Wedding Recap: Thursday, Friday and Saturday (with pictures)

The wedding weekend kicked off on Thursday when my brother and his wife flew in. Also at the same time that my MOH, my cousin flew in. Well bro and sis flew into Boston-Logan, while cousin Amy flew into Manchester. So my parents called dibs on picking up Amy, so I was stuck with Nick and Lindsay... not really stuck, it was pretty amazing. Thursday we also got the call that all of the tuxes had come in with the exception of Nick's. But the tux place said it would be in first thing on Friday.

Thursday night, we all met at my parents (the best man came up from Rhode Island) and we had a big dinner at the house. It was fantastic to see everyone and catch up. It was nice knowing that everyone had come together to help Ben and I on our big day.  One of the tasks that the other boys had (Ben, Mike (best man), Jim (usher) and dad) was to try on their suits to make sure everything was great. Turns out that wasn't the case, dad started out with a blue tie... instead of a chocolate brown, not sure about that mix up, then either the pants or the jacket didn't fit on everyone. The measurements on the bag were correct, but the actual item was the wrong size. So I guess it worked out that all the men had to go back on Friday with Nick to make sure they had the right items in the right sizes.

Friday we got up and headed to the site for the rehearsal. It was great having everyone together and even wives of Jim (usher) and Mike (best man) came to join in the fun! Also my BFF, Kelli was there. Ben and I opted for a small wedding party, just a MOH and a best man. I chose my cousin Amy, since she is so near and dear to my heart, and it saved me from having to chose favorites amongst my friends. That being said, Kelli was like my MOH, in that she was there for me through everything! I knew going into this that Amy wasn't going to be able to be there for everything as she is living in Georgia. Everyone was ok with my plan, and I am so thankful that I have such wonderful friends and family in my life.

I am SUCH a daddy's girl

After we made it through the rehearsal, which by the way, was LOTS of laughs! I was just hoping enough people paid attention that could tell me where I had to go! hahaha. The reception hall looked beautiful, I couldn't wait to see it on Sunday fully decorated!

So after the reception we headed to the luncheon that Ben's mom hosted, it was at the Common Man in Portsmouth. Seriously folks, if you are ever in New Hampshire, check out the Common Man, they have about half a dozen restaurants across New Hampshire, the food is amazing. My friend, Kristen, who is getting married in July of 2012, is getting married at the one in Plymouth.What's also great about it is the gluten free menu! They are quite accommodating.

There were more laughs and stories at the luncheon. Ben's mom had this lovely idea of everyone telling a story of either Ben, or myself or one of the two of us. Oh man, there were some good ones! 

As I've said, the food is amazing, and as lunch was winding down, I decided to spring my surprise on Ben! I had a groom's cake made, and it was done to look like his muscle car, his 1970 Mustang! He was really in shock about it and I could tell by the smile how happy he was about it. Even better, was it was a vanilla sponge cake with wild Maine blueberry filling. (For those of you who don't know, Ben is from Maine)

Notice the license plate? It says PIMA, which is my pet name for Ben, it stands for Pain In My A$$! Because some times, he is... but I say it in the most LOVING of ways. 

After the luncheon, the boys had to go back to the tux place to try on the suits again... thankfully Nick's had come in and everyone else had their issues corrected. So they were good to go.

Kelli, Amy, Lindsay and I went to check into our hotel room for the weekend. Kelli had already put on a fantastic bachelorette weekend, a few weekends ago, but I knew that the weekend before the wedding that I wanted to spend my last few single days with my gals. It worked out because Amy needed a hotel to stay in, Ben couldn't see me before the wedding and we gals had a lot of pampering to do! It was also nice to have some time with both my cousin (Amy) and my sister-in-law (Lindsay) since they live so far away and I don't get to see them as frequently.

Friday night we met up with a bunch of my gal pals and headed into Portsmouth for a late dinner and drinks. We had such a great time and maybe indulged a little much, but hey, it was so worth it! I felt sorry for the taxi drivers! We were having a good time though!

I wish I had taken more pictures throughout the weekend! But it never dawned on me to grab my camera. Thankfully, I have some awesome friends who will take pictures for me! I did a whole lot of smiling that entire weekend.

Saturday Amy and I had appointments to get some manis and pedis at the Salon and 903. The other gals went and got their nails done as well, it was nice to have some time for just Amy and I.

Saturday night we hung out at the hotel room, we watched chic flicks, ordered Chinese food and enjoyed the night. It was a perfect chill night, just what I wanted the night before the wedding. We all even managed to go to bed early-ish, 11pm! Not that we went to sleep at all! We ended up sitting up and chatting away just like we were in high school, it was hilarious. Everyone kept asking me if I was nervous and I wasn't... or at least so I thought.

Because at about 3 am, I woke up and started have fears that I was missing or forgetting something. After running through my mental checklist, I realized that no... I didn't forget anything and then I was able to fall back asleep.

And then it was Sunday... the day I had been planning for the last 13 months, and dreamed about ever since I was a little girl, but that, is for another blog post!