rehearsal recap

Rehearsal and dinner….and the after party
Ah, the best laid plans…right? Rehearsal day was by far the most stressful…it didn't start out that way, but we quickly veered away from my strict schedule when our out-of-town peeps started arriving and we couldn't help but hug and chat the time away. Add in room changes, last minute microphone arrangements and Marcus' car payment (why did he have to do it right then?) and we were officially running wwwaaaaayyy behind, but there was still potential to catch up. We made a quick Sam's trip to pick up last minute dinner needs and headed over to Pack Place to drop off our stuff.
The great Candace and Efren were slatted to arrive shortly after us for set-up. Upon our arrival at Pack Place, we had my one and only instance of Bridezilla behavior…and I don't regret it one bit. The "event coordinator" simply decided (and freely admitted it) that while he had a note from his boss to have the space ready by 4:30pm, he just didn't do it. So, I calmly flipped out. After several quick calls with his boss and with Candace, all was settled and the event went off amazingly. It's my understanding that Andrew was recruited to "rip" the stems off of the flowers as there was no time to cut them gently…they looked amazing. We hear that Rachel also came to the rescue during the set-up...thanks you guys! As the wedding party patiently practiced our steps and words, Candace and Efren were able to whip everything in to shape and we had an awesome rest of the evening. Not to my surprise of course….that's why we recruited the C&E team in the first place. We had an awesome time, the food was great and seeing old friends and meeting new one's topped any hassle we had earlier in the evening!!! Plus, the weather was gorgeous.
A late night trip to Barley's topped the evening off…I think we essentially took the bar over. Paul…our awesome bartender…gave Darcus free drinks and even made a sweet little announcement in our honor! Several hours later, the rehearsal party poured on to the streets headed in all directions. All I know is that at 4:00am, Missy, Andy, Phoebe, Marcus and I climbed the mulched hill of the BB&T on our way back from a late night snack at the 51 grill (they should probably be given vendor status). I have no doubt that the snack saved the next morning for us all!