The Hatchers: Bridesmaid Luncheon/ Rehearsal/ and Rehearsal Dinner April 1, 2011

In the 3 months since Kevin and I have been back in the daily grind after our wedding and honeymoon, life has been a bit busy to say the least. I am obviously WAY behind on posting about the rest of our wedding weekend, but here goes my attempt to catch up...

Let me begin with the day before our wedding. It turned out to be quite a busy day as expected. There were a few things left to do, we had the bridesmaid luncheon, rehearsal, and rehearsal dinner. We started the morning with breakfast and coffee with the rest of our guests that had made it in town the night before (Suzanne, Annette, Jim, Ren, and Justin). Soon enough I was off to the airport to pick up an extra special guest...my cousin Meredith. She had flown in on an overnight flight from Colorado so my dad and I jumped in the car eager to meet her as soon as she landed. Once we returned from picking her up it was time to get ready for the bridesmaid luncheon. A few of my bridesmaids met us at our house and we piled in the car and headed to The Wilmington Tea Room where we meet the rest of the ladies. It was the cutest little tea and sandwhich restaurant located on the waterfront in downtown Wilmington. My guests included my mom, sister (maid of honor), Annette (god mother), Suzanne (bridesmaid), Anita (Kevin's Aunt), Daniela (Kevin's cousin), Karen (Kevin's step mother), Celeste Leich (bridesmaid), Brittanie Coleman (bridesmaid), Anna Crawford (bridesmaid), Meredith Sanner (bridesmaid), Ren Hucker (bridesmaid), Claire Flye (bridesmaid), Lindsay Morgan (reader). We were served tiered trays of yummy sandwiches, desserts, and fruit. And of course the tea of our choice in beautiful antique tea pots. It was a great way to kick off the wedding weekend with my favorite ladies.

My beautiful bridal party outside the Wilmington Tea Room

My bridesmaid from high school, Brittanie, has a tradition with her college friends that she was sweet enough to pass on with me. They pass down the head of a Ken doll to be placed in your bridal bouquet symbolizing that you have found the "PERFECT" man. I will post the card/poem that goes along with it in another post.

Ken...the perfect man!

Where's Ken?!?!

I felt incredibly honored to be included in such a special/sweet tradition. I can't wait to pass Ken to one of my best friends!

A few April Fools jokes later (I will fill this in on another post) we were all off to the Brooklyn Arts Center for rehearsal. It was a surge of excitement the moment I walked in and saw all of our closest friends and family all dressed up and there for us! We ran through the ceremony with the wedding coordinator Sara and our Pastor Jeff. Then we headed inside to show everyone where the reception would be and where the wedding party would be announced.

Soon enough we were off to the rehearsal dinner that was held at The Halyburton Events Center in Wilmington. Kevin's parents, aunt, uncle, cousins and a few others did an amazing job setting up the rehearsal with tents, centerpieces, tables, chairs, and more while we rehearsed for the wedding. The events center looked PERFECT, just what we wanted for our rehearsal dinner. It was the perfect mix of elegant but low key. We had a pasta bar that turned out AMAZING. Most of our guests went back for seconds. I had ECU themed cupcakes made for Kevin's grooms cake. There was a bride, a groom, pirates and purple and gold polka dots in chocolate, butter cream, strawberry and lemon meringue. Oh they were SO yummy. Thankfully we had a few leftover ;-)
Once everyone was done eating the speeches began. Kevin's step mom talked with some of our friends and family before the event and asked each one of them to come up with something to say. There were about 10 guests that all stood up and said incredible things about Kevin and I throughout our lives. The people that stood up and the speeches that were given reminded us again of how incredibly lucky we are to have each other as well as the incredible friends and family in our lives. We are truly blessed.

After the speeches we played a slide show that one of my former co-workers put together. It started with Kevin from baby to adult, me from baby to adult and then moved into our lives together. Needless to say after 7 years together we had PLENTY of photos together. It ended with the video of Kevin proposing to me on Paradise Island in the Dominican Republic. I loved that everyone was able to see that. To this day I still get the chills when I watch it and think of that moment when Kevin asked me to be his wife.

After the slide show the rest of the night was spent dancing and chatting. It was the perfect way to kick start our wedding weekend. Everyone was so happy and excited and I couldn't have imagined how great it would feel to have the most important people in our lives all in one room to celebrate our life together.

And the rehearsal begins...