Practice, Practice, Practice

I've been to several wedding rehearsals now. Each one is a little different. This one was a lot of fun because the preacher had a good sense of humor.

First he explained to each of us where to stand then James and Cheryl practiced their vows. And the parents had their roles explained.

Then they did a run through of the whole service. Since I was just a bridesmaid and not the maid of honor, I didn't have to worry about any fluffing. (And I'm glad because Cheryl's dress seemed to require lots of it)

One of the highlights of the rehearsal was getting to finally meet Sue. Sue was the church's wedding coordinator, and definitely not Cheryl's favorite person. I had been hearing about her for months, so it was "nice" to be able to put a face to a name. She was pretty much how I expected. Sue was very nice, but very much wanted things done a certain way. And if I had been the bride I probably would have ended up telling her off.

From the rehearsal we headed to dinner. With a drive by of the house Paul grew up in. I tried to take a picture, but it came out terribly. The dinner was at a very nice Italian restaurant in a neat shopping mall (too bad there was no time to shop). Parking was limited, so we had to park in the upper level of the parking garage on the opposite side of the mall.

There were two waiters at dinner, which got a little confusing. They didn't seem to communicate with each other. We talked extensively with the one about Abigail not being able to have wheat, then the other brought her a salad with croutons. Then they didn't bring Sammy his dinner at all so we had to reorder it.

I loved the food. Paul thought it was okay. This was fine (I ate his leftovers for breakfast the next day).

Since it was pretty late I decided to leave early (with Sam and Abby). Paul would get a ride home with his dad. So we walked all the way across the mall (taking the elevator up). Then we got to the van, only to realize that Paul had the keys. I got out my phone, and tried calling everyone I knew who was at the dinner, trying to get Paul to run out with the keys. But I guess it was too loud inside, so no one heard their phones. So I had to walk all the way across the mall again. Then I got the keys and walked back across the mall (though this time Linda walked with me to help get the kids loaded up).

Then I drove back to the hotel. And about five minutes later Paul showed up (so much for leaving early).