After our fun little outing off property, my girls dropped me back off at the BW. DH had been spending some time with his friends at ESPN, but he met me back in our room so we could get ready for our rehearsal. Our rehearsal was scheduled to start at 6pm at SBP, so I made sure to tell everyone to meet us in the BW lobby for 5:45pm. Not surprisingly, a couple of groomsmen were a few minutes late, but we made it down to SBP with a few minutes to spare!
This was the first time that I got to meet my amazing planner, Michelle. It was so great to FINALLY meet the woman who I had spoken with and emailed for the past year.
I can't say enough about how wonderful she was. She even managed to snag me two Just Married buttons because she knew how nervous I was that I wasn't going to find any for our honeymoon.
I was so excited for the rehearsal, but I was also pretty nervous. I am not someone who loves to be in the spotlight, so it was kind of nerve-racking to have all eyes on me!
Our officiant, Rev. Kevin Knox, told me that he wouldn't be able to be at our rehearsal, as he had another wedding that evening. He did, however, send his wife Teresa (also an officiant) for our rehearsal. The whole process only took about 30 minutes. I think my dad had the most difficult task--remembering his 4 "steps" for the ceremony ("shake"--shake DH's hand, "kiss"--kiss my cheek, "join"--join my hand with DH's, and "dodge"--dodge my dress as he sits down). It was so cute because my dad kept rehearsing these words.
DH wore his top hat like a good sport--even though the hat was a bit too small for his head.
The most memorable part of the rehearsal was when we practiced our first kiss. When Teresa instructed us to kiss, I leaned in to plant a big fat smooch on DH's lips--and she said "NO!". I was kind of taken aback, but she reminded me that I am a lady and the man is supposed to lean in and kiss
me, not the other way around. It was HILARIOUS!
After the rehearsal, we walked over to Big River Grille, which was where our Welcome Dinner was scheduled to begin at 7pm. Now, I have to be honest--I wasn't completely thrilled with our experience at Big River Grille. Don't get me wrong--the food was good, the manager came by to congratulate me and DH (and gave us complimentary drinks), and our guests seemed to enjoy themselves. My biggest complaint was the seating. We were a party of 39 that was separated into four tables of 10. No big deal--except that one of the tables was separated from the other three (by a wall). Kind of hard to explain, but the situation wasn't ideal. I was told that we weren't going to be in a private area, but I guess I just didn't understand how the tables were set up. Oh well, no biggie. A group of our friends sat at the reject table together and they seemed to have a good time!
In between the salad and main course, DH got up to give a little speech, thanking everyone for being there. This was also when we passed out the gifts to our wedding party, parents, and my grandmother. Everyone seemed to love their gifts!
My dad was so proud of the hankie I had embroidered for him, he wore it the rest of the night (and on the day of the wedding AND for our at-home reception)!
This is a picture of me and my dad (he looks angry but I promise he's not!) Just to let you all know--I am TOTALLY a daddy's girl. Me and my dad are two peas in a pod and we have a great relationship. I totally lucked out with him!
And this is one with both parents--finally a smile from dad!
And these lovely ladies happen to be DH's friends from high school...they have been friends for nearly 20 years! I'm so glad that he brought them into my life!
On our way back to the hotel, my dad spotted one of the carnival-type games that are on the BW and suggested that we stop and play. It's the game where they load a rubber lobster on a plank-type thingy (yup, very technical terms, I know) and you use a mallet to launch the lobster into a large pot. Several of us decided to play, so my dad whipped out $20 and bought everyone a couple of lobsters!
This was one of the funniest parts of the entire trip. Just imagine 8 well-dressed (and slightly buzzed?) adults laughing and yelling as they are launching rubber lobsters around the boardwalk. Not one of us managed to get a single lobster in a pot, so my dad bought another round of lobsters for everyone. Imagine my surprise when I got one in! On our our groomsmen also landed a lobster in the pot, and so I picked out a prize--a large green turtle that I appropriately named Crush.
That turtle traveled with us for the rest of the honeymoon.
Once we made it back to the room, DH packed up his belongings and left for the night. Both of my MOHs stayed with me in my hotel room that night. I was getting a bit nervous, so I decided to order a bottle of wine from room service (yup, MORE booze!
). I ordered the cheapest wine on the menu, and it was still $61!!! DH almost had a heart attack when he saw the bill for that bottle of wine!
We managed to drink a good portion of that bottle (don't worry, the rest went into the fridge) before going to bed. This was my last night as a single lady!!!
Up next...getting up BEFORE the crack of dawn for hair and makeup!
My name is Bethie and I have pink problem. 
Does it surprise you to know that I am a therapist and work with individuals with drug/alcohol addictions? lol 
So cute!!
x
Glad you are enjoying it! 
The weather, lighting, violin, EVERYTHING, was just perfect!
