Places People!

Rehearsals are often needed to make sure that important events go as planned. Usually they are associated with live drama or music or dance, but someone along the way thought they would be good for weddings too.

On Friday, after most people had arrived, we headed over to the ceremony location to get our practice on. The weather was holding out pretty well and we kicked off the sandals and went to get the game plan together.


Meredith and Brantley were our fabulous officiants who provided the general outline of the ceremony and when to move where. After everyone figured out who there exit buddy was, we did a test run to make sure we really knew what we were doing. Since everyone has been in at least a wedding or attended one in the last 2-3 years, we knew the drill.

I had a bouquet that was part of the Jack N' Jill bridal shower contest and then one from my shower. My sister and all her creativeness blended the two for the gianormous monster I am seen holding below. After we had left for our honeymoon, I began to wonder where on earth that thing have wondered off to. The last time I saw it was in Colleen and Bruce's trunk. When we got back, it was piled on the stack of boxes in our apartment. *shurgs* I have no clue who got it back.

From the rehearsal part of the night, we went to the dinner part of the night. This was most exciting because we were hungry and going to one of our favorite places to eat; The Black Pelican. Dinner was delicious and even came when some entertainment from Bill the Best Man.


A brief welcome was said by Rob's dad and then a small speech from my dad. We followed with our bridal party gifts. The boys got engraved pocket knives and the girls got an engraved jewelry box along with a necklace that they could wear the day of the wedding. My step mom made those and they were very nice. Then it was time to get some rest for the big day ahead. ;)

Arrival to the OBX

In the week leading up to the wedding, there was a lot going on. Lists were getting checked off left and right and we were packing fools. Not only did we need to get everything for the wedding, we needed all of our stuff for our honeymoon as well. In all the craziness I also got a wicked head cold which added a whole new layer of fun to the already stressful week.

We managed to make it to the airport and got down to Norfolk without too much trouble. One the second leg of the flight though, my head felt like it was going to explode. That was the first time I had flown with a head cold and I have decided I really don't like it.

Our trip down to the Outer Banks was much shorter than all our previous trips down. It was kind of refreshing and felt like we were cheating by being in the car for only 2 hours. We managed to make it down in time to drop our stuff at our house and meet Rob's family for dinner at one of our favorite places, Tortuga's Lie.

After dinner, Rob and I explored our newly remodeled house. When we rented it, the scheme for the decor was kind of kitchy beach/border line tacky if it weren't at the beach. The week before we arrived, they updated the website with the new photos. I thought I had saved the wrong website at first, but then realized they totally overhauled the place. It looked much more updated modern beach. Very classy. It turned out that we were the first people to rent the house after it's renovations. What a super bonus.

On Thursday we took care of some of the errands we could before everyone got to the beach. I went to Hairoics for my trial hair run. It was nice to have someone play with my hair for a while. :)


After the hair shop, I met up with Rob (he was picking up his tux) and we picked up our rings from Diamonds and Dunes. My favorite jewelry store. We grabbed some chow and headed back to the house to relax for a bit.

Given the beautiful weather, I went to the beach to take in the awesome views and just have a zen moment. Just a wonderful reminder why we chose this as the place to get married.


Thursday night we got a hold of everyone we knew that was in the area and went to Jockey's Ridge to watch the sunset. It was nice to share a very Outer Banks thing with so many people who haven't been there before. Jumping down the dunes after the sun had set was a huge hit, especially with Grandma Smith who was laughing so hard and releasing her inner 12 year old.



Then back to the house for much needed rest to try and kick that cold.

Filling the Gaps

This is an abridged version of the events that happened in between the bridal shower and our arrival on the Outer Banks.

Bachelorette/Bachelor Party - Rob and I had our respective parties with our best gals/guys. I had mine in DC with all the DC gals. We had a great dinner that Amanda cooked for us and we enjoyed some cocktails while hanging around. The following day a smaller contingent of us went wine tasting. It was a lot of fun. As for what the boys did, Bruce came and took Rob and they went to Boston. They attended some of PAX East,went to a comedy show, went on some brewery tours, and did a lot of drinking.

Easter - For the first time in about 10 years, I made it to our family gathering for Easter. This was the first time that Rob really was introduced to the rest of my family (those that were present). He has met a few here and there, but this was the first official family function he attended. He met about 60% of them, so that was good. They held an Easter Egg hunt for the younger kids and enjoyed the very warm weather. It was quite nice.

So that's the events leading up to the wedding that happened between the shower and when we arrived at the beach. Stay tuned! I am an updating fool now!