Getting Ready...Part 1

I kind of skipped all my recaps. Not intentionally though. Shortly after the wedding we moved, I've been in the midst of a large career change that requires grad school/certification so my bloggy motivation in all realms is minimal. But alas, I'll get my recaps/vendor reviews out there. I already did our rehearsal dinner, so here's the ladies getting ready. So I'm going to try - by Valentine's Day (2/12 to be exact which will be our five month anniversary) to have all my recaps/vendor reviews up.

I got my hair did at Bang Salon in the Verizon Center - it was incredibly convenient, inexpensive and all the girls could get their hair done at the same time. It took about two hours - we were back to the hotel by noonish, grabbed a small lunch (I was intent on eating because I had heard horror stories about brides who forgot to eat and passed out during their ceremonies - hear that brides? EAT LUNCH) and then began to get ready.

I should also note, that it was just before getting our hair done that I had one of my few bridezilla moments. We were waiting for a few of the girls to get coffee at Dunkins on 7th street near the verizon center - and i found (as a life long new englander and thus dunkins fiend) that Dunkin's down in DC are notoriously horrrible with service, that morning was no different. We had been waiting for close to twenty minutes for three bagels and three coffees while people ahead of us kept getting their food, so I slammed my hand down and demanded some service because damnit, it was my wedding day and they were making us late for a hair appointment. I'm pretty sure I shocked even myself, however, I wouldn't have been so rash had my step-mother and mother not gotten into an argument before then. I knew that was inevitable but I had hoped that my mother would bite her tongue for my sake, unfortunately that was not the case.

Onward though!

{My dress}

{that dress was a beast to get on!}

{one of my FAVORITE pictures of my mom and I after my dress was all tied up. She was all tears all day long. Love her to death. Also, see my hair? I loved it. It was perfect.}

{my sister/Maid of Honor putting the veil on}

{fixing my veil}

{me with my veil on, can I just say my bridesmaids were fabulous through all this?}

Next up? See my husband getting ready - they had bow-ties, and the first go round? They all put the bow-ties on upside down. Whoops?

All photos here were taken by Megan Garrison Photography

Recap 1: The rehearsal and dinner

Our rehearsal was on the 3 year date to when Mr. GP and I first hung out. He'll call it our first date but it was our first solo hang out night.

I decided way before the wedding to not sweat the small stuff because after all, when life hands you lemons? You make lemonade.

The rehearsal was really the first snafu of the wedding. We knew we were going to have an after party, so we sent the best man and one of the groomsmen on a booze run.

Of course they decided to go out to Virginia. So of course they sat in traffic for almost an hour. Then! OF COURSE they decided to take showers upon arriving back at the hotel five minutes before the rehearsal was scheduled to start resulting in not one, but FOUR of the groomsmen to be thirty minutes late.

Our priest was none too pleased.

The Bridal Party at the rehearsal. Well most of it, two of my bridesmaids are missing.

The Groom and Best Man.

After rehearsal, we headed over to the dinner which was just up the block and around the corner at Hunan Dynasty on Penn. This restaurant is incredibly significant to us because, as I mentioned, it was where we got dinner together for the first time - the dinner that got the wheels churning in Mr.GP's head that he liked me.

Dinner was delicious. The room was fabulous, we didn't do assigned seating, we didn't really have speeches except from Mr. GP's father.

It was a family style dinner, with round tables seating about eight or so at each - we had nearly forty people at the rehearsal dinner.

For dessert, we picked out about 3 dozen cupcakes from Hello Cupcake - a big hit with the guests.

A narrow room but it was perfect for us!

The Groomsmen!

Stay tuned for the after party, getting ready, the ceremony, pictures, the reception, the after party and pictures from our honeymoon and of course...DIY madness and vendor reviews!