybe that "newlywed bliss" feeling is just something I will never have. I guess I'll have to check back in with you in a few months to let you know about that...

So, before my recaps officially begin, I just wanted to put these thoughts out on the table. Many Bees before me have talked about post-wedding depression, and I hate to say it...but it is indeed real. You spend months planning a huge, life changing event, and when it is over you can kind of feel lost. During the planning process I KNEW that everything wouldn't turn out perfectly, but it was all hypothetical at that point. Facing the realities of inconvenient timing, missing photos, and other various elements of the day is sobering. It is very difficult to NOT focus on the aspects of your day that aren't how you planned for them.

Anyway, what I am trying to say in the end is: realistically, there is no way that your wedding is going to be perfect down to every single detail. SOMETHING, whether it is small or large, is not going to be the way you envisioned. And...you are going to have to live with it. Like I said before, you don't get to have a "do-over" on your wedding day. For now, I am going to work on focusing on the wonderful memories that Justin and I have of our wedding day, because there ARE many. And, I'm going to get pumped up to share my recaps with you...because like I said, there are many wonderful things about our day that I can't wait to divulge.

Did you experience post-wedding depression? How did you learn to put aside the feelings of resentment for aspects of your day that went awry?

Giveaway - Ring bearer pillow

Happy Monday everyone!

I just wanted to direct your attention to my new blog for an awesome giveaway: I have a ring bearer pillow AND a flower girl sash up for grabs -

ENTER HERE!

What I've been up to...

Ok, so you may have noticed that my blogging has been rather infrequent in the past weeks. Yes, that is partly due to the fact that I'm waiting (im)patiently for my professional wedding photos to arrive in my hot little hands.

But of course, that isn't the only thing. Changes are a-comin! If you follow me on Twitter, you might have noticed a mysterious name change over the weekend. I promised that it would all make sense eventually.

You see, I've been working on something else. Yep. A new site. My own domain. My little piece of the Internet that belongs to me. I'm pretty pumped. It is slightly light on content at the moment, but I'm working on it. However, it is ridiculously good looking, thanks to Lauren (aka Mrs. Scissors), who did an incredibly wonderful job with the design.

So everyone...I present to you: she likes ruffles, he likes truffles

I encourage you to stop by, say hello...and you know...become a follower? I'll be transitioning to the site permanently after my wedding recaps are completed, so get ahead of the game and subscribe now! You know you want to.

Enabling your online shopping...

I love shopping. A lot. When I have free time, it is likely that I turn to the world of online shopping. It makes me happy. And do you know what else makes me deliriously happy? Fabulous deals.

Enter: RueLaLa. The sales are short, but the deals can be awesome! Want an example?

I snagged these Betsey Johnson bad boys from RueLaLa for around $70. Original retail price? $169. They arrived in pristine condition and in a timely manner. They even include a pre-paid shipping label if you aren't happy with the product; returns are a cinch.

So...you know you want to have access to this site, right? Well, to do so, you're going to need an invitation. Annnnd guess what? Today is your lucky day, because I have them.

CLICK HERE! GET YOUR INVITE NOW! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?!

AND if you sign up with my invite before August 8, YOU get a $10 credit in your account! Free money...how can you NOT pass that up?

You...are...welcome.

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