Our rehearsal dinner in Fayetteville, NC

We stopped by Sam’s Club on Thursday and bought all the food we needed. Friday began with us cleaning up and getting all the last-minute things done around the house. Our crack team of wedding helpers started working on our flowers (which arrived Wednesday and had been rehydrating in our guest bath). Around this time, I noticed that I only had ten flower containers. We needed thirteen. Yelp. I also needed to get to my nails done and starting to feel a time crunch. My mama, her BFF Kath, and I got mani-pedis and were back at the house before 3. The parents and Kath rushed back to the hotel to change before our rehearsal. Mac and I also got ready.

We were in the car and on the road before 3:30. If everything had gone according to plan, we should’ve been at the Botanical Garden by 3:50. Unfortunately, we were delayed by a wreck at a major intersection and rolled up at 4:05. Our limo driver also called while we were driving, so I was trying to sort everything out with him. Chaos. Eventually, the wedding party, parents, and pastor all arrived, and our rehearsal started around 4:15. Everything went rather smoothly but could have done more quickly (the bridal party was very chatty, but what can you do). We also walked to the Orangery, so everyone could see how the reception set-up was going.

Given the traffic situation, I wanted to leave as quickly as possible to make our 5:30 dinner reservation at Luigi’s. While it’s not a long drive, we had no direct route to the restaurant. We rode with Best Man Joey and his girlfriend, and, of course, Joey was lollygagging. Joey knew that he had to drive us to Luigi’s, and I was quite anxious to keep to our timeline.

We piled in the car and rode to Luigi’s. MOH Leslie and BM JBenz had to go back to the hotel to pick up their boyfriends. We arrived at Luigi’s, claimed our reservation, and waited for the rest of the party and parents to trickle in. We settled in, ordered loads of food and drinks, and enjoyed a relaxed dinner. Mac and I didn’t do anything fancy like toasts or gifts. Given the company, we languished a bit, and I panicked realizing we hadn’t set up for our wedding open house at 8 pm. My in-laws graciously picked up the tab, and we were off to wait for Joey yet again. This time, he decided to help 94-year-old Grandma with her walker. Generally, I wouldn’t mind, but he did drive us, I was beyond my patience, and, ohh, 16 other people were still at the table who could have helped her. That might make me sound like a bitch, but we were looking at less than one hour to set up a party. We headed home to set up for the open house.