Rehearsal day

(029:  Rehearsal dinner venue.  Photo © 2009 by Robin)

It’s the day before the wedding and things are pretty quiet in the house right now.  The groom-to-be is taking a nap.  The first wave — family, who arrived safely yesterday — are on their way to check in to the hotel where the reception will be held tomorrow night.  The second wave — friends — are on their way and should arrive around 4:00pm.  M the Elder and his sister are outside planting flowers that she brought for us (black-eyed susans).

My mother, a real trooper, managed the long trip out here pretty well.  She’s looking good today.  She even went with Dad for a short walk down to the pond and back.  The plan is for her to take a nap at the hotel and then they (Mom, Dad, and my brother Matt) will meet us at the church this evening.  Dad, as a deacon of the church, is going to be performing the wedding ceremony tomorrow.  He’s thrilled to pieces that M the Younger asked him to perform the ceremony and has been fussing with readings and such for the past few months.

This morning M and I picked up the flowers for the centerpieces for the rehearsal dinner.  I’m afraid we didn’t plan well for that and it was a spur of the moment decision to run out, grab some flowers and vases, and then decide how to make it all look nice.  We were so busy concentrating on other details that we didn’t think about decorations.  We put some rocks in the vases (M the Younger’s degree is in geology) and it all looks decent enough.

The photo above shows a little of the room where we’ll be having the dinner tonight.  I took it on Wednesday when we went over to look at the room and finalize some of the details.  We’ll leave early for the rehearsal so we can drop off the flowers and a few other items, and set up the place cards on the tables.  We decided to mix everyone up so we’ll have a chance to get to know each other a little bit before the wedding.

I only have a couple of things I need to do here before we leave this evening.  I have to wash and replace the sheets on the beds for the incoming friends.  And I have to make a hash brown casserole for the brunch we’re having here tomorrow for the groom and groomsman and our side of the family and friends.  I’ll miss most of the brunch.  I’ll be off having my hair and make-up done while they’re all chowing down on pancakes, cherry pudding (more like a cake than a pudding, but it’s called pudding), fresh fruit (loads of strawberries), and the hash brown casserole.  They’ll be carbo-loaded, that’s for sure.

The weather has gone from rainy and gloomy to beautifully fresh and clean.  The sun is peeking through the puffy clouds and the air has dried out.  It should be a gorgeous day tomorrow.