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. 

Wed recap: Why boys are stupid (the cake cutting)

Today's wedding recap comes from a big moment during your wedding day:  the cake cutting. 

All I will say is that the cake has been the one thing I was least excited about throughout the planning process.  This was mostly because Mr Fix It and I debated on the cupcake tower vs. traditional cake decision and I lost out having to go with a normal cake...well, sort of normal.  Because then the cake designs we found and asked our caterer and others to make ended up coming back with outrageous quotes on pricing.  So we reconsidered all our options and in the end we went with just letting a family friend making a cake for us.  It wasn't what I had dreamed of, but it was simple and it was ours and most importantly - it was DEEE-LICIOUS! 

Anyway, as does any good bride and groom, eventually you will have the "Will we or won't we?" discussion on your cake cutting. Mr Fix It and I had talked about whether or not we thought it was a good idea to 'smash' the cake in each other's faces while feeding each other the first bites.  I did not like this idea but before I voiced my opinion, Mr Fix It said he would never do that because you have all your hair and makeup paid for and done up in this gorgeous dress (and tux or suit) so why would you mess all that up for a food fight?  I was totally thrilled and totally on board with this and so we both agreed (on several occasions) that the nice simple placing a fork gently in each other's mouths at the same time was the way to go for us.

But I didn't count on one thing...peer pressure!  I'll let the video speak for me:

Yes, boys are stupid.  We girls have known it all along, but it's little things like this that just confirm our already known opinions.  Boys give in to peer pressure and other boys egg the one boy on.  It's how so many things go wrong in our society.  If it hadn't been for Mr Fix It's brothers and best friends standing there chanting "In the face! In the face!" then we would have stuck to our planned nice cake cutting and feeding.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be.  And so I ended up with red velvet cake under my nicely manicured and long acrylic nails for most of the rest of the night.  So stupid!

However, I got him back...you see, while I was smearing cake all over his gorgeous little face, one of those long nails accidentally scratched him right above the eyebrow.  You can't see it in the video, but a few minutes later, I told him he was bleeding.  I didn't mean to do that, but it's a consequence of your stupid actions so he deserved it.  Besides, it was only a little scratch.  And this was definitely not the only war wound we had on our wedding day (more to come).

To finish, here's the pro pics courtesy of Robert Mullins of the cake cutting and ensuing smearing...

Cutting into the bottom layer of red velvet and cream cheese frosting:

Mr Fix It letting me know he's not going to 'stick to the plan'

Me telling the boys they better watch what they're saying while chanting!

Me pointing at the troublemakers

Threatening that the boys will be the ones getting the cake 'In the face!'

Mr Fix It just before he smashes it up my nose!

Me deciding that I should try for the plate in the face

Since the plate didn't really work...he was able to deflect it...

...I decided to go the easy route and just smear it all over.  It's more effective anyway :)

And of course, we have to kiss and make up :)

'What are you gonna do?'

TODAY'S WEDDING TIP:  Have the "Will we or won't we?" discussing on smashing the cake in each other's face.  And then, have it again...like 5 more times.  And then after you've had it several times, decide what the consequences will be if one of you chooses to break the pact!  :)

Wed recap: My biggest fear almost realized!

Ok, so to officially get the wedding recaps underway (I'll still have some honeymoon recaps mixed in sometimes, too), I wanted to start with what happened on the morning of the wedding...or rather, I should start with the night before the wedding at bedtime:

I had wanted to get to bed at a decent hour.  We had to be at the venue by 7:45 am and it was going to be a long day!  I didn't end up getting into bed until like 10 pm or so.  And then I laid there for a while before I finally fell asleep.  My bestie, BM L from Idaho had flown in that day and was sharing the room with me.  I tried not to keep her awake.  I wasn't going to chance taking even half of an Ambien because my reaction the night before left me feeling a little nauseous and icky in the morning and I definitely didn't want that on the wedding day.  Well, no such luck!

I finally fell asleep and then woke up hours later.  When I glanced at the clock, it was only 3:30 am!!! What the heck?!?  Seriously?  Didn't the sleeping gods know that I *needed* to get a good night's rest on this of all nights?!?  Wasn't meant to be.  I laid there for the next several hours and never did fall back asleep.

We finally got out of bed about 5:30 am I think.  I was doing okay and even blogged a little sneak peek of my hanging wedding gown.  After showering, we packed everything into the cars and were getting ready to leave.  And I just was not feeling good...not at all! 

I sat down on the couch and my mom, bestie L and Little Miss (daughter) came over to me and asked how I was doing.  I told them I felt like I was going to pass out or puke.  I wasn't sure which one but I was not good.  I had put my feet up on the table to try to keep blood flowing well so I wouldn't pass out.  I grabbed a gatorade and they asked me if I needed anything else.  I told them I was so mad that I did *NOT* want to feel like this on my wedding day.  BM L tried to calm me down by rubbing my back.  What a sweetie...oh, here she is with me by the way:

So anyway...nothing was working.  I stuck my head between my knees and began praying "Lord, please just let me feel good on this day...please!"

We got into the car and made a quick stop at Starbucks where we got me a muffin and some oatmeal to try to help ease my anxiety and tummy or whatever the hell it was that was ailing me.  Just to be safe, we brought a blow up air mattress and blanket for me to lay on at the venue if I needed it.  We stopped to pick up my BM cousin E on the way and then before I knew it, we were there.

As soon as we arrived, I was in heaven!  I was so excited to be at my venue on the wedding day.  It was a little cloudy but the sun was peeking in and out.  My hair and makeup artist was there and already mostly set up ready to begin so we threw BM E into the chair and had her start straight away.

While that was going on, we unpacked the car...we had brought with us:

*  The steamer that my seamstress let us borrow to steam the dresses as needed.  (Which I blogged about while we steamed dresses)

*  An ice cooler full of drinks (water, gatorade) and snacks, veggies, fruits and sandwiches and such to keep us all (but mostly me) eating throughout the morning and for lunch.

*  My gifts for the BM's (they already received everything but the parasols by this point)

*  My special surprise sign for Mr Fix It that his nephew, one of our Ring Bearers would carry down the aisle

*  All the extras you need on your big day:  The marriage license, rings, makeup, garter, shoes, jewelry, undies/bras, my Victoria's Secret gel inserts to give me some extra cleavage and extra copies of the ceremony script, Grand Entrance script, etc.

*  And of course, all the dresses which we hung as such:

(Notice the cute little black satin padded hangers with the little bows I gifted the girls for their dresses?  You can't see it in this pic but there is a little silver charm with each girl's initial tied onto the bow.  And that white one on the left is my reception dress.)

I had BM L jump in a car with me and drive up to the main entrance where we placed my 'This Way to the Wedding' sign out by the main gate.  Blogged about that, too and glad I did because my photographer did not get a shot of the sign set up. :)  The sun was out a little and pretty at this time.

Then my videographer arrived...yeah, at like 8:15 am when I had not planned on him arriving until noon!  I was so shocked and excited to see him and his wife there.  I told him where to park and he said he was going to start setting up and walking the property to familiarize himself with it. 

BM L and I headed back to the bridal cottage (prep area) where it was almost time for her to get her hair and makeup done.  While that was going on, BM cousin E helped me steam some of the girls' dresses.  All this prep stuff was a good thing...because it was keeping me busy and keeping me from thinking about being anxious or feeling dizzy.  As long as I was moving and had people around me keeping me talking and doing things, I was feeling good for sure!  And that's how the day went...but it didn't last the whole day.  Because unfortunately there were 'down' moments where everyone was running around me but I was left sitting in a chair by my lonesome.  Those moments allowed me to sit alone with my thoughts and start to get anxious and wonder if I'd pass out or not.  And so throughout the day, you'd hear me saying "Someone talk to me or give me something to do.  I'm gonna pass out if you don't keep me busy!"  Seriously...I was over it.

Here you see me sitting in a chair waiting for the guests to be seated so that the ceremony can start...these are some super fun shots of how crappy I looked when I was not feeling good (I have to thank BM cousin A for snapping them):

(Yeah, you can't really put your head between your knees with a wedding gown on!)

Aren't those just so great?  NOT!

More to come on this fun topic...but for now...

Today's tip:  Do what you can to get a good night sleep the night before, but if you want to try sleeping pills, test them first days or weeks before the big day to see how you react to them.