It worked out perfectly - we were able to have the smaller, more intimate rehearsal we desired and also the warm, large, invite-everyone party as part of the evening too.
Speaking of those arriving guests, when they were greeted at the hotel they found...
Out of Town Boxes!
The boxes came together as a major group effort. Mr. Seashell's Mom did the majority of the work leading up to the wedding. She stained the boxes with a paint brush to make them more "golden" and then hand stamped the leaf pattern (which we also used on our programs), chose the ribbon, and designed the box labels. Then Mr. Seashell's Mom and I made all of the "detail" labels together. After she passed, we discovered that everything for the boxes had been prepped and ready to be shipped to Providence. (Like, she had pre-cut each and every purple ribbon for all 75 boxes. Unreal, right?) Mama Seashell took them to Providence and purchased additional supplies - the SunChips, Shout Wipes, and retrieved Providence Brochures. Additionally, Mr. Seashell's Mom's childhood best friend baked homemade cookies (that FMIL Seashell had intended to include) in her memory. Last, once we were all in Providence Mr. Seashell and FIL Seashell assembled and had the boxes ready for our guests' arrival! PHEW!
Back to the party! By this point in the evening I had given up on picture taking, so I don't have many visuals to share. I can tell you this, though: it was a great end to the night. It was the first time I had seen the majority of our out of town guests and it was a treat to welcome everyone with smiles and hugs.
After making the rounds saying hi to everyone, I had some camera time with my girls.
{look close - you can see the necklace from FIL Seashell}
We took the opportunity to recreate one of our favorite college photos. We lovingly called the original "the sandwich".
{2010}
{2004}
I finally felt like my usual self. My head was clear. I was surrounded by my friends, family, soon-to-be husband...all was right in the world. As the hour approached midnight I teased Mr. Seashell that it was almost September 25 and I couldn't see him on our wedding day! He agreed the day had been long, and drove me back to my parent's house.
While we were driving we joked about how we felt like teenagers - getting dropped off at home before midnight and then I joked that we might be able to sneak a kiss in the driveway without my parents noticing. We pulled up to the house and Mr. Seashell walked over to me as I went to get out of the car. He said, "I know you wanted me to kiss you a certain way on the altar tomorrow." And he pulled me in close. There, in my parent's driveway we kissed. He dipped me back - it had to be romantic, but not dramatic or too over-done - we got it just right. There I was, standing in the driveway where I'd ran through sprinklers in the summer, taken the car out for my first drive alone, left for prom, posed for graduation photos, and now practicing my "first kiss" with my almost husband. It was surreal. He took my hand and walked me over to the back porch. The next time we saw each other it would be our wedding day.
Previously in the Seashell Wedding:
- One Shell of a Wedding! : Two Days Before
- One Shell of a Wedding! : The Day Before
- One Shell of a Wedding! : We Rehearse
