Weddingbee Blog

The night of our rehearsal, I was a ball of nerves. All I could think about was the upcoming day. Especially the fact that people were going to stare at me. It made me a nervous wreck.

Before we started to rehearse, we had to go in and meet with the site’s (St. Lucy’s) coordinator, Barbara. We went over names and readings. Then it was time to call in our Maid of Honor and Best Man. They were our witnesses and it was time to sign the marriage license. Once the legalities were finished it was time to rehearse.

One of the things I really loved about our church was the short length of the aisle.

When we started doing our run-through, I realized the aisle was a trick. I wouldn’t just be walking down the main aisle, I had to walk in from the side entrance, down the aisle in the back and around to the main aisle. I must have walked ridiculously fast during the run-through because Starfish Dad kept telling me I needed to slow down. I remember feeling a bit lightheaded and was just hoping it would be over soon. I started wondering how I’d feel on the actual wedding day and started feeling worse.

After we sped down the aisle, it was time to do the ceremony run-through. We worked with the church’s coordinator, Barbara. She stood in for the priest. While we went through all the parts of the ceremony, I started feeling more lightheaded, and apparently I rocked back and forth the entire time. Starfish Mom found this comical because Sister Starfish had done the same exact thing during her actual wedding ceremony, just a year before.

The highlight of the night was Little Starfish. She was a little show stopper. This wasn’t her first time as a flower girl, but it was her first time with the title when she could actually walk.

And walk she did.

As she walked down the aisle, she proudly held up the ribbon bouquet that Bridesmaid L had made especially for her.

She made her way to the altar.

And she took her role very seriously, as my biggest request was that she looked cute. She had it in the bag, as usual.

She even flaunted her ability to walk down the aisle and not only walked, but got a little run going, too.

She was quite the little scene stealer.

I missed most of this, as we were busy taking care of business and I wasn’t feeling great. I was kind of in my own little world. We talked to Barbara about the logistics and she was assuring me that everything would go smoothly and to not to be so nervous. She even warned us that Father O’Brien is known to make a few jokes during the ceremony, which should help me relax and laugh. She said she has no idea what he says, but he always gets smiles on the couples’ faces.

I did find it odd that throughout the entire planning process, we never met the priest. We were outside parishioners, and I just thought we’d have some kind of meeting or introduction during the planning phase, but everything was done with my home church. I asked if we would meet the priest prior to the wedding and I was told we’d meet him at the rehearsal.

When we did meet him, it was just a quick hi and introductions. I was a little…OK, very nervous about how our ceremony would go, having never really met our officiant, but you’ll have to stay tuned to see how that went.

Another surprise was the length of time. I don’t know what I was expecting for the rehearsal, but it wasn’t what I thought. I had allotted for an hour and a half for the rehearsal and travel time to the restaurant (10 minutes away) and we were done in like 20 minutes.

So, Starfish Tip # 1- make sure you ask your rehearsal coordinator how long it usually takes, so you can plan dinner reservations accordingly.

Lucky for us, I had the restaurant’s number. They were ready for us, despite the fact that we’d be about 45 minutes early, so off we went. As soon as I walked out of the church, I felt relieved. Mr. Starfish calmed me down as usual and I was ready to enjoy a wonderful dinner with family and friends.