Our Cran-Lemon Wedding: We Rehearse, We Eat, and I Have a Mini Breakdown

With the help of our DOC Lisa, we rehearsed our ceremony. We ran though everything but the vows, which Steve and I had written ourselves.

I used the ribbon bouquet that MOH L put together for me at my bridal shower.

I haven't told you about our officiant, Mr. K. He's a friend of my dad's who became Steve's mentor after Steve interned for him in college. Mr. K got married last year and he and his wife had a friend of theirs officiate. We loved how personal and intimate their ceremony was and decided we wanted to put together our own ceremony as well. When it came down to choosing an officiant, we couldn't think of a better person than Mr. K. He's a great public speaker, very charismatic, and because he was a newlywed himself, he was familiar with wedding ceremonies. I'll share our ceremony script during the ceremony recap.

Mr. K running through the script in his entertaining manner, hence the smiles.

Groomsman Mr. M practicing his reading.

Bridesmaid Miss M practicing her reading.

After the rehearsal, we took some group photos.

Steve and I with our bridal party, plus my mom on the end.

Steve with his groomsmen: Mr. J (his cousin), Mr. M (his friend from college) and Bro M (his younger brother).

Us with Mr. K

My father-in-law, brother-in-law, Steve and my dad

Of course we had to get one of Steve and I. I seriously couldn't believe we were already at our rehearsal dinner!

Steve with his brother and mom

Then it was time to sit around the large table for dinner. We had a family-style set up and everything was so delicious.

My dad and Mr. K each said a few nice words while we ate. It was a very relaxed atmosphere and we encouraged anyone who wanted to say something to just speak up. Everything was going so well and I felt happy and grateful to be surrounded by our loved ones.

At some point during the meal, things took a turn for me. I was sitting next to my mom and she casually mentioned that one of her friends at the last minute wasn't going to be able to come to the wedding. I instantly became worried because this was our third drop-out of the week. Earlier in the week we had two last minute drop-outs and at the time, I'd freaked out. Luckily we were able to call our venue to adjust our number when the first person dropped out, but it was too late for that when the second person canceled. Steve's solution was to invite another coworker to the wedding. He works at a school so everyone at his job would have our wedding day (Columbus Day) off.

Now, just two days before the wedding, I didn't know what to do about a third drop-out. I went over to Steve, who told me not to worry because he had already taken care of it. My mom had already told him about the third drop-out and he invited a couple more coworkers to the wedding. He figured he'd invite one more than we needed in case we had any other no-shows on wedding day. Worse case scenario: we'd pay the venue for an extra person at the end of the event. He told me he'd called our venue and they were aware of the changes. When I asked why he hadn't told me about this earlier, he said it was because he knew I was already stressed and didn't want me to worry.

In a way, I understood why he hadn't told me but I was still pissed to be the last one to know. My control-freak tendencies kicked in and I asked him how he was dealing with the seating charts and escort cards. We'd already handed those in! Where were these extra people going to sit?! How would they find their table?!

Meanwhile, Steve's dad came over and told us that, instead of making a toast during the rehearsal dinner, he was going to speak at the wedding. He didn't have his speech with him, so if we wanted him to speak, it'd have to wait until the wedding.

My internal reaction: WHAT?! That wasn't the plan! We already told our DOC, maitre d, and DJ that we were having three toasts, not four. How were we going to squeeze in this extra toast?

I felt like everything was falling apart and so I started to panic. My anxiety kicked in and I wondered what else would go wrong, or who else wouldn't come to our wedding. So I did the only thing I could think to do. I ran to the bathroom to cry. Yes, I cried. I was embarrassed but I just couldn't help it.

The bathroom was in a little hallway next to our table so I couldn't really escape far. And of course, some one was inside the bathroom so I just stood there trying not to cry loudly until it opened. When it did, Mrs. F, our officiant's wife was the one to come out. When she saw me crying, she brought me into the bathroom with her, closed the door and asked me what was wrong. I told her the story (between hiccups...I was really upset!) She handed me tissues and started to calm me down. There was a knock at the door and MOH L joined us in the bathroom. They both told me that it was okay for me to be upset and stressed, and they understood what I was going through. They had recently been brides-to-be, after all. They had been in my shoes and everything had worked out in the end for them. They assured me everything would work out for me too, even if it didn't seem like it at the time. They were SO right because in the end, everything did work itself out.

I was so grateful for Mrs. F and MOH L and glad they were in that bathroom with me. A few minutes later, Steve knocked on the door. He came inside, gave me a hug and apologized for not keeping me in the loop. I accepted his apology, wiped my tears and went back to join our party. Lucky for me, everyone was busy eating and chatting. If they had noticed my breakdown, they didn't let on.

I went back to my seat and soon after, groomsman Mr. M and bridesmaid Miss D each told sweet stories about Steve and me. Listening to them helped me calm down and remember what was important--Steve and I were getting married in two days!

I was feeling much better by the time dessert came out. The restaurant made us a flour-less chocolate cake which looked and tasted scrumptious.

Chocolate cures all sadness!

We had cake and made another toast to our wedding.

Then the end of the evening had arrived. Steve and I had to go home and finish packing for our honeymoon! It was a very lovely dinner, even despite my breakdown. I'm very appreciative of our families and bridal party, who showed us so much love that night.

Did you have any last minute drop-outs or a breakdown before your wedding?

Catch up!

Rehearsal Preparations

*All photos in this post are personal photos