The Rehearsal

The day before the wedding Heather showed up at my house early in the morning and we drove over to Duncan to help around the reception site. My mom and I had helped the wedding coordinator and her assistants quite a bit the evening before and things were really coming together by the time we arrived that morning. We doled out the tiny Mason jar cards at every place setting, along with one birdseed bag for each.

We picked up Kevin’s mom from their hotel and went over to the mall where we had our nails done. That was nice and relaxing. To myself I still seemed really calm. I don’t know how other people saw it, but I was freaking myself out a little with how calm I was. The rest of the afternoon we spent helping with all the decorating.

Sometime before the rehearsal started Jolene arrived and she immediately hopped in to help us out wherever we needed it. Before I knew what was happening, I had 45 minutes left to get ready, so I headed over to the main building to put on my dress and makeup.

Once the rehearsal got started, that’s when I really felt kinda…overwhelmed. Not with what was happening, but because (unexpectedly) no one was there to help direct the order of ceremony, show people how to walk in, etc. The person who was supposed to help with all that was tied up and it was left to me to do all the coordinating at this point. I was exasperated. Some of my family members don’t take direction well, and some of them (my brothers, ahem) hardly take it from me at all. There were just so many details, so many things to consider. There is always going to be something that you don’t expect and something that just won’t work out. But man. I was tired.

A few photos from that evening:

SOMEBODY needs an anti-anxiety pill. And it’s not one of the minors.

He didn’t want to walk down the aisle.

And he wasn’t glad to be onstage. Don’t worry. He sprinted down the aisle on the big day.

Doing what I do best: bossing my baby brothers.

And after all of this (I think the photos clearly delineate my descent into a frenzied state) I went to the bathroom to grab my stuff, already running 30 minutes late to the dinner, with a number of people on my heels, all with questions to ask. I broke down. Put my hands over my face and said, “I need to compose myself.” Before I moved my hands everyone had left the room. I stood there catching my breath for a few moments, remembering what Chris (our main officiant) had said to us earlier: “No matter what happens, at the end of the day, you will be married.”

I gathered my bags, went outside to meet Kevin for a few more pictures, and to enjoy my last evening as an unmarried woman in the company of many friends and family members. It was wonderful.