Love at The Ranch: Lining Up

After the pictures of the bridal party were complete, we made the decision to do family portraits after the ceremony. There just wasn't time. To be honest, I don't even know what time it was but someone was keeping track. I think it was our day-of-coordinator, Danielle Odil of Something Classic Events, who was back and forth between us and setting up the barn for our reception. We went back into our gathering place for pictures, Heck's Tavern at Devil's Thumb Ranch, and, to my dismay, some our guests were starting to gather there too. It hit me that they were all seeing me before the ceremony and I wasn't happy about this. I wanted out. And fast.

Post bridal party portraits but pre-ceremony

For some reason, I became the leader of the pack and the bridesmaids and groomsmen and family were all following me to where we were going to line up for the ceremony. We were headed to our reception barn. From there, we'd walk into the Timber House, about 15 feet away, for the ceremony. There was so much commotion it was hard to get my bearings and try to get to the reception barn. I wanted someone to lead me. Somehow, we managed to make it there and start to get organized. But wait, where was the groom?

After about ten minutes, Mr. CB showed up along with a quesadilla brought by a waiter. Apparently, Mr. CB hadn't had a bite all day. We all took quick bites of the quesadilla as we got in our places. So much for a fresh, minty ceremony kiss.

My mom gave me a quick pep talk and meditation before taking my place in line and finding her seat. I was so thirsty, I could not drink enough water.

Back in Heck's Tavern, Mr. CB had gotten words of wisdom from his parents.

Everybody lined up and got ready to walk. Mr. CB took a piece of advice from our officiant who is also my uncle.

How did we get here?

Mr. CB and I road-tripped it to Colorado.

I spent a peaceful morning with my girls.
Followed by a rowdy bachelorette party.
Two days before the wedding, we fought.
Then, we made up.

On Saturday, Mr. CB recuperated while I hiked with friends.

We celebrated our rehearsal dinner.

Sunday Morning: The girls got ready.

And the guys got ready.

Mr. CB and I had our First Look.

Budget Breakdown: Bouquets and Bouts.

Potraits of the bride and groom.

Our wedding party braved the cold for photos.

**All images above by the ridiculously talented and awesome Tec Petaja, unless otherwise noted. Head to his blog for some serious eye candy.**

What?! No Rehearsal?

Um, that was not a typo. And, again, for those who missed it: we are not having a rehearsal. It made my muscles tense just to type that. But, I am forced to let it go. And here's why.

Mr. CB is anti-wedding rehearsal. The one thing he's been pulling for this entire time is not a playlist, a particular band, suit or tie. It's not an item on our menu or even a particular beer.

It's that our wedding feel as organic as possible.

The last thing he wants is for the ceremony to feel like a production or a staged show. While I've never been to a wedding rehearsal, he's been to many and, as someone who's older and (okay, I'll give it to him) wiser, he's taking the final say on this one.

Yes, I see the merit in a rehearsal. It's a chance for people to shake their nerves off, to run through everything just to have a general gist of how it's going to play out. It's not like everyone has blocking tape and scripted lines. But, no matter how much I try to gently cajole Mr. CB into feeling the same way, he doesn't. He views them as a waste of time during which the bride stresses out and everyone stands around listening to her berate everyone. Man, he must've come across some bridezillas.

So, I'm gonna hand it to him: The freedom to escape a 15-minute rehearsal. And, no, I'm not going to run through it with everyone without him there either. (Even if I got extremely jealous of how well Mrs. Peep Toe's went and would follow her instructions completely!).

Lucky for me, I have an aunt who is also into all-things-organic. She's incredibly spiritual, a massage therapist, and great at making lemonade out of lemons. Her husband, my uncle, is officiating. So, of course, I mentioned to her that we weren't going to have a rehearsal. She saw the sunny side of things and told me not to worry, that the ceremony will just be very raw and real. We won't have been through it before so we are going to feel the transition of it all. And that's a good thing. Because what we want is to really feel what we are doing--committing our lives to each other.

Am I worried a bridesmaid will walk the wrong way? That our transition from song to tradition will not run as smoothly? No. It might happen and I'm okay with it. Partially because I'll create a very thorough set of instructions for everyone, let people know beforehand who they are paired up with and make sure our singers (my aunt and grandmother) know when they are singing. From there? I'll let my uncle take the reins.

How do you feel about us not having a rehearsal? Do you see the value in a raw ceremony or is a run-through a necessity?