Brittany's Wedding Rehearsal

While everyone is posting Thanksgiving and Christmas prep pictures, 

I am still here chugging 

right along trying to play catch up on Brittany's wedding! 

It is a lot of fun reliving it and I get caught up in all of the pictures while going through them.

Friday after the Bridesmaids' Luncheon, we had a few hours to get the last little things together before heading to the rehearsal. 

  Brittany and Mr. B got married at our church which is just under three miles from our house.  It is also the church where Brittany, Brooke and Barrett went to preschool. 

Who would have thought that the very sidewalk I carried her down in a baby carrier, the one she skipped down wearing her smocked dresses and rubber toed Keds would be the same one she walked down in her wedding gown over twenty-five years later.

We did not have a wedding planner, I took that task on myself. (Go Me!)

Our church did have a church coordinator that was required to be there and work with our pastor

and so the rehearsal was a piece of cake. 

It was so nice to just sit and watch and it was probably the first time I sat all day! 

Our photographer took Brittany and Mr. B outside for some photos after the rehearsal
because the lighting was extra special.

Years ago, this is the exact spot I would take Brittany to feed Rainbow the horse sugar cubes and carrots. She lived in the field beside the church. I cannot count how many pictures I have of Brittany, Brooke and Barrett half way over that fence with their hands reached out with treats for Rainbow.

Mr. B's father hosted a rehearsal dinner at a downtown Raleigh restaurant. 

It was nice to see all of the bridal party and extended families together for the first time.

Brittany was a good sport and wore my veil!

me, my dad and the hubs

These three girls are Mr. B's cousins and live in Texas. 

They were so sweet and I thought they looked like Brittany's little sisters.

They welcomed everyone to the church and handed out programs.

They also are great dancers and lived on the dance floor!
(Is this a hint of what my grandchildren will look like?)

Brittany wanted to go with the tradition of giving Mr. B a groom's cake at the rehearsal dinner.

We had a simple round cake made and decorated with green icing that looked like grass. Mr. B has been given the nickname "Squatch" by his friends, which is short for Sasquatch.  The nickname comes from his workout regimen - he is really into it!  We found someone to make little figurines  of a bride and groom Sasquatch and even dressed the groom in Mr. B's favorite pair of shorts.  I made the banner and sign and Brittany found the unicorn.

 (There is some kind of inside joke about a unicorn - 

I am not sure I really want to know what it is!) 

 Well, the cake almost didn't make it to the rehearsal dinner!

We sat the box it was in on our kitchen table, forgetting

that for several hours during the afternoon it would be sitting directly in the sun! Right before leaving for the rehearsal we discovered that the icing had melted and slid off the sides of the cake! 

(Ruh Roh!)

 I salvaged it and put it back together the best I could. I scraped off what icing was left on the side of the cake, whipped it all together and then re-iced the side. 

AND.......Ta Da, Mr. B's sad little cake.

Thank goodness this was not the main dessert!

I had a great time at the rehearsal dinner, but was ready to get home and get ready for the big day!


And I'll leave you with these images!

I've noticed that no-one comments on blogs anymore, me included. I guess blogs need to come with a "LIKE" button!  I am trying to make sure I do leave a short comment on the blogs I read regularly and say something on the posts I enjoy reading.
Let me know you visited my blog and read this!
I love reading your comments.

Brittany's Bridesmaids' Luncheon

Brittany's bridesmaids' luncheon was held the Friday morning before the wedding. 

 I woke up that morning not believing that the wedding weekend 

was finally (already!) here. It was very hard to believe that the day we had been 

planning for over a year was actually happening.

The luncheon was held at a small restaurant in downtown

 Raleigh in a historical southern building known for it's tall windows, high ceilings, ornate molding 

and beautifully worn wood floors.  

Brittany's two aunts and cousin were the hosts.

 The luncheon was held in the back private room.

The florist that did the wedding did the floral arrangements here also

and used Brittany's wedding floral colors, small white pumpkins and a burlap runner on the table.  

As everyone arrived they were greeted by someone holding a tray of champagne.

We all chatted while waiting for everyone to get there.

Then Aunt P welcomed everyone before we sat.

Brittany did a great job toasting her bridal party.

Brittany wanted to include as many southern traditions as possible in her wedding events and

a charm pull was a must for her. Charm or ribbon pulls originated back in the victorian days. The bride, or nowadays the baker, places silver charms with ribbons attached to them into a cake. The bridal party stands around the cake, selects a ribbon and everyone pulls the charms out of the cake at the same time. The charms are all different and are symbols of good luck and good fortune.  So if you pulled the ring, it would mean you were the next to get married. A heart means you will find love soon, and of course, there is the dreaded stork which means there is a baby coming soon! None of these girls wanted that one!

Brittany gave her bridesmaids gifts at the end of the luncheon. 

Everyone was given a tote with there first initial on it,  Kate Spade gold bangles to wear on the wedding day with the inscription "Partners in Crime" on the inside of them and a faux fur stole also for the wedding day. 

You guys, we were so fortunate to have Jill as our photographer.

She is the one on the right.

She is a friend of Brittany's.

We were so lucky she was able to come every event and take photos.

Look her up.

She travels!