Wedding: The Before

I thought I'd catch you up on all things wedding. Short story is: we did it! The manfriend and I are married!

First up: pre wedding prep. Last Wednesday, Pete and I both had guests coming to town. His older brother Jon flew in from Chicago and my friend Kristin flew in from Nashville. 

It was a whirlwind morning for me - run and short strength session, mani/pedi and facial. The facial was a total last minute decision, but Tuesday afternoon I figured I could use some relaxation and my skin could use some love. Luckily, Gervais was able to squeeze me in just before I needed to pick up Kristin at the airport.

Hello, luxurious robe

It was hands down the most relaxing thing I did to get ready for the wedding, and I'm so glad I did. Not to mention the fact that a lot of the redness in my face was totally gone after that hour. 

Stress

One of the hardest parts about planning our wedding was worrying about every last detail and our guests having a good time. Because of those details, I didn't sleep well the few weeks leading up to the wedding. On an average night, I'd get 4-5 hours whereas 7-8 is my preferred range. 

By the time Wednesday before the wedding hit, I was pretty exhausted, but I knew I just had to pull it together and enjoy the ride. That afternoon, Kristin graciously ran around doing errands with me - Kinkos, ring cleaning, picking up the dress, dropping it off at Lindsey's house for safe keeping overnight, etc. 

The Day Before

Thursday morning, we packed up the car and headed over to Bend (about a 3 hour drive) to get the wedding weekend rolling. To maintain my sanity, I got a short 3 miler in before hitting the road. 

This is the crazy hair face of exhaustion

We stopped to take a peak at Sahalie Falls on our way over.

It never ceases to amaze me how pretty (and green) it is. This also happens to be part of the 50K McKenzie River Trail race that I've run the last two years.

When we got to Bend, we had to pick up flameless candles from the fire department. Then it was off to check into hotels and do a bit of reception set up before the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

My dad, brothers and Pete set up the lights and tables Thursday evening, while the girls brought in all the decorations. Friday, we had a fabulous crew of friends and family who helped to decorate the hall and make all the details come to life.

Rehearsal
I had always dreamed of my grandfather marrying me, so I felt honored that he was willing and able to be our officiant. Grandpa Art lead us through a few rounds of the ceremony so we could get a feel for the order and movement of it all.

Soon enough, it was on to dinner at Greg's Grill where we had the back room to ourselves. It was really nice to have some time to chat with friends and family before the big day arrived.

I chose the salmon with green beans, mashed potatoes and pineapple for my entree. Delicious.

Left to right: grandma Jean, Jenn (and wedding coordinator extraordinaire), Kristin, Scott, Jessica and Evelyn (flower girl).

A few of us also went out for a drink afterward to meet up with other family and friends who had traveled from North Carolina, Maryland and Michigan to celebrate with us before calling it a night.

Because I know you guys like these tidbits, my rehearsal dinner dress was from none other than Tar-get.

For months, I had searched high and low for a great dress and never found one I liked, but I found this one the week of the wedding and liked it enough to buy. 

Next up: the BIG day! 

I won't have the professional photos back for another 5-6 weeks so you'll have to get by with those I've managed to gather from friends and family. Anything in particular you want details on? 

I hope your weekend is going well. Our friends Lindsey and Sonny are getting married today and I'm so excited to celebrate with them!