All My Love, All My Life: We Rehearse

Oh yeah, you guys, you know what this means? I'm jumping on the recap train all the way down to China town.  It might take me a while to get through everything but I want to show you every nitty gritty detail of our wedding weekend (if you can stand it.  If not, just skim and ooh and ahh at the pics, it's cool, I get it.)

Also, just for reference, the tagline "All My Love, All My Life" is Mr Trailmix's family saying.  It was started by his grandparents way back in the day and everyone in the family (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc) sign all their emails and birthday cards with it, it's engraved on our wedding bands and we incorporated the phrase into our home-made vows.  I love it to pieces and it's a perfect way to set the stage for our rainy, crazy, lovely weekend.

Ok, ready now? Here. We. GO!

First up, the rehearsal.  I feel like a lot of people say their rehearsal went so smoothly, finished up in 20 minutes, badda bing, badda boom, done. Ours? Not so much.

After some sweet manis/pedis with my mom and MOH, I got ready and headed over to the Tannery Pond about half an hour before the rehearsal was supposed to start to go over some things with our DOC.

But between appeals for pictures, the staggering amount of directions needed for the set-up of all my crafting efforts, lost bridesmaids and the weight of the next day on my mind, our rehearsal got started about 45 minutes late.  And in keeping with the spirit of the weekend, it was a little bit disorganized, a lot hilarious and filled with love.

We practiced the walk down the aisle as my friend Heather played the piano and when it was my turn, the second the first strain of The Beatles' "In My Life" started, tears instantly began flowing. What can I say? That song makes me cry in normal situations and this was definitely a not-normal, highly emotional time...Luckily, I got most of the tears out of the way during the rehearsal and managed to (mostly) hold it together for the actual ceremony...

I practiced circling Mr Trailmix, per Jewish tradition, although this would prove to be fruitless since we messed it up during the actual event the next day.  Ooops, shoulda paid closer attention during the rehearsal I guess, but I was so distracted by the handsome hunk I was circling...Ooooh la la!

Our brilliant Rabbi led us through the ceremony, minus the vows, which we had written and were saving as a surprise for one another.  I love all these photos because it shows what the venue looks like when it's sunny out, something we never got to see on the actual wedding day, thanks to the cruel and merciless weather gods of upstate New York.

Smooches? Yes please, and one more for good luck.We liked practicing this part...

And then we practiced walking out, smiling all the way, the reality of the situation finally sinking in.  I think we were both so excited to realize that our wedding day was really about to happen.

Here's where things get a little bit interesting because our rehearsal was no ordinary rehearsal.  We decided that in order to save time and stress during the day of the wedding, we would do the ketubah signing at this time (which I am so thankful we did! Adding this into the mix the day of the wedding would have been disastrous.)

The ketubah is our marriage contract (you can see the one I chose here) and signing it is the binding document in Jewish law.  Therefore, by signing our ketubah at the rehearsal, we were really technically already married before the wedding! The sun was streaming through the windows, our closest family and friends gathered around while the rabbi said a few prayers and both of our parents and brothers signed as witnesses.

I look upset in this one but really, I'm just hungry...Pretty standard, actually.

Just before it was our turn to sign, our Rabbi announced that traditionally, the bride and groom have a moment alone with each other, just to make sure they are both fully and truly prepared to, you know, actually sign and be like, married and all.  As soon as Mr TM and I were outside, I immediately burst into tears (surprised? If you are, then um, you don't know me very well) and I think my groom-to-be was a bit taken aback by the waterfall cascading down my face.  When he asked me what was wrong, I somehow managed to explain to him that I was crying because I was so happy. Because I was, I really was, so so happy.

And then we went back in, signed the ketubah and were officially (unofficially) married! I'll never forget the act of signing my name right there in the Tannery with everyone watching, the significance of the moment is forever imprinted on my heart.

 

And with our ketubah signed, the rehearsal officially concluded and we finally had time to snap a few photos before heading off to our rehearsal dinner...Check out our signs that Mom and Dad Trailmix made for us, love them! 

And finally, one parting shot with my beautiful bridesmaids in order to take advantage of the perfect weather and scenery (little did we know it would be the last sunshine we would see the whole weekend!)

Many thanks to my cousin Casey and bridesmaid Jo for these photos, the rehearsal was beautifully documented thanks to you both!

Our rehearsal was wonderful, in spite of some stressful moments, and the chance to have a part of our wedding ceremony be so intimate only made it more special.  In a whirlwind weekend chock full of people, those few minutes we spent doing the ketubah signing ceremony stand out as a moment of calm.

But now that the rehearsal was over, it was time to get on with the real business of the evening: FOOD! Wait until you see our rehearsal dinner, it was out of this world good...

When was your "moment of calm" during your wedding?