Friday, June 11, 2010

The thing after the rehearsal that wasn't...

I didn't really thing our rehearsal was a rehearsal at all since all we did was line everyone up and show them how to walk down the aisle and where to stand at the end of the aisle.  We didn't rehearse anything and somehow the one thing we did rehearse (timing the walking down the aisle to the music for the processional) ended up getting screwed up on the day of the wedding.  When I watched my wedding video I noticed that the bridemsaids were practically *running* down the aisle!  I asked my daughter why the heck everyone was sprinting and she said because the coordinators told them to go fast because the song wasn't long enough.  First of all, this wasn't true at all..so either the DJ started too early or the coordinators did not tell people when they were supposed to start their walk.  But whatever...and don't worry, I'm in the process of figuring out how to convert the raw footage I received from my videographer to use on my PC so I fully intend to show you the 'sprint' down the aisle :)

At the end of our practice walk, my coordinator says "That's the fastest rehearsal I've ever done!"  Yeah, well, that's because it *wasn't* a rehearsal, silly girl!

I then handed out the pre-printed directions I brought for the wedding party from our venue to the restaurant which was about 30 minutes away and we piled into cars and took off.  We arrived at the Spaghetti Factory in Newport Beach and had a great little banquet room upstairs all to ourselves.  They had tables lined up and the first thing Mr Fix It says to me when we are all looking for where we should sit is "Babe, would you be upset if I sit at a table with all the guys?"  I gave him this look like "Are you serious right now?"  This is our rehearsal dinner and you don't even want to sit with me?!?  What the heck?  But since once again, I was just trying to go with it and not throw a fit about anything, and since he said with his puppy dog eyes "If it will upset you, then I won't but I just would love to be able to hang with my brothers."  (Several of them live out of the area and flew/drove in for the day so how could I possibly deny him?)  I told him fine and went to sit with my family. 

My daughter, Little Miss made the rounds at the tables and snapped bunches of shots of everyone...


Me and Mr Fix It (of course he has to stick his tongue out - moron!)

My mom, bridesmaid D, and Little Miss (daughter)

My dad and his wife, J


Mr Fix It's Dad, Mom, sis-in-law J and niece M

Mr Fit It's brother (Groomsman C), Mr Fix It, Mr Fix It's best friend (Groomsman T) and best friend's wife

My sis and her hubby


My bestie, Bridesmaid L (who flew in from Idaho but just moved back to our area today!!!)


My flower girl (cousin T) and her mom (Bridesmaid cousin E)


Mr Fix It's Aunt & Uncle (who flew in from MN)


Mr Fix It's brother (Best Man K) and friend (Groomsman J) and our Jr Groosman (nephew J)


Mr Fix It's sister C and sis-in-law T with their kids (2 of our ring bearers)

Mr Fix It's bro-in-law with another one of our ring bearers

My cousin Bridesmaid A with her hubby and son

So after dinner, it was time to give out our bridal party gifts.  I asked Mr Fix It to help me pass them out.  You can read about them here.  I then thanked everyone for coming and told them how grateful we were for each one of them.  Then I told the bridesmaids and groomsmen that they were supposed to wear whatever was in their gift box on the day of the wedding.  This was referring to the red argyle socks that I had wanted to get a super cool pic of all the guys showing off on wedding day.  However, we didn't even end up getting pictures of this because I forgot to mention it to my photographer...again, another reason why you should make a list of must have shots!  I had forgotten that one of the things I also put in their gift boxes were these cute little tins with bandaids in them that read "Hugs and Kisses from the new Mr. & Mrs."  These were for potential accidents on wedding day and believe me, in a future recap I will share why it was a good thing I had them!  Well, one of Mr Fix It's brothers (Chad or Keith?) then joked about putting on all of the bandaids for the wedding since I said they were supposed to wear what was in the boxes.

After they opened their gifts, I finished off my speech by reminding them of when and where they were supposed to be for photos.  I then proceeded to tell them that if they wanted to stress me out or upset me on my wedding day, all they had to do was be late.  So "You better not be late!"  Luckily, Little Miss snapped this shot of me reiterating this :)

(Don't you love my cousin's face in the right side of the pic?  He knows I mean business!)

And that was it, our wedding rehearsal was over and Mr Fix It didn't even sit with me...silly boy!  I told you 2 days ago in my post that boys are stupid...just another reason why :)

TODAY'S WEDDING TIP:  (Or rather rehearsal tip)  Remember to bring the things most often forgotten for your rehearsal:

*  A boom box to practice the music you will be walking down the aisle to (both ways) - or have the live musicians there to practice and be sure their songs run a good length.  If it's too short, ask them how they'll lengthen it...and if it's too long, tell them to fade it out early.
*  Directions for your party members from the venue to the dinner.
*  A few copies of your script with the key elements of the ceremony so you can run through the walks, hand offs (of bride, flowers, rings, etc), readings, etc.
*  The readings, poems, and other elements for communion, unity ceremonies, etc.  Typically, you can bring these items to the rehearsal to leave overnight at your venue or hand off to your officiant, coordinator or another trusted party member to bring on the day of the wedding. 

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