What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? - Rehearsing

Let the wedding rehearsal begin!

The men gathered in the back before the procession began. Well almost all the men. We're still missing Groomsmen S (also known as BIL S). But we found him soon enough and the procession began! However, though we were able to gather all the groomsmen we ended up starting without Bridesmaid (SIL K) and my MIL because they were still setting up the rehearsal dinner. We weren't sure how long it would take so we decided we could fill her in later.

Mishka and Best Man S take their places at the front of the church to await the girl's processional.

[Most of] my girls processed and took their places at the front of the church.

My MOH G finished up the procession and then took her place next to Best Man S up on the altar. And then....

It was my turn! My dad and I processed up the aisle, he practiced giving me away, and then Mishka and I made our way to our seats at the altar.

Our gang of four! And before we got too much farther into the proceedings...

SIL K arrived! Yay! And my MIL too! My other bridesmaids filled her in on where she fell in the order of the processional and which intercession she would be reading during the ceremony. We had decided that, since the Best Man and Maid of Honor play a significant roll in the ceremony, that we would ensure that the entire bridal party got their moment in the spotlight by each reading an intercession.

Mishka and I practiced pledging our intentions, saying our vows, and being crowned...

It was an interesting experience saying our vows but knowing they won't make us married quite yet. Anyway, after the vows, there was a quick run through of what the rest of the mass would entail and then finally we recess out! I don't have any pictures of Mishka and I, but I did get most of the bridesmaids and their escorts!

My sister K with Senior Groomsman V.

My sister C with groomsman A (my best friend from high school).

And my in-laws Bridesmaid Katerina and Groomsmen S.

And finally were my ring bearer M and flower girl/junior bridesmaid M. I love how excited they look. I was so happy they wanted to be a part of our wedding party.

Then it was over. It was actually such a relaxed proceeding that I think some of us (myself included) forgot some of our instructions as soon as they were given which made for some laughs the next day. But right at that moment? All we were really concerned about was getting out of that church and over to our rehearsal dinner because we were hungry!

What Are You Doing New Years Eve? - Rehearsing (Getting Ready)

As I've seen done on Wedding Bee, I've decided to "name" my recaps. I thought "What Are You Doing New Years Eve" was my appropriate (though long) because it's the name of a song which, when I heard it, I thought it could be the anthem of our wedding. Here's a link to the original rendition of the song.

Anyway, I could give you a run down of all the little things that had to be done the day of the rehearsal. Some would probably think... shouldn't everything be pretty much done by then? Well, the answer is of course yes. Unfortunately for us, we were a bit too laid back about getting things done and had a number of last minute to-dos. One of my few wedding regrets was that I did not take the full week off from work before the wedding. I think that would have helped avoid a lot of our last minute stress.

Anyway, all that is to say that you won't see me in any rehearsal pictures until I'm actually walking down the aisle. In the meanwhile I was making sure programs were printed, collecting photos for our "wedding board", and stressing about getting to our rehearsal on time.

But while that was going on, our wedding guests who were coming in the day before had begun to arrive!

My amaing sister and MOH G relaxing on the bed as my sisters put together my (surprise) slide show!

My sister C's friend M who stayed with us for the holidays before the wedding and ended up becoming something of an honorary bridesmaid. She was the bartender at my bachelorette party, constantly focused for my family that there were things that still needed to be done, and was a rock of "hey everyone let's be relaxed" when we needed it most.

My beautiful sister C awaiting her rehearsal dinner make-up from friend M.

Perhaps one of the most important early guests was my Uncle B! This was only the 2nd time I had seen him in 9 years and it meant SO much to me that he came to the wedding. And not only did he come, but I think he had an awesome time :). Hopefully that will mean we'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future (like sometime before the next sister gets married!).

You can see that we were all VERY excited to have him there :).

And of course we had Mishka and his boys Best Man S (on the far right) and Senior Groomsman V (far left). These two groomsmen actually had crashed with us the night before after Mishka's bachelor party. I really enjoyed having them there. Mishka is so lucky to have men like S and V in his life. They are such great guys :). (They were also great program folders, though you can't tell that from this picture).

Sister C with my Aunt (and godmother) D. She was the one who picked up Uncle B from the airport and so of course she was coming along to the rehearsal to us.

You've probably noticed by now that a lot of our "getting ready" rehearsal pictures have been at my house and not at a church. "When are they heading to the church?" you might ask...

Well as I mentioned before, we had a lot of last minute things to do and I knew we weren't going to be able to get anything done after the rehearsal so it had to be done before. The groomsmen were folding and tying together our programs as soon as I sent them through the printer (in small batches to make sure they all turned out pretty). And friend M was trying to focus everyone that there was still work to be done in addition to the socializing.

Long story short, we left a little late for the rehearsal. It ended up not being too bad since we arrived at just about the same time as most of our other guests. But of course, upon arrival I was whisked off by our officiant and music minister to discuss final decisions on a few things.

Two families joining together to rehears our wedding!

Our ring bearer and his mom posing for the camera. He's my youngest cousin and was SO excited to be a part of our wedding. He even made a toast to that effect at the dinner later, but more on that in a bit ;).

And so with our bridal party and family mostly assembled we were ready to begin!

A First Look (at our Pro Photos)

And it was amazing!

I'd love to tell you more right away, but we got some awesome teaser photos from our professional photographer and I just have to share them!

This is the dictionary Mishka proposed to me with as well as my engagement ring. This was one of the detail shots that I specifically asked my photographer to get. And he did a great job!

Mishka and I did not do a "first look". Before the ceremony. However, this is a picture of Mishka seeing me for the first time on our wedding day. I have to say, with this moment captured on film... I have no regrets :).

Mishka and I being over the moon excited to finally be getting MARRIED!!!

Mishka and I holding hands in our own unique way. I had no idea our photographer caught this moment, but I'm so glad he did!

Our first kiss! Enough said ;).

I love everything about this photo. It was during our "just married" shoot in a nearby park right after the ceremony.

We even caught the sunset :).

Us posing with my late Uncle's car. One of the most special wedding day additions.

One of the shots which will always be unique to our wedding. My dog just really wanted a comfortable place to sleep. So so silly...

We're just married! And looking kinda suave and cool if I do say so myself ;).

One of my favorite pictures. And the print my grandmother is getting for her birthday ;).

I love the way he looks at me!

Mishka and me and our two sets of parents :).

Unfortunately, that's it. It really was a bit of a tease! I loved everything I saw and now I REALLY can't wait until ALL our professional pictures come back a week or two from now. I'm kindof glad we didn't get the pictures the night after the wedding since I don't know if I would have been able to handle waiting the full 4 - 5 weeks!

All photos courtesy of Chris Jorda Photography.

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? - Bachelorette Party

My bachelorette party was FREAKING AWESOME!!!!

It was not what everyone might have wanted as their bachelorette party. It was at my house, just my bridesmaids, my mom, my MIL, GMIL and my sister C's friend M. And you know what we did? We did a girls only Murder Mystery party!

There's me all dressed up for my role as "good girl" actress. My mom "hosted" the party as a disillusioned journalist (though my sisters really were the hosts of the party). My MOH G was a model who's reputation was ruined by an ill-advised rap video.

My sister C who was already enjoying some hot tea was sporting some big beads for her role as a fake psychic adviser. And though she's not pictured yet, C's friend M played a photographer more concerned with money than people's lives. And my third sister K played a pet groomer who was not afraid to pilfer a pooch if they weren't being treated right.

Me with my in-laws. On the left is my SIL who played a singer's embezzling business manager and lover. In the middle is my GMIL who came to have fun with the girls, though she did not participate in the game. And on the very right is my MIL who was SO excited to be the wealthy heiress who's main concern was marrying her wealthy fiance.

You can see my sisters were having fun gathering for the party. You might also notice what look like some men in the background. Men at my bachelorette party? Hardly! It just so happens that Mishka and I had our parties on the same night and the boys and girls were all gathering at the same place.

My Mishka decided he didn't want a traditional bar and strippers bachelor party just as I didn't want a bars and clubbing bachelorette party. Mishka and his boys (and my uncles and many of my cousins and his father and grandfather and my grandfather) decided to go bowling. From what I heard tons of fun was had by all and my family members still refer to Best Man S as "a hell of a bowler" :-D.

Me and my high school best friend Groomsmen A! I was so happy he was a part of our wedding party. He's meant so much to me over the years and has always been there when I needed him. I don't remember where GM A placed in the bowling scores, but I know he had fun and that's really the most important thing :).

Once everyone had arrived, we started the party with me opening up some champagne!

I even managed the job without spilling all over the sink/my dress! I was actually pretty proud of myself since I'd never opened champagne before :).

Me and my mom. In so many ways she's my best friend :) and, though I know it's not traditional to have mothers at a bachelorette parties, I could not have imagined having mine without her.

Once the boys left, we moved the party downstairs to the basement. Our basement is a little cold so yes, we all bundled up in blankets as to begin the game!

We were all given envelopes with our character names, motives, and clues and got to work on the first round!

But as our volunteer bartender M can attest, you can't start the game without a cool beverage in your hand ;). I can't remember the names of the drinks but the one M was holding was my favorite. It tasted sweet and was definitely strong, just the way I like my drinks :). I had 2 or 3, and some Delirium Tremors Beer as well, which made making up stories for your character on the fly, but it did make the whole night a LOT of fun.

Everyone was relaxing and drinking and my sister K got tipsy for the first time (we're don't drink much in my family).

The game didn't give a lot of information for the characters each round so we did a lot of making stuff up along the way. Which both added to the fun, and made some things a little more confusing. But with good friends, good family, and good food you can't fail to have a great time :).

And speaking of that food, here's the only picture I have which gives you an idea of the delicious feast my sisters prepared for me. They gathered all of my favorite foods, from all my favorite places. They got me Dominos pizza, See-Ew (a Thai Dish), a California and Sweet Potato Sushi Roll, and veggie fried rice. It was SOOOOOOO delicious. I could not have been any happier with the food choices. They also somehow managed to surprise me even though most of this food was being delivered to the house at various points of the evening. I really am very unobservant when it comes to my own wedding.

As the game progressed, I developed a little theory about who the killer was. And it turns out... I WAS RIGHT!!! Yup, that's right, I solved the mystery! I was so excited since it was my bachelorette party and, though I love to throw murder mystery dinner parties, I rarely ever solve the mystery. So this was a nice added bonus :).

There's our culprit right there! That's right, my MIL! And let me tell you, she was having a ball being the culprit. She was the most "in character" of all of us, I'd have to say. I'm so glad she had fun since it meant so much to me that she wanted to be there at my bachelorette party :). I've said it once, and I'll say it again, the way our two families mesh together so well always brings a smile to my face.

We knew the evening was drawing to a close when the covers started creeping out of the laps and up onto the shoulders and necks of the crowds. We went upstairs and my MIL and GMIL requested that we watch some home videos of me and my sisters when we were little. I think they really liked that :).

And, though it has very little to do with the party, I think this photo basically is one of the most adorable moments of the night. It's also a pretty good depiction of how we were all feeling at the end of the night.

EXHAUSTED!!!

But I wouldn't have changed a thing :). Because it really was perfect!