Meet the Malones, Part 2!

We'll pick up where we left off, at the rehearsal of Em and Casey's beautiful wedding ceremony. The church was gorgeous, the people there were super friendly and helpful, and we all felt (fairly) confident that we knew when to walk, what pace to stick to, and where we were supposed to be standing.

After rehearsing the ceremony, it was time to head back downtown for the rehearsal DINNER - a burrito bar, YUM! We were so thrilled to see that the rain had stopped, and Em's sister Rebecca rounded up every available towel in the suite to dry off table and chairs on the balcony overlooking downtown Cincinnati (unfortunately, this meant that we were 100% towel-less the next morning, but it was a small price to pay for dining al fresco with the pretty scenery). It was so fun to have the party in the suites, and even more fun to see some great friends and meet more of Emily and Casey's families. It was also Rebecca's birthday, so we celebrated with some ColdStone cupcakes (near and dear to my heart) and everyone had a super fun time.

My two favorites at the rehearsal dinner!

We turned in around 11:30, and I was excited that the bridal party was all staying together in the same suite (mostly, I was thrilled to be sharing a DLO bed for what I hope will not be the last time in my life). Although I have a pesky habit of falling asleep instantly, Em and Linds stayed up a little bit longer and talked (I assume) about the next day and all of its wonderfulness!

We woke up the next morning -- EMILY'S WEDDING DAY! -- and everything went pretty smoothly. Despite the aforementioned towel shortage, the getting-ready process at the hotel was fairly easy, as Em was treating us all to salon updo's! We didn't worry about hair or makeup, threw on our comfy pants and matching tanks, and headed to Emily's house.

Even in the midst of her 12 million things going on that weekend, Em managed to host a beautiful and perfect brunch on wedding day morning. I was super thankful for this on so many levels -- one, it was so nice to have a normal breakfast of fruit, yogurt, and bagels, and not be worried about having to scarf down some grease fest from a drive thru on a day when you are trying to look your best. Two, it was so personal and relaxing! We were all able to talk, unwind, and eat (of course!) without any stress at all.

The rehearsal dinner flowers were our tablescape for brunch!

Emily had gotten us all darling gifts -- initial necklaces from Etsy (I have been wearing mine every day since the wedding, and it garners at least one compliment per wear) and gorgeous little pave pearl earrings that I helped acquire from Anthro (the love!). I did my best to not sob all over the individual thank you cards she had written for us, and then we all headed to the salon.

I was pretty excited to see Emily's 'do for the big day, as I have always wanted to wear my hair down for special occasions, but can never make it work. Her style was so gorgeous and flattering to her and her dress (I wish I had a picture of the back and the beautiful little silk rosettes!). I was ALSO pretty pumped to be getting my own hair done, although I had no clue what I wanted. I watched Lindsey get a perfect style and waited patiently to intercept her stylist as soon as she was done. Tragically, I got landed with some hungover pill-popping freakazoid, but she did ok in the end (my only direction was "I want a huge poof at the crown, I want it all up, and I want it to stay through a hurricane") and my hair definitely stayed in place -- all the way through Saturday night, until Sunday morning, when Linds had to pull 58 bobby pins and a dozen braces-sized rubber bands out of my hair.

Kenji works his magic as the bride's sisters look on.

Linds and I high-tailed it out of the salon as soon as we were done, since we had dropped my bridesmaid's dress off at the cleaner's the day before (covered in dog hair and wrinkled from me trying it on 35 times pre-wedding), and I was terrified that some horrible freak thing would happen where they would close early or something. Luckily, we retrieved the dress on time, and despite the fact that it was slightly damp (a quick air-out in front of an open window solved that), it looked perfect. We reunited with the bridal party back at Emily's for the final stages of wedding prep (makeup and dresses!), and everyone's hair looked absolutely awesome.

Getting ready at Em's was one of the smartest decisions involved with this wedding. Not only was it totally relaxed, but I felt 100% normal and comfortable -- not like when you're out of town and getting ready in some random hotel or something. Even though it seemed lonely without Huey and Indy at my feet, their doggie spa vacation was also a great idea. Not to mention, between the 7 of us, we had every Bare Escentuals eye color ever made to choose from (largely in part to Emily's personal collection), along with an arsenal of mascaras, eyelash curlers, et cetera. We all felt totally ready, totally gorgeous, and totally prepared to walk the aisle.

We caravaned to the church (despite my protests of Emily DRIVING in her wedding dress, she is hard-core and a total champ) and waited for the ceremony while we all finished cutting programs, admired our flowers numerous times, and made sure we remembered where we were supposed to be standing (Sarah also took this opportunity to practice pacing herself by singing "Happy Birthday" to herself in her head).

Our bridesmaid bouquets, and Emily's bouquet!

Emily's "wedding purse" (handmade in Ireland and purchased on Etsy, natch.)

Co-bridesmaids of the year furiously cut programs.

As we were waiting for the ceremony to begin, Em decided she really wanted to see the church and hear the music, and the church wedding-planner-helper showed us where we could look in without being seen (as long as we promised to be quiet as church mice!). As we looked toward the altar, Emily's and Casey's moms were lighting the candles as Emily's requested West Side story music floated through the church. (I honestly can't remember if it was "One Hand, One Heart" or "Somewhere" -- all I know is that it was gorgeous and beautiful and perfect). We were all overcome with emotion, Em let out a few pre-wedding sobs (got it out of her system, at least!) and we were all ushered to where we waited our turn to walk down the aisle...

Check back soon for the third and final installment of the Holcombe/Malone nuptials!