Our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner were held the day before our wedding – which also happened to be my sister’s birthday!
Tim and I, along with our parents, our bridal party, and our pastor, all met at our venue site. It was so gorgeous and made everyone so excited for the wedding day 🙂
The weather was extremely nice with just a bit of a breeze! And even though the ceremony site wasn’t decorated yet, it still looked absolutely gorgeous. I mean, look at those flowers!
We were so fortunate to be able to rehearse the day before our wedding, as our venue stated it could have been any day that week leading up to the wedding.
TIP: If you’re planning your wedding, I would ask for your venue’s availability for rehearsal dates quickly just so you have an idea and can make dinner reservations!
Being able to run through the processional, reviewing what the pastor planned to say during the ceremony, and the recessional definitely made me less nervous for the wedding day!! Our pastor was super informative and took a lot of the nervousness away from the ceremony. I also was able to ask him for certain things – like speaking a bit more slowly since I knew my nerves would get to me, haha
TIP: Review the ceremony, the vows, possible readings, etc. with your pastor and bridal party. Review father/daughter hand-off to groom too! This was something I enjoyed rehearsing.
Although informative, the rehearsal didn’t go as smoothly as planned. Tim’s father and step-mom got lost on their way there (oh no!) and then our little flower girl got distracted and didn’t rehearse. Instead of tossing flower petals, I made a bouquet for Carleigh to carry during the ceremony. For the few seconds she practiced, she pretended to toss petals. *Cue me picturing a bouquet being flung through the air mid-processional* lmao
Thankfully, she did AMAZING on the wedding day! She was absolutely perfect.
Overall, it did go very well. Just a tip though…
TIP: Expect hiccups! If you plan for everything to go perfectly, it probably won’t. Just take a deep breath and enjoy every minute of your wedding process 🙂
After our rehearsal, we all headed over to our rehearsal dinner restaurant! Let me tell you. This restaurant is now one of my all time favorites! Fortunately, the restaurant we chose is in the same marina as our venue was.
(If you’re ever in the Southern Maryland area, visit Ketch 22 and try their whipped feta appetizer! It’s what dreams are made of.)
TIP: Don’t book a random restaurant for your rehearsal dinner. Test the food, meet the manager, and decide how far you want your wedding party to travel between your ceremony site and the restaurant.
The food was delicious, the distance was short, and the staff was amazing – though we did run into an issue with the event manager. Somehow, our reservation was never made despite our email thread and discussing it with her in person and over the phone throughout the course of a few months. Once we arrived, the staff was surprised at our 20 person party but thankfully threw together a portion of the restaurant for a private party. Our waiters were amazing! We were very grateful that they accommodated us in just a matter of moments.
TIP: Take photos and make memories! The entire process goes by so quickly and I love having photos to look back on.
Our wedding video will be posted very shortly, so check out my Wedding Series to watch!
Thanks for reading! ?
Are you currently planning your wedding? How is your planning process going? Let me know in the comments below!
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