My Wedding Rehearsal & a New 1950s Dress

Hello, dear Readers!

I can’t wait to share pictures of my wedding here on the blog, but first I wanted to show you the pictures of the wedding rehearsal!

On the morning of my wedding rehearsal, I woke up completely elated.  My then-fiance’ and I talked on the phone as we lived an hour away, before I had to wrap up a myriad of last minute details.  The wedding favors were ready to go, the gowns were hanging up neatly, and the framed descriptions for the family wedding gown display were printed.  In just a few short hours, my all-time best girlfriend would be flying in from out of state for the rehearsal, and the last time I’d seen her was at her wedding two years earlier!

For the day of the wedding rehearsal, I wore a salmon colored 1950s dress which I sewed from an out-of-print vintage pattern!  (Pattern on the right in the photo below – McCalls 4008.)

Upon arriving at the wedding venue, I was thrilled with the decorations coming together in the ballroom.  The tables were covered with ivory linens, and alternating peach and gold satin runners.  The pillars were hidden in chiffon, which I knew would look dazzling when the tiny white lights were turned on underneath the fabric.  It was so exciting!

Lars and I did a run-through of our first wedding dance, and my maid of honor took a quick video on her cellphone.  (I’ve uploaded it below for you.)  No matter how much you’ve practiced a dance, it’s always different trying it in a new space for the first time!

Then it was time for the rehearsal to begin in the chapel, which honestly looked more like a small cathedral sanctuary..  It was amazing to see all of our wedding party gathered in the same place for the first time ever…  It really started to hit me, “Oh my goodness – these people are all here for our wedding.  We’re getting married tomorrow!”

(The professional photos below are copyright by Kamirin Couch of Crooked Stream Photography.   I can’t recommend her highly enough!)

I loved this dress pattern SO much!  It has lots of gathers in the upper bodice, gathers in the back and sides of the skirt, and a straight panel down the front of the bodice that continues into the skirt.  The fabric was a coral cotton sateen…

All three of us girls just happened to wear our hair in the exact same style…  And those shoes had only been worn once before on an evening when Lars and I went out very early on in our relationship, so I thought I should wear them again as they matched my dress.

The late afternoon light was flooding through the stained glass windows and onto the stage.  It was sort of as if God was smiling down on us.

Then, we were off from our historic wedding venue and onto the rehearsal dinner.  I had to fit the von Trapp story into my wedding rehearsal festivities, so we ate at a German restaurant, feasting on schnitzel with noodles and crisp apple strudel… (if none of this makes sense to you, you need to go watch The Sound of Music.)

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And what should I find in the powder room, but Edwardian fashion plates!   It was perfect!  I felt like the entire evening had been custom made for my wedding.  (A week later on our honeymoon, “The Sound of Music” theme began playing over breakfast at our B&B, followed by a rare Israeli folk song I knew by heart…  The whole wedding week was filled with happy “coincidences” like this.)

Lars and I ran one last errand before he dropped me off at my house ~ we wanted to surprise our mothers by giving them flowers during the ceremony, so the two of us selected roses for the next day…  I just hoped they wouldn’t wilt in the heat, but I knew it was a chance we’d have to take since the wedding day itself would be too busy.

Tomorrow, we’d have the biggest day of our lives.  

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More to come soon!

Till next time,

Katrina