Practice makes perfect..

Part I
The Rehearsal:

Ryan and I drove into Columbus in time for Ryan to pick up his tux. We then met up with his parents and grandparents for a nice lunch at Zenobia (a middle eastern cafe). Ryan and I ordered the same thing - hummos and tabouli. While we dined I sat by and talked with Nanna Shelly, which was nice because I haven't seen her since our Ocean City trip in 2008.

After lunch, we dropped off the grandparents to relax at the hotel for a bit, and headed to the Georgetown with Ryan's parents to preview The Georgetown, where my mom was waiting. It looked beautiful all set up. The chair covers made a big difference, and I am so glad we swapped out blended drinks for them.

I went home with my mom to get ready for the rehearsal (wearing a dress borrowed from my friend Nicole), and soon enough, we were pulling up to St. James.

Jim the minister had us run through the whole thing a couple of times. It seemed a little bit confusing, with people all over the place. And it was hard to remember what order everything went in, but I figured on the day of the wedding it would be more apparent. (Stef would later tell me my Mom looked concerned at the blank stares of the bridal party during rehearsal, haha!)

After everyone felt adequately rehearsed, we headed down the road to a cabin for a savory Italian dinner!

The tables looked beautiful with fall flower centerpieces and I could smell the pasta and chicken from the doorway. My dad set up some speakers and played a steady stream of dinner music during the whole evening. After a lovely welcome and thank you from Ryan's dad, guests made their way over to the buffet and filled their plates with Antone's bests.

After dinner we were delighted with spumoni ice cream and cookies from none other than the famous Corbo's Bakery from Little Italy in Cleveland. As everyone nibbled on cookies and ice cream, Ryan and I passed out out attendant gifts. Each of the girls received a monogrammed pink fleece robe and flip-flops, while each of the gentlemen were given a pocket knife and a "Worst-case Scenario Survival Guide."As we finished up dessert, Ryan's sister, oops, I mean MY sister (in-law, that is) thrilled the crowd with a beautiful slide show that chronicled the childhood years of Ryan and I. The show concluded with pictures from Ryan and I's relationship up to this point. It was touching and pulled out a few tears from my mom and dad.

People began to trickle out and head back to their homes and hotels to rest up for the main event. I went home with my mom and Greg, took a bath, painted my nails, and hopped into bed!

TO BE CONTINUED...