Rehearsal Day, Part One - Pampering and Ceremony Rehearsal

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The day before our wedding, my then-fiance and I got up early to hit the gym. He typically does his second "Weights" day of the week on Thursday or Friday, and I was trying my best to muscle up in my upper arms and back, so we went together and did a pretty difficult routine.

The couple that lifts together stays together!

Afterward, we went home to shower, change, and (tried to) clean up the apartment a bit. I wanted some hair volume, so I did some serious teasing and looked entirely ridiculous for a while as I teased my hair and danced around like a cavewoman to this song.

I was obviously not kidding when I said my apartment was a mess!
Nobody ever told me that weddings wreak havoc on your home, too!

I was just finishing getting ready when my cousin Clara showed up at the apartment. She took the train in from Madison, and arrived just on time. We stuffed some Quest Bars in our mouths and then met my sister at the nail salon... after she had a bit of a dilemma with the parking situation.

My sister had a lot of wedding props in her car, but most importantly, she had THE DRESS in the back seat. We were all worried when she couldn't find legal parking. Can you imagine if it got towed? She eventually found a spot on a side street nearby. No harm, no foul.

FYI: Pedicures are the best, most relaxing things in the world. So much better than manicures, yet way less people get to see the fruits of your pampering. I think I actually like them more than massages (I mean, you do get the chair massage included). Don't quote me on that, though...

Yay Manicures!

After getting our nails done, we walked next door in search of a bottle of liquor. I wanted to give my groom a bottle of whiskey on the day of the wedding to loosen his (and his groomsmen's) nerves. The liquor store was closed, so we hit up The Green Grocer and bought a very nice bottle of whiskey from Michigan.

Afterward, we had a quick lunch at Grandview Tavern, where we met up with Justin, one of his Groomsmen, Eric, my sister's boyfriend Ben, and my cousin and bridesmaid, Maggie. Once we had the whole gang, we did a bunch of rearranging of items in our vehicles and finally the girls drove to the hotel... with my wedding gown sitting on our laps.

Thank God I love these ladies because it was hot and crowded in that Audi!

We were staying at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place. Because the wedding venue was south of the city, and we wanted to avoid the Lollapalooza traffic on the day of the wedding, this ended up being our best bet. We had a Skyline Suite that had AMAZING views.

Truly, the hotel room was a wonderful "venue" in itself. We had a great view of the whole skyline and waterfront and everything in between. It was a corner room, so we had wide, panoramic views. So far, so good! 

After freshening up a bit in the room (I steamed my dress, which is extremely rare, so you know I was excited), we headed to the wedding venue for a ceremony rehearsal.

We met our Pastor, who was so gracious and lead the entire rehearsal flawlessly.

Walking our favorite people do a dry run of walking down the aisle was so special, and it really made things feel real. Same goes for fake "walking down the aisle." Apparently, I preferred to run...

Just like our hotel rooms, the wedding venue has spectacular views that sort of draw you over to the window. So, in addition to the ceremony run through, we ended up lingering near the great views for a while longer.

I mean, really, is there a better background for a picture?

On our way out, my Aunt snapped this great picture of us all in the elevator. She has a great artistic eye, that one!

After unloading some wedding props at the venue, we hopped in the car and headed over toward the loop for our rehearsal dinner! 

...to be continued...