Nobody ‘Scept You: A Super Short Rehearsal

We hadn’t planned on having a rehearsal, (our venue charges an extra $200 to have rehearsal the night before the wedding) but we wanted to do a very quick run through just to make sure everyone knew what order they were walking in/who they were walking with.

Once dinner had been cleared away we rounded up everyone at the back of the room and Brother Scepter attempted to walk everyone through the order of the ceremony.

Mr. Scepter waits for his cue

I wanted the girls to walk down the aisle by themselves, so once Mr. Scepter walked his mom down the aisle the guys entered from the side, and the girls were free to start their walk.

Sister Scepter making her way down the “aisle”

We tried to get Tiny Dancer to practice her flower girl role, but she informed us that it wasn’t “Aunt Cakes” wedding day, so she didn’t want to do it.  We couldn’t really argue with her point, so we let her skip her part, and Dad and I made our way down the aisle.

I loved the awesome ribbon bouquet MOH Dancer made for me.

Brother Scepter explained a few details of the ceremony, and with that we wrapped up our rehearsal.

The entire rehearsal took about 10 minutes, but since everything went smoothly the next night 10 minutes seemed to be all we needed.  How long did your rehearsal last?

All photos personal. 

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.

We stuffed our faces.

The bridal part was gifted.

Nobody ‘Scept You: Gifting The Bridal Party

We wanted the rehearsal dinner to be a small thank you to our bridal party, so we chose to give each of them their gifts between dinner and dessert.

My brother (our minister) and his friend, Tanner, (who played guitar during our processional) were leaving on a month long mission trip to Slovenia two days after our wedding, so we gave each of them a funny card with some cash inside for their trip.

Brother Scepter and T with their singing cards

Our flower girl was very excited about her role in the wedding, so I decided to give her a few companions to practice with:

 Tiny Dancer with her Barbie Wedding Set

Each of the groomsmen received their tie to wear for the wedding, and a mini cooler that included a steak from the Amarillo Stockyard and a nice bottle of whiskey.

Groomsmen M with his new tie!

All of the groomsmen plus their dates

We gave BM J a “bonus” gift.  BM J loves a nice whiskey so we gave him a specially engraved glass to commemorate the occasion

BM J with his new glass

For the my amazing bridesmaids I chose a pair of flats (to wear during the reception) and a piece of jewelry for each of them.

MOH Dancer and Bridesmaid Fashionista received these Steve Madden flats:

Image Via 6pm 

And MOH/ Lil Sis Dolphin received a new pair of Toms.

Image Via Nordstom

Each bridesmaid was gifted a different piece of jewelry that represented their personality.  For MOH Dancer, I chose a beautiful bracelet from Dillards.

This isn’t the exact one, but it was very similar.  Image Via Dillards  

MOH/Lil Sis Dolphin loved her pair of whale earrings:

MOH/Lil Sis Dolphin with her TOMS

For Bridemaid Fashionista’s gift I took inspiration from her Pinterest board and bought this ring for her:

Image Via Etsy seller FabulousWire

Her reaction was priceless:

Once gifts had been passed out, dessert was served!

With dessert finished, it was time to start our mini-rehearsal.  Did you hand out gifts at your rehearsal or do it at another time?  What did you give your bridal party?

All photos personal unless otherwise noted. 

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.

We stuffed our faces.

Nobody ‘Scept You: The Rehearsal Dinner

I never got around to blogging about out rehearsal dinner, but we decided to have a medium sized rehearsal that included our bridal party, their dates, our immediate families, grandparents and any aunts and uncles that had made the trip to be there for our wedding day.  In the end we had about 25 people at our dinner.  We chose to hold our rehearsal dinner at our favorite Japanese Steak House, Sakura. Sakura is technically a hibachi style restaurant, but they also have a nice event room in the back of the restaurant that was the perfect size for our dinner.

We pre-chose three options for our guest to choose from and Mr. Scepter’s mom made cute menus to display the choices:

Once everyone had made their dinner selections the photos commenced!

Mr. Scepter’s Family

Myself, MOH/Lil Sis Dolphin, and Brother Scepter (aka our minister)

MOH Dancer and me

Brother Scepter entertainer our flower girl, Tiny Dancer

All of the bridesmaids!

MOH Fashionista and I celebrated with a Lemon Drop

My Parents and Siblings

Mr. Scepter and His Groomsmen

Myself and the Best Man. And yes, he is wearing a Best Man button. We bought it for him as part of a long running joke and he loved it so much he wore it for all of our wedding events except for our ceremony and formal pictures.

Me and Mr. Scepter

Our food was so delicious I forgot to get any pictures of it before I devoured it (you can sort of see it in the picture above), but if you ever happen to be in the Amarillo area I highly recommend Sakura.  What kind of food did you have at your rehearsal dinner?

Next up:  We gift the bridal party.

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.

Nobody ‘Scept You: Girl Time

Thankfully, the day of our rehearsal dinner was super relaxing.  The day before our wedding was mine and Mr. Scepter’s 10 year dating anniversary, and even though we had a lot to do that day Mr. Scepter brought me a croissant from my favorite local bakery.  (These aren’t just any croissants, and if I hadn’t immediately stuffed my face with it I would have taken a picture to prove it.)

After Mr.Scepter left, Sherlock and I finished up some last minute wrapping of our bridal party gifts:

After gifts had been wrapped, and everyone rolled out of bed my mom, sister, bridesmaids and I headed off to the salon to get mani/pedis for all!  (Unfortunately MOH Dancer had to work that morning, but we did hijack Groomsmen M’s wife so she could partake in our girly time.)

Myself, Bridesmaid Fashionista, Groomsmen M’s wife, and MOH/Lil Sis Dolphin

After 2 hours of being pampered we were famished, so we headed over to a local bakery for lunch.

I was so glad that our venue set-up was already finished, and that we could spend the day relaxing with our friends and family.  (If you can set up a few days early I HIGHLY recommend it.) After lunch we had a super lazy afternoon, (we watched sitcom re-runs and took a nap) and slowly started to get ready for our rehearsal dinner!  What did you do the day before your wedding?

-In case anyone was wondering: Mr. Scepter and the guys spent the day golfing

All photos personal 

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift. 

Nobody ‘Scept You: The Day Before The Day Before

The Thursday before our wedding was the kick-start to our wedding weekend.  I woke up feeling pretty relaxed, but it quickly evolved into a ridiculously stressful day.  Our venue did not have an event the night before our wedding, so they graciously offered to let us set up on Thursday.

Before venue set-up could begin I had a dentist appointment and I needed to pick up Bridesmaid Fashionista from the airport.  As soon as Bridesmaid Fashionista had been picked up (and fed) the rest of our mini army showed up at my parents house to help us pack the cars.  It took 11 people 15 minutes to load 5 cars.  It was sheer madness, and as much as I love my mom (and her incredible amount of help) she was driving me a little crazy with the drill sergeant like way of ordering our friends around.  The minute Eric and I got in the car I promptly started crying my eyes out.  I’m still not sure why, but I knew I needed a break from all the madness.  Once all of the water bottles, coolers, candles, candle holders, chalkboard frames, buckets, program fans, and everything else we had spent a year making and/or buying was unloaded, a little weight started to lift off my chest.

It was a little crazy to watch the elements of our reception come together, but when it was finished I absolutely loved it.  After the venue was set up, I grabbed Bridesmaid Fashionista and went to have the only “alone time” I could fit in, which consisted of the two of us running to the mall to pick up some last minute gifts for my parents.

At the end of the day I was absolutely exhausted, so Bridesmaid Fashionista decided to cheer me up by giving Mr. Scepter and I our wedding gift.  (Which for the record was one of my favorite gifts.)  The first part of her awesome gift played into my love of board games:

Image Via Amazon

The game alone would have been the perfect gift, but then Bridesmaid Fashionista solidified herself as best gift giver ever, by gifting us these amazing shirts:

Myself, Bridesmaid Fashionista, and Mr. Scepter (Personal Photo)

If you have ever watched HIMYM, I am willing to bet you get the reference.  How were the final few days before your wedding?

The recaps began. 

Nobody ‘Scept You: The Scepter Wedding

I don’t know that anyone would have guessed that 10 years (and one day, to be exact) after Mr. Scepter and I started dating we would end up here:

But luckily for us after four years of long distance dating, moves to three different cities, and two college degrees later we ended up right where we were meant to be.

The days leading up to our wedding where a whirlwind of faces, last minute projects, and emotions, and the our wedding day flew by faster than I could have imagined.  After our wedding I needed a mini detox from all things wedding, but now that I have had a few months to focus on other parts our life (work, fixing up the apartment, being a puppy mom) I am ready to share all the details of the day that allowed me to start using the word husband on a regular basis.  Let the Scepter recaps begin!

All photos by Lezlie Andrew Photography