Our Charleston Wedding: Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner

Here it is, the last of the Pre-wedding posts.  

Our Rehearsal began at 4:30 pm on Friday, November 21st, 2014 at St. Stephen's.

Father Williams had us fill out the paperwork for our marriage licence first thing.

His spaniel, Abigail, kept us all entertained throughout the entire rehearsal.

Jimmy (K's step-uncle?) was our organist.  

We can't thank him enough for giving us this gift!  

And now, on to the fun part, the Rehearsal Dinner at Fish!

We kept the decor simple, hanging lanterns I scored at a thrift shop and lots and lots of candles.

Here comes the bride!  Don't I look thrilled?  I was trying to find someone in charge who could help me store the gifts we would be giving out later in the night.

My dress is by Alva from The Bridal House.  It is actually a wedding gown, shortened.  You can see the long version here.  Because my actual wedding gown was more whimsical, I was excited to wear something a little sexy for the rehearsal.

On to the menu...

We had so much delicious food, y'all.

We had 3 passed HDs, all seafood.

And then our stations:

 

My father-in-law gave the nicest toast!
He discussed our family connections, how we met... it was so sentimental!

YUM!

The happy couple...

I had painted this at Wine and Design in October and we used it as a "guestbook" at the Rehearsal.

I am so sad that we didn't get on large group photo, 

but we have lots of pictures of everyone mingling...

K's Mamie and Poppa.

A HUGE Thank you to Harold and Cathy
for hosting such a wonderful dinner for us.

We love y'all so much!!

One last thing, I wanted to share what I gave K as his grooms gift.

I had a cigar case monogrammed (at the Christian bookstore for $5.00!) with 3 authenic cuban Cohibas!  He was thrilled.

Next week...Wedding posts!

Have a great weekend!

(We are going to see American Sniper tonight, trying out Indaco for Restaurant Week tomorrow, and cooking out with my parents on Sunday.  What are you up to?)

Blogging about Blogging

Humpity Hump!

I thought I would talk a little bit about my blogging "journey" (Bachelor fans??) today with a little survey...

1. When/Why did you start your blog?

I began blogging in Summer 2011.  I was in a position with a lot of downtime at work and essentially began blogging out of boredom, I suppose.  K and I had been dating for 8 months or so and I was interested in keeping track of our life as a couple (I knew I was going to marry him very early on).

2.What was the first blog you ever read?

I don't remember exactly how, but some Google search vortex lead me to the blog What I Wore.  I had never heard of such a site where a normal girl shares her outfits and snippets of her life.  I became, for lack of a better word, obsessed with looking at fashion blogs.  It was so neat to think that girls like me were creating their own editorials!  From there I became intrigued with the notion of local Charleston girls doing the same.  While I didn't find any Charleston Fashion blogs, I did stumble upon Hungry Meets Healthy, and began looking forward to Christina's posts every day.
From there it was a spider web effect.

3. How has blogging changed since you began?

So many of the blogs that I initially started reading aren't around anymore, so that's a change.  But otherwise I have definitely noticed a shift in blogging since the rise of Instagram. I love looking at gorgeous images, staged or not, but there is certainly less of a "real life" vibe in several of the blogs I follow.  It also feels like there is more of a "corporate" edge to blogging nowadays.

4.  What do you enjoy most about blogging?

I love that blogging helps me put a positive spin on days that aren't so positive...I guess I mean that it can really force me to look at things in a glass-half-full sort of way.  I'm not going to whine or moan about a bad day on the blog, so it's fun to turn lemons into lemonade some days.
I really love being able to look back at my archives.  This blog is more of a journal than anything else.  That being said, I do love sharing this with others.  I don't do a really good job of commenting on other blogs, but I love reading them!  I love seeing what everyone else has going on!


I would LOVE to hear your answers :)

Our Charleston Wedding: Wedding Week

Before I begin my Wedding Day recaps (coming soon!), I wanted to post a breakdown of what the week leading up to the Big Day looked like!

I worked Monday and Tuesday of that week (11.17 and 11.18).  These were probably the most testing days of my current job thus far... Isn't it funny how the universe works like that?

Tuesday night I was utterly and completely drained.  It was K and I's last night together until the wedding night and we took it easy.

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Wednesday (11.19) I ran last minute errands such as: dropping off rehearsal dinner decor at Fish, confirming hotel reservations for photographer, picking up our marriage licence, and packing for the honeymoon.
I also took care of logistics such as Valet pick up of our getaway car, early check-in for K at Mills House. I bought a toss garter, had my ring cleaned...Lots of little things.

My family rented the beach house for the week before the wedding, so I packed up everything I'd need for the rest of the week and made my way out to Folly to soak in my last few days as a LeaMond.

I loved spending a few days apart before the wedding and would recommend it!
I did not see K after Tuesday night until the Rehearsal.

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Thursday (11.20) was "DIY" day!

3 of my bridesmaids and 3 of my aunts came down to help my mom and I with the flowers. We made the bouquets, boutonnieres, and table arrangements (a mixture of short and tall) while snacking on appetizers and lots-o-wine.  

We also spray painted the easels, worked on reception signage, and organized everything for my Day of Coordinator.

We had a good 'ole time, complete with a late night Berts run for corndogs. 

When I went to shower I discovered someone had rigged a sprig of eucalyptus to the showerhead, which I found hilarious...and delightful!

Friday (11.21) morning my mom, aunt, and I went to get manicures and pedicures before grabbing lunch and heading back out to the beach to chill before the rehearsal.

My girls traveling from out of town ubered out there and we enjoyed catching up on the porch with the beautiful view.   

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((Stay tuned for the Rehearsal + Dinner post!
Suffice it to say a good time was had by all.))

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Saturday (11.22)
I was adamant about waking up at the beach on my Wedding day.  I was up around 7:30 and took a nice solo walk with my coffee in hand.  

My idea of peace is the sight and sound of the ocean,
this was the best way to start my Big Day.
Looking back on these photos, I'm filled with excitement and love!

From there I was whisked away for hair and makeup.
But first!  Bagel Nation.

Then, go time!

More to come :)

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pssst! Check out my new Wedding Tab up top for all of my posts!