Weddingbee Blog

Saturday morning rolled around, and I had decided ages ago that I was going to take Saturday for myself. Most of my family and friends are local, or relatively local, so I didn’t feel like I was missing time with out-of-towners, and I wanted to just do my own thing. Mr. Hermit Crab had some family visiting, and while normally I love to spend time with them, I had some very important brunch plans awaiting me…

Bee brunch! It was my first time meeting any of the bees, and I have to say, it was just the perfect way for me to spend the day! Drama free, delicious food, and ladies who love weddings. You can read Mrs. Penguin’s post about her visit to NYC here.

(personal photo)

Everyone seemed amazed that I made it out for brunch the day before the wedding—I did not feel particularly stressed or nervous, and I thought it was a perfect addition to the wedding weekend!

After brunch, I got to spend the afternoon with some very close friends of mine from Syracuse who I hadn’t seen since I had moved back to Manhattan. Both families are really more like family than just friends, and it meant the world to me to be able to spend this time with them.

Then, it was back to get ready for the evening’s festivities! We had invited close extended family and most out-of-town guests for dinner at a delicious restaurant on the Upper West Side, Campo. We had an absolutely wonderful time with our families—about 100 guests joined us that night. Unfortunately, I don’t have that many photos from Saturday night, just a few that my family sent me, but I hope you will get an idea of the atmosphere!

The Hermit Crabs just hours before the wedding!

Mama Hermit Crab and me

Family friends and relatives

Cousins

The Hermit Crabs with my (our!) most wonderful Aunt B!

My cousin D and his girlfriend

Cousin F (and an avid ’Bee reader!)

Of course, there were a ton more people there but I am very limited on photos! Towards the end of dinner, three of my closest girl friends came to the restaurant so they could ride with me to my mom’s house where we planned the spend the night. Mr. HC walked us to the car, and the following three photos are the last ones we have before our first look the next day (also the last moments we would see or talk to each other before the first look)!

(all photos are personal photos from friends and family)

It’s so funny to see these now and think that we weren’t married yet!

The girls and I headed back to my mom’s house in Westchester where we spent many hours talking about how crazy it was that it was the night before my wedding (we were the first of basically all of our friends to get married), and how exciting the next was going to be. At 1 AM they left me in my room with the command to go to sleep since we had an EARLY start the next day, but it took me quite some time to actually fall asleep.

When I wake up…it’s wedding day!

Hermit Crab wedding tip #2: If you can, have a professional photographer, or at least a specifically designated person photograph all your pre-wedding events. I have so few pictures from Friday and Saturday nights, I will have to rely on memory to fill in the gaps!

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Did you miss any of the Hermit Crab recaps? Catch up here!

• L’Chaim is for Lovers: What’s with the recap title?
• We kick off the wedding weekend on Friday night with an intimate family dinner

Check out the Hermit Crab Honeymoon in Croatia!

• Part 1: Zagreb and Istria
• Part 2: Plitvice Lakes and Zadar
• Part 3: Split and Dubrovnik