rehearsal and out of town dinner

the party before the party was really almost fantastic as the wedding, it was over the top, full of love and FOOD.

as i mentioned before, we had a swarm of guests and family members flying in from out of town so for all extensive purposes this was a destination wedding. my family came in from wisconsin and we had friends from los angeles, dublin, seattle, new york and even new zealand converging on a small vacation town in southern maine.

friday morning a small group of us got up early and got to work setting up the farm. by the time i got back to the hotel for a bite to eat and a shower before the rehearsal the hotel pub was full of family i hadn't seen in years, my parents and siblings, and friends from around the globe. i remember being so pumped full of adrenaline i was buzzing like a telephone wire. i ordered a beer and a sandwich i couldn't eat ( and not only because i wanted to jump up and hug every person who came through the door) i think my body decided to stop digesting, it was too busy keeping tabs on all of the other physical phenomena occurring.

seeing peoples faces when they arrived at the farm was one of my favorite parts of the wedding. it's such a magical beautiful place that any preparation or description really didn't do it justice. and if i do say so myself the hodge podge of seating that we put together looked fantastic.

(ps. isn't my niece the cutest little girl you've ever seen?)

once we got the house keeping out of the way it was on to dinner which was literally a feast. mike's dad was our host, as he runs the hotel we all stayed at, and because he knew we had so many people flying in to maine from afar he decided he HAD to do a family style lobster dinner. it was decadent, over the top, and such a crowd pleaser. friends and family were laughing all over the room teaching each other to crack open lobsters, all in their bibs, it was amazing.

our florist also decorated the rehearsal dinner. the small bottles and vases with wild flowers were moved into the barn the following day to decorate the surfaces, and the 4 gorgeous wreathes that were in the windows were hung on the barn doors.

after everyone was pleasantly stuffed, a few cocktails in, and we had made our speeches and delivered our gifts, we headed to the hotel pub for a special treat from my sister. she made a slide show of mike and i's childhood photos and then photos of the two of us together. it may sound cheesy but it was a true tear jerker. not only is it overwhelming to see your life flash before you but i had never seen any of mike's baby photos. they are the subject of much grief due to divorce and it was just the sweetest thing i'd ever seen...he was so cute!!

(mike copping a feel, getting as much as he can before we retire to separate rooms)