Hawkily Ever After: Rehearsal, Dinner, and Cocktails

The wedding rehearsal wasn't really what I expected. Perhaps I had overly-romantic notions of what it'd be like. Or maybe I just underestimated my clumsiness.

It all started with a missing groom. The wedding party agreed to meet in the hotel lobby prior to walking over to the chapel, but Mr. Hawk was nowhere to be found. Since the hotel restaurant/bar was open for business, we had a sneaking suspicion of where he might be hiding out. One by one groomsmen and bridesmaids "went to check" the restaurant and never came back out. Eventually I went in myself and found them all sharing beers at the bar. Apparently my uncle had found Mr. Hawk waiting alone and invited him to join the family for a drink. At the time I was annoyed. (Seriously Mr. H, how could you possibly be distracted by a tasty cold beer?!) Looking back at it just makes me laugh. They were ready for the festivities to begin!

Luckily for them, I think we must have had one of the shortest rehearsals on record. It went by so quickly I didn't even think to take any photos. We basically practiced our entrances and exits and called it a day. Did anyone have a more involved rehearsal? The brevity of it really blew my mind!

Post-rehearsal we walked our way over to the Green Leafe for dinner and drinks. While everyone was getting seated, I attempted to walk over to the manager to retreive our drink menus. I say attempted because about two steps in, the heel of one of my shoes got caught up in the bow of my other shoe. I landed in a heap on the floor. I swear the entire restaurant turned silent until I hopped up. My wedding party stroked my ego by telling me it was a very graceful fall, but I felt like an idiot. I think it was at that moment when I finally let a lot of the wedding stress go. I was so thankful to only have a couple bruises and also grateful that I got my embarassing moment out of the way before the wedding!

Still laughing about my fall

I'm happy to report that the rest of the evening went exactly as planned. We met up with family and friends for a post-rehearsal dinner cocktail hour at the groom's favorite haunt, the hotel bar. It was a really nice chance to catch up with family who traveled in for the wedding. It was also a great way to blow off some steam!

As always, it started off so innocently with a few cutesy photos.

BM T, MOH A, and I

BM R

  

But we definitely had our share of fun!

So excited with MOH A

All the beautiful bridesmaids

 Some of the bridesmaids even decided to have a little karaoke jam session!

I love the intensity!

Around 10:30, MOH A and I decided to call it a night and left the festivites, but the party continued without us. Mr. H and most of the wedding party closed down the bar around 1:30! Thankfully I left my camera with Mr. Hawk, so I didn't miss out on these gems.

M checking out BM R and T in the background. Hilarious!

Crazy face.

More karaoke and dancing!

Did y'all have any drama-filled moments before the wedding? Please tell me I'm not the only one who completely embarrassed myself during one of the wedding events!