Confessions of an Amateur Bride: Practice Makes Perfect?

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Practice Makes Perfect?

Ah, the joys of the wedding week chaos and last minute issues. I would have taken the entire week off, given the opportunity! It was so hard to close up a quarter, pack for 3 weeks and a 50 degree difference in temperature, remember all the wedding requirements (forgot some), and get my butt to Colorado. I get the "local" wedding benefits now, but in the end I wouldn't have changed my location or plan for the world!

This post is primarily discussing the day of the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Let me tell my story!

The day of our rehearsal, my planner and various other brides gave me the advice to "escape" the family for some alone time with Kyle to de-stress. Being that Kyle makes me really happy, I figured this was a great plan. Being that he can also drive me crazy because he is so laid back, this could have also backfired. Luckily, I was proven to be calm in the face of adversity when, after the massage and little fall hike, and a light lunch downtown Vail, I got a phone call.

My officiant was terribly ill, his car had broken down (transmission), and he wasn't going to make it up to Vail for our rehearsal.

Ok, this we can work with. I begged him to rest up so that he could make it up to our actual wedding, which he promised he would! Then I calmly called my planner, and told her it was all her for the actual rehearsal. We were just meeting up in a park, and the real "practice" was the walking order and standing formation. It would have been nice to run through the ceremony and the music, and our vows, but we had a copy of the complete ceremony so we knew what we needed to do. We should have taken the time to practice the first dance flash mob (more on this later) and the toast we planned for the end of the ceremony (which got left out in the actual wedding anyway.) In the end, it all worked out although I was pretty overwhelmed and a bit stressed out with so many people paying attention to me at the park.

Kyle would explain this afternoon a bit differently:

Phone rings.
Erica: "What! Oh! Ok, well, will you make it to the wedding itself?! I guess that is the best we can hope for..."
to Kyle: "Um, omg, we totally don't have an officiant and we have to run the rehearsal ourselves!"
Kyle: "Call Johnna."
Erica: calling her mom "Ok, so we just got news that our officiant is not coming. Hopefully he'll make the wedding tomorrow. If not, at least Brett is ordained."
Kyle: "Call Johnna."

Later that afternoon, arriving at the rehearsal at the park.
Erica: "Why is everyone asking me questions and wanting to talk to me!?"
Kyle: "You're the bride. Where's Johnna?"
Erica: "Can you just make everyone give me some space and leave me alone?"
Kyle: "Johnna, can you get everyone away from Erica so she can stop freaking out?"
Erica: "Kyle, why aren't you taking charge and telling people what to do?!"
Kyle: "Erica, you are the only one who knows anything right now, besides Johnna. Ask the right person!"
Erica: "Let's just get this over with. I can't handle all the attention."
Kyle: "That's a first..."

Lesson in this: Get a planner.

Anyway, in the end our rehearsal dinner at Montauk was a lot of fun! Lots of friends, wine, and gifts for the wedding party. Kyle got his groomsmen cooler bags, grilling spice, koozies, and a meat brand that said "Bite me".

I got my bridesmaids custom necklaces and earrings to match the colors of their dresses, monogrammed tote bags, pashmina shawls to keep warm, and nail polish (which I had sent earlier).

We also presented our parents with gifts of thanks. We got Rob an authentic Buddhist prayer bowl (that rings, hard to explain but it is freaking cool) from India and Peg a strand of Tahitian pearls. We got my dad guitar pick shaped cufflinks that said "Dad, you rock!" and my mom a necklace engraved with my parents' anniversary date and then our anniversary date, adorned with the the stones for each month of the weddings, a pearl and a sapphire.

Enjoy some of my favorite pictures.