Weddingbee Blog

You remember my cousin’s super cool groom’s cake, right? Well, I had to make sure Mr. Brooch got something as equally awesome and he totally did with this delicious Snickers cake!

Unbelievable, right? I loved it!

All of Mr. Brooch’s groomsmen knew who the cake was for as they entered the seating area for our rehearsal dinner. Mr. Brooch is a HUGE Snickers fan! He eats one (sometimes a few, if they are minis) after every meal.

We go through bags and bags of ’em at our house, so when it came to designing a cake that fit in with his interests, this was perfect, and everybody knew it! I had originally wanted to get a cake in the shape of a chess board, but I thought this would be a little less expensive and easier to transport, too. Thank you SIL Brooch for bringing it to the venue!

OK, so I know that I look like a total alienpsychocrazyperson in the next picture, but I have to share it with you anyway because it shows just how excited I was to see my granny at our rehearsal dinner!

This was sort of the start of the wedding for me. The rehearsal dinner was something I had been looking forward to for a long while! I couldn’t believe I was at our actual rehearsal dinner. I wanted to pinch myself the entire time.

Everything went really well at dinner. Mr. Brooch’s parents were the most wonderful hosts; they started off by introducing their side of the family to mine, we had prayer, and the appetizers and salads started arriving. It was a lot of food! The menu included a choice of either steak or seafood, and I had the seafood. It was DELISH! Mm. I love McCormick & Schmick’s crab cakes and salmon!

Meanwhile, the family talked and we did our usual—we took pictures!

The photo above means A LOT to me because my brother and dad had a very strained relationship in the years leading up to the wedding. There was a lot of stress and worry on my part about how they would get along and whether they would speak to each other at the event, and it wasn’t until this moment that I knew it would be OK! The fact that it happened at our wedding makes my heart melt! I should also mention that since the wedding, they’ve rekindled their relationship! YAY! They still have their issues, but they’re at least talking now and I’m so, so thankful.

As you can see, my granny was thrilled to see them make up, too!

How crazy is it that we all wore the same colors! Remember my last post?

I honestly never fully realized just how much I look like my dad until our wedding!

We totally have the same nose! Don’t we?

As usual, the kids kept each other company!

And the grownups did, too!

My favorite part of the ENTIRE evening was definitely when we distributed gifts to our grandmothers, mothers, and the bridal party. I worked really hard (and stressed like a mad woman) to make sure we had a gift for everyone and I am one of those people who cannot wait to share a surprise! It was so exciting seeing everyone open up the gifts and everyone LOVED everything, especially the moms.

I wish I had a picture of my little sister Brooke running around the restaurant with the Victoria’s Secret robe I gave all the girls on over her clothes! It was hilarious! I also gave my other little sister a tiara, which she adored and looked so cute in. You’ll see pictures of her and those Vicky’s robes later.

It saddens me SO much to share that since the wedding, Mr. Brooch’s papi (pronounced pah-pee) pictured above has passed away. It was really hard on his entire family, and we obviously cherish these photos of him from the weekend of our wedding, just a few weeks prior to his passing. I can’t tell you how happy we are that he was able to make it to our special event. It was a long road trip from Williamsburg to Maryland, but he made it, and we think he really enjoyed himself. There’s definitely a smile peaking through in this picture. We miss you, papi!

By the end of dinner the streets along National Harbor were beginning to quiet. We said a few goodbyes and not long after that, a couple of us made our way back to the bar at Aloft. It was really nice to have a place to visit with our out-of-town guests at my same hotel, but this bride didn’t want to stay up too late. My parents had come over from their hotel  to have a few drinks and when they got ready to walk back, Mr. Brooch walked with them.

It wasn’t the most ideal situation because I wanted to be alone with Mr. Brooch before we parted ways on our last night single, but there wasn’t any way around it. It was getting late and he had to get going (my dad had to get his tuxedo from Mr. Brooch’s hotel room when they got back there). We talked later that night, though.

Mr. Brooch must have called me a dozen times the night before the wedding, and I’ll never forget the giddy sound in his voice. I remember our conversations vividly, too. We talked about not having cold feet and just generally feeling so full and so ready for our day to finally be there.

We gushed about how everything went over so well at the rehearsal dinner and how the weather report was calling for sunny skies the next day! Yay! We talked about our budget, surprisingly. We were very close to being completely tapped out those last few days, so Mr. Brooch was keeping a close eye on our bottom line. We also talked about all the last minute details: my aunt would be dropping cupcakes off at my hotel later that night; my dad and his dad were meeting up in the morning to pick up the life-size cross for our altar. Were we still writing our own vows? Did we have everything we needed for our honeymoon? Was everything squared away for the ceremony music? Oh, and there were a lot of “Gah- I can’t believe tomorrow is the big day” moments!

Meanwhile, my maid of honor was busy copying her speech over to note cards and my hair stylist was fiddling with her equipment for the following day. I sat on the balcony of the suite amazed at the view, and at this point I had come to in my life.

We did a little cleaning up around the room and after a quick shower, I was out like a light. It was the perfect rehearsal dinner and wedding eve.

How was your rehearsal dinner?