Happily After All: The Rehearsal

Now that I've left you guys hanging forever, I thought I'd finally pick up where I left off after decorating the reception space.  I finally got my disc of pictures, so I should be able to just keep rolling after this right into the actual day of the wedding, full of lots of wonderful pictures!

So one thing I didn't tell you guys is how long it actually took us to decorate.  We got there at about 9 in the morning and we weren't ready to leave until around 3:00 that afternoon.  We had planned on starting the rehearsal at 6pm that night, 20 minutes out of town.  And I was supposed to be there at 4:30 to meet with the pastor, which was just ridiculously early.  We had just spent an hour talking with him the Sunday before after Church, so I don't know what he could have possibly needed for over an hour.
I still had to go and get my nails done and have my eyebrows waxed because it just didn't fit in any other time during the week.  So my mom and I ran and got our nails done and then stopped on the way home and I had my eyebrows done quickly.  I got home and had about 5 minutes to change and leave the house.  My hair was up in a ponytail from earlier that day and I was able throw on a bit of makeup.  I went flying down the road and made it to the church a couple minutes after 6!! Not only was I late for meeting with the pastor (I had Mr. T call and tell him there was no way I was making it that early) but all of the guys were even there before me!!

I was calling my mom along the way telling her what I forgot and what she needed to bring with her!  But eventually we got it all sorted out and we were able to start the rehearsing!  Our pastor sat us all down, girls on one side and guys on the other and talked us through the entire ceremony before letting us actually do anything.  He hasn't actually done a wedding in a long time, so I think he was pretty nervous.  Our second pastor wasn't in town yet, so he wasn't there to run through everything with us.

Everyone is lined up, waiting for my entrance!

Notice the ponytail?! And my gorgeous ribbon bouquet from my IL shower.  I think I was more emotional as my dad walked me down the aisle here than during the actual wedding.

We made it through very quickly, just hitting all of the main points.  Mr. T's mom went through her solo with the organist, but other than that, everything else was just summarized.  I had forgotten to print out my readings, so my friend Sarah couldn't even read those.  I think she was a little nervous about that!  She didn't get to see them for the first time until the morning of the wedding.

My sister Sam, our Maid of Honor, and Mr. T's younger brother Jake, one of our Best Men.

My best friend since birth Brittany, a bridesmaid, and Mr. T's youngest brother Joe, the other Best Man.

Brittany's cousin Bri, who I've known since birth as well, and Mr. T's friend from school, Eric.  (She just got married this weekend and I'll share pictures soon!)

My wonderful friend Arin who I played soccer with in high school, and Mr. T's football teammate Scott from college.

And my friend Katie from high school and another of Mr. T's football buddies from U of I.

We all mingled for a little bit and then I had everyone follow us back to my parents' house for a quick stop along the way to dinner so we could share the groomsmens' gifts with everyone.  We had everyone line up in the kitchen with the curtains closed to the back deck.  I handed over gift bags to each guy and they opened it up and saw a set of bean bags.  Very cool and all, but it wouldn't do much good alone.  So then we opened up the curtain and led them out onto the deck where they saw these:

I had my uncle line up all the boards for us while we were at the church.  The boys absolutely loved their gifts.
Then they all left and headed towards the restaurant.  I gathered up all of the other gifts quickly and then ran into town.

It wasn't until we got to the restaurant and started to eat and I got a glass of wine in my hand that I finally got to slow down for the day.  I felt like I had been running around like crazy all day without a chance to catch my breath.  We ate, we laughed, and we enjoyed each others company.  The girls got to open the rest of their gift (a clutch and their jewelry) and the ring bearer and flower girl each got a pair of lime green crocs and a couple of movies.  We also gave the ushers a bottle of their favorite alcohol and a gift card to a restaurant in town.  We didn't gift our parents at that point, but we have a plan in the works still that I'll share with you when it's finished.
We had cake.

My mom's friend who did our wedding cake also did a groomscake as a surprise to Mr. T.  He is a big fishermen, so I thought this would be cute.  She even added "She's a keeper!" to it.  He thought it was hilarious and was definitely surprised.

Mr. T's dad kept inviting their family over as they arrived into town.  So we got to see a lot of his aunts and uncles and cousins that night.  We ended up being there until about midnight just visiting and drinking wine.  It was nice to be able to just sit there and relax and not have to worry about anything.

Although, we did have to stop at Walmart on the way home and get some white vinyl for a project I still had to finish.  I was planning on doing it that night, but I fell asleep in the car while my mom ran in and I didn't get to work on it until the next morning.  Yes, I was working on projects the morning of our wedding! But more about that in the next post.

So at this point, we're all caught up on the prewedding week.  There's one more post before we get into the actual wedding activities!

In case you've missed anything...
Decorating the Reception Hall
Honoring Our Family

Rehearsal Dinner

Mr. T's dad has taken on the task of organizing our Rehearsal Dinner.  I guess the rehearsal dinner is the groom's responsibility, which I wasn't aware of, but he was and is super excited about doing it.  He looked around town and picked out the place all on his own and is getting really into it.  He's really big into food and is set on having an open bar as well.  There aren't a lot of options around our town that can hold a group of 60 and that have a bar as well.  Luckily he landed on a place we all love.  It's a great local hangout that gets a lot of business around 1:00 AM when the bars let out.  It's a truckstop located just off the highway and is open 24 hours.  But don't let that fool you, it has amazing food and gets just as much business during normal hours.
It's called R-Place and has been a staple around Morris for ages.  It's just off I-80, and I highly recommend it if you're ever traveling that part of the highway.

 

  

  

  

This is the back room of the restaurant that we'll all be in for the night.  You can catch just a small glimpse of what the rest of the place looks like.  I wish I had taken pictures of the rest of the decorations, because it really is awesome.  It's overflowing with things from way back when.  You could spend hours in there looking at it all and still find something new the next time you go back.

The guy in charge of events will be setting up the tables in two long rows on each side with the middle area being clear and the front of the room as well.  Where you see the computer screen in the last picture, he'll set up a bar with beer and liqour of our choice.  We've decided to do the menu banquet style, and that will be lined up just outside of the room.

The Menu

Meats

Pot Roast

Fried Chicken

BBQ Ribs

Potato/Sides

Garlic mashed

Cheese tortellini

Vegetables

Baked beans

Salads

Iceberg lettuce with various dressings

Potato salad

Macaroni salad

Tortellini pasta salad

Cole slaw

Assorted fruit tray

Vegetable tray

All non alcoholic drinks are included.  We're getting all of this for just $14.95 per person and that includes tax.  They leave the gratuity up to us, dependent on the service.

Now that the place is settled I can start working up mock invites for the rehearsal and the dinner.  I'm also thinking some cute signage for the buffet to let everyone know what they're eating.

How did you guys decide on your rehearsal dinner spot; is it a local favorite?

p.s. Born to be Mrs. Beever is hosting her first giveaway on her blog.  Go check it out!

p.p.s. Miss Mojito has a wine themed giveaway on her blog as well!  And she also has a kitchen organizing themed giveaway here!