Wedding Post #1- Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner

I have hesitated in posting anything wedding-related, in hopes of receiving the official photos from the weekend from the photographer and including them in my posts. But in honor of our one-month wedding anniversary, and so that I don't forget the details of all that happened, I decided to go ahead and post using pictures from my camera and friends' cameras. The Sposa Bella photos from the Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner can be viewed at www.sposabellaphotography.com. Click on "client access," and the password is "webb." Pictures are under "rehearsal."

I woke up in a state of utter panic on the Friday morning of our rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner. I had tried on my rehearsal dinner dress the night before, and in trying to zip it (after midnight nonetheless), I busted the zipper! The dress had gone through many alterations and the zipper was never in great shape, so I wasn't shocked but had no idea how to fix it in such a short amount of time. Thankfully, the Golden Needle of Spartanburg stepped in to save the day! Once the crisis was averted, with Suzanne set to pick up my dress (along with her bridesmaid's dress and a pair of Richard's pants for the honeymoon), I was able to enjoy a day full of lunch with my family and pedicures and manicures with my favorite girls.

Sweet Suzanne and Meghanne did my hair and makeup for the evening at the fabulous Inn on Main, and we headed over to the church, where Richard had the musicians' rehearsal already under way. We made it through the rehearsal fairly uneventfully, with Richard's cousin Molly as our stand-in bride. She needed the practice, as she's getting married this Spring! These little ones kept me entertained...

adorable Jackson, our ring bearer, and Ella Grace, one of our flower girls

Jackson's mom Kim was my matron of honor, and Ella's mom Jess was a bridesmaid- I adore both the little ones and their moms!

Amanda, one of our honorary bridesmaids, me and Darcy, our other flower girl. Amanda (a.k.a. Wonder Woman) did everything from our save-the-dates and programs to making Jackson's adorable jon-jon, so I got to see a good bit of her during our engagement period. I love, love Darcy- she and I are good buddies, and I miss her and Amanda both!

My grandmother Joanne, who passed away when I was a junior in college, left me a gorgeous strand of opals that I had always planned to wear on my wedding day. Because they wouldn't have looked quite right with my wedding dress, I wore them for the rehearsal instead. Seeing my mom, my aunt (her sister), and my grandfather (their dad) and showing them the opals was an incredibly emotional moment!

with my awesome maid of honor Suzanne, Richard's sister- wearing the opals and carrying a fabulous bow bouquet expertly made by Meghanne, another one of my bridesmaids

the handsome groom and me- so excited and thrilled to see each other!

Our wedding director Mrs. Crowder, who did an excellent job of keeping everyone straight,

is in the background

We left the rehearsal and headed to Carolina Country Club's Holly Hall for the Rehearsal Dinner. The pictures below of our family members were displayed in the Hall on the way in. Mrs. Webb worked hard to compile the wedding pictures and dates of many of our grandparents, great-parents, aunts and uncles and cousins. Richard's aunt and uncle, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Al, were kind to serve as greeters and directed our guests to their tables, named for different official South Carolina state designations (i.e. The Shag, our state dance, Spotted Salamander, our state amphibian, Amethyst, our state gemstone, etc.).

the picture display

the view walking in

I must admit that when Richard shared his ideas for the Rehearsal Dinner, I resisted them. Not only did he want BBQ, he wanted a blue-grass band and square dancing as well! Because he was so insistent, I went along with it but had reservations until I arrived at Holly Hall. But when we walked on and saw all beautiful sunflower centerpieces, the adorable (faux) pig on the buffet table, and heard the band playing, I knew the evening was going to be a lot of fun!

With the band that kept our guests entertained from start to finish

Sadly I don't have many pictures of the toasts, but after watching a great slideshow of fun pictures that my brother put together, several of our friends shared thoughts that made us laugh and cry all at the same time! We loved hearing all of their memories and kind words.

After the toasts, we went to cut the groom's cake, made by Strossner's of Greenville, was a doctor's bag and all the accessories. Richard's mom, and two of her friends, Mrs. Norris and Mrs. Crowder, really played up the medical theme as they served!

it tasted as great as it looked!

too cute!

After the cake-cutting, it was time for some square dancing! Despite my skepticism, we had a blast!

"Uncle" Ted in the middle of the fun

The band played just long enough to keep us thoroughly entertained, then we ended our time atHolly Hall by visiting with our guests.

Two of my favorite Clemson girls and their husbands-

Jonathan, Sarah, Julie and Chris

More favorite Clemson girls!- Jeanine, Drew, Kim and April

friends since pre-school- Jaime and husband Blake, Kellianne and husband Grant (newlywed!), and me and Richard

Meghanne, the bow bouquet designer, and her husband Caleb- Meghanne and Caleb opened their home for our program ribbon-tying party Tuesday before the wedding, for which we were so grateful!

Richard with friends from Walter Reed- Kelly, Max and Jon

My family- Mom, Will, Jeff, me, Alyx, Richard and my dad

Our hosts for the evening who put together the perfect prelude to our big day-

Mr. and Mrs. Webb with me and Richard

Most of our friends headed over to Gerhard's Cafe with us for some post rehearsal-dinner celebrating. A very appropriate, Spartanburg ending to an incredible night.

cousins Ashley and William and dear friends Laurie and Daniel Wybenga

no celebration is complete without Hannah's beaver dance- "beaver one, beaver all, let's all do the beaver crawl..."

the guys

Columbia girls (minus Candy- where were you?!), at least at one time or another-

wish they were all still right around the corner! Some of my best memories involve these ladies!