Tying the Knot: Rehearsal Recap

Thanks to everyone who responded to my last post! It was so helpful to hear about what other couples do and I have definitely decided we should merge bank accounts and I should start the name-change process ASAP. So thanks for the help! I'm sure I'll have more confused newlywed questions in the future so it's nice to know others have these questions too.

You may remember (or not) that way back when I promised a recap of all wedding festivities. I'm finally sort of getting around to doing that! I know it's Saturday and everyone is off doing fun weekend things, but I have been working all weekend/traveling for work since Tuesday and my posts have been quite random so I'm going to update while I have time and an internet connection. I go home tomorrow though!

With that said, on to the rehearsal dinner!

The rehearsal began on Friday (the thirteenth) at the Isom Place with, you guessed it, rehearsing! It was very, very hot and Andrew had to change shirt after. Luckily his wonderful mother had already anticipated this happening and brought an extra shirt in case he needed it on the actual wedding day. I don't think he did end up changing that day though because the family hid so many fans in trees and bushes and we were able to go inside the house. Here we are waiting for the rehearsal to begin:

My brother Brandon gave me away and Andrew's dad was his best man.

During the rehearsal:


After this the party moved 20 minutes down the road to the small town of Taylor, Mississippi, where we had our dinner at Taylor Grocery. The place is known for its great fried food and a laid back atmosphere, which is exactly what we were going for throughout the entire weekend. We took our engagement pictures outside of Taylor Grocery and they catered our wedding, so it was all quite fitting.

The head table.

Everyone signs the walls at Taylor. This usually works out pretty well. However, I later found out that our five-year-old flower girl had a--well let's just call it a pizzle stick--drawn on her chair, so my cousin switched with her. Good times, good times. We're classy like that.


We had some really cute rehearsal dinner details:

(clockwise: Thumbprint guest book by Alex; a menu; cute set up with place settings, personalized napkins and framed engagement photos; and flower arrangements that we reused the next day at the wedding.)

Andrew and I were just happy to get to sit and sip (or chug) wine in an air-conditioned setting with all the people we love most. (I wish we had pics of everyone at the dinner but if they exist I haven't seen them yet.)


A few scenes from the night:

The A side of the family.

My side of the fam. And yes, that's a screen behind us. We totally had a slideshow and I totally cried and laughed and loved it. Don't judge.


Mom and Steve.

Eliz, Captain Redbeard and the soon-to-be bean (under the table).

My lovely cousins and bridesmaids, Alisha and Brooke.

Brandon and Jen.

Ash and the gator slayer.

Ash gave the most amazing, funny toast later that night but no one seems to have pictures. Maybe because I stole most of these photos from Ashley and she was, in fact, giving the speech. I also stole some from Elizabeth, so thanks Poor and Fabulous ladies for always having cameras handy!

And then the food came. Oh, the food. We threw down Southern-style, y'all. (We had a healthier option--grilled chicken, a baked potato and something else--but I'm glad I didn't get it. I didn't end up eating the food at the wedding and we forgot the little to-go dinner the caterer packed us, so I basked in all my fried glory on Friday night.)

Fried catfish, hushpuppies, French fries and cole slaw.

Peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream. The other option, chocolate cobbler, was insanely good as well.

After dinner, dessert, toasts and the slideshow Andrew and I thought all was wrapped up for the evening, but his mom surprised us by pulling two chairs together in the center of the room and calling us out. We had no idea what was going on, especially when she asked us to take off our shoes and sit back-to-back.

I would so have worn less-dirty shoes had I know I had to hold them up in front of everyone! But the game was so fun. Definitely one of the highlights of the night.

I got one of Andrew's shoes and one of mine, and he held my flip-flop and one of his shoes.

His family had written about 10 questions on slips of paper and passed them around the room, so someone would stand up, ask a question and we would have to respond by holding up the corresponding shoe. The questions ranged from things like, "Who talks about having babies the most?" to "Who handles the finances?"

It was quite hilarious, though I will admit I copped out and held up both shoes a lot.

It was such a fun night. Did you have any surprises at your rehearsal dinner? Did you go for a more formal or casual feel? What was your favorite part of the evening?