molly makes: My First Wedding Planning Experience: Part 2!

I had such an amazing time helping Rebekah plan her rustic Camden wedding. I was super depressed about my own wedding being over, so it was fun spending the summer helping with hers!

I offered to order all of her flowers from Costco (like I did with mine) and I picked them all up in Greenville on the Thursday morning before her wedding. Thank God I took our big Expedition, because it was a HUGE load!

Joe and I headed down to Camden early on Friday morning, so we could be there to help set up the chairs under the huge magnolia tree. It was sweltering hot, and I was drenched in sweat...very attractive! Thank goodness I had enough time to shower before the rehearsal!

I was super nervous about coordinating the rehearsal! I knew what all I had to do, but it was difficult trying to tell everyone what to do! I'm not used to being in charge! The run through went well, but was cut short by a thunderstorm. We crossed our fingers that the same thing wouldn't happen the next day! The rehearsal dinner was so much fun, and the food was delicious! I spent the rest of that night trying to finish the programs for the ceremony. Rebekah wanted fan programs so guests wouldn't die of a heat stroke! Those dumb programs were such a pain, but they turned out gorgeous! It took four of us a few hours to put them together that night; needless to say, I was ready for bed after that.

I thought I would have enough time to make all of the bouquets/corsages/boutonnieres/centerpieces on the day of the wedding; boy did I cut it close! Our sweet friend Marian Bryce came early to help me, and I don't know what I would have done without her! We spent HOURS putting together all of the flowers, and still had to finish decorating everything else. I am now obsessed with the wildflower look for bouquets. All of our hard work definitely payed off; the flowers were to die for!

I was so scared to watch the weather forecast for the night of the wedding; I just knew it was going to rain. I was really hoping that we would get lucky, and the storm would just blow on through. The guests starting arriving for the 7pm ceremony, and the rain started falling. The poor bride was watching everyone huddle up under the porch and tree from her bridal suite, and was starting to freak out. Luckily it was a small wedding, and we were able to get everyone into the house and onto the porch to stay dry and we waited the storm out. The rain stopped just in time for the ceremony to start, so I sent Joe and a few other boys out with towels to quickly wipe down all of the chairs. The guests took their seats, and the ceremony started under the beautiful magnolia tree. The wedding party all took their places, and Rebekah walked down the aisle to her groom looking absolutely gorgeous. At that moment, everything was perfect! The ceremony went off without a hitch, and I patted myself on the back for getting through the most stressful part! I always knew that no wedding was without problems, and I definitely experienced that first had that night. You just have to have backup plans in place and have to be ready to use them!

The reception was so much fun! The DJ was great, and there was a special performance by the lead singer of Sequoyah Prep School. He sang their favorite song "Nobody But You," and there wasn't a dry eye in the whole place.

The cake was one of the most beautiful cakes I have ever seen. A lady made it at her house, and charged Rebekah something like $100. I still can't believe she made all of those little petals by hand! I forgot to take a picture of it before I had to cut it. (Yes, I had to cut the entire cake by myself - another problem that popped up) Hopefully she will get the professional pictures back soon. That cake deserves a whole post all by itself. Not only was it beautiful, but it was delicious. I'm a sucker for red velvet! It looked a lot like this:

The weekend was definitely bittersweet, because we started our move to NY the following Monday. It was the perfect way to spend my last weekend with some of my best friends! Rebekah and Matt were so happy, and I was so glad I could help make their special day perfect.

Here are some of the pictures I took:

The beautiful bouquets!

The table in the entry way; I framed some of their engagement pictures and their wedding invitation. The birds nests were carried by the ring bearers as "pillows!"

I used the mason jar lanterns from my wedding, and we hung them from the magnolia tree where the ceremony was. Wish I would have gotten a picture of them in action! It was breathtaking!

One of the tables with the smaller centerpiece. These tables had mason jars and milkglass vases filled with flowers on top of wood cut by the bride's father from their yard. Love how these turned out!

Here are the gorgeous programs, and also the favors Rebekah made. She had Moo cards made with their engagement pictures on one side, and a statement saying they made a donation to the local animal shelter in honor of their guests. She attached the cards to little bags filled with dog treats. Such a cute idea!