Ah, our wedding rehearsal. Otherwise known as the Tuesday evening before the wedding when we practised saying our vows in our lovely old church while freezing our pantaloons off.

I was really quite nervous leading up to the rehearsal. I think it might have been the idea of having all of our bridal party gathered together in the one place for the first time, particularly since Jason's older brother/best man had just flown in from the UK the night before. We headed straight for the church after work, with gifts for our bridesmaids, groomsmen and parents in tow.

When we arrived, we introduced the few remaining members of the bridal party who hadn't met one another yet & got straight down to business. Now I should preface this by saying that don't have many pictures from the rehearsal because my mum, bless her, was far too busy bawling her eyes out to remember to use her camera!

Pretend-walking down the aisle with my dad was so just what I needed to calm me down. My dad was making me laugh, our priest was hilarious as he made faces while telling the bridesmaids to SLOW DOWN. (They were racing up that aisle!) And seeing Jason standing at the altar - even though we were both relaxed and taking it lightly - was such a great feeling. It felt surreal to think that the next time I'd be visiting, it would be the actual wedding day & we'd all be decked out in our fancy wedding duds.

After the church rehearsal was over, we zoomed off to a nearby restaurant for dinner. We gave everyone their gifts, where I finally got to give the bridesmaids their matching robes & necklace/earring sets that I'd been planning for months. Jason gifted the groomsmen assorted stripy grey ties & cool looking cuff links. We splurged on our parents gifts and gave them tickets to a luncheon and boat cruise around Sydney Harbour.
After eating our meal and thanking everyone for coming, that was that & the rehearsal was over. (Not before a family selfy, though.)
Everyone tells you how quickly your wedding goes by. And when they do, it's really hard to imagine it being over when you're still in the thick of planning. It's easier to just fuzz over it and carry on in your happy wedding bubble. Until it really is all over, quick as a flash. And you're left with beautiful memories, black spots and hazy moments... and a husband. A husband. Squee!

It was like this for the rehearsal too - it felt as though it was over before it had even begun. It was hard to imagine at this point that the wedding was only five short days away, or that this would end up being our last picture together as an engaged couple.
As for the rest of the wedding week... it went by in a blur, too.


Let's start at the very beginning - it's a very good place to start.