Justin & Sarah's Wedding: PART I "The Rehearsal Dinner"

With David's pending nuptials quickly approaching (4 days from today), I began to think back on the weekend that Justin and Sarah tied the knot. Actually there was not much "thinking back" involved because you see, some events are etched into my (and others') mind forever.

Sarah is from Hot Springs, Arkansas, so when they became engaged and started planning their wedding, that was to be the site. I traveled back and forth about 5-6 times leading up to the event; attending an engagement party, various showers and ultimately planning the rehearsal dinner. As the week of the actual wedding approached, I decided that I should travel to Hot Springs a days early so I wouldn't feel rushed or too "under the gun", so to speak. I arrived on the Thursday before that Saturday; that would hopefully give me an extra day to breathe. Now, I had to bring not only the entire family's wedding attire, but also floral arrangements, candles,table scarves and other decoration for the dinner. Upon arriving, I managed to talk the hotel management at The Arlington into letting me into the ballroom a day early so I could have all of my decorations done ahead of time. Things seemed to be coasting along very smoothly. BUT...with this motley crew, one should never be lulled into a false sense of calmness. For, remember what they say...the calm comes just before the storm.

Despite all of Robby's efforts to try to convince the boys (and there were many more than my 3) not to "howl at the moon" until AFTER the wedding was over, something went terribly awry. The actual rehearsal dinner went quite well with approximated 80 guests in attendance. Towards the end of the dinner, however, I did notice that David (sitting at the very end of the family table...that was on a stage) had partaken of a little too much wine. He told the waiter that he hated to see him have to come back and forth to refill his glass, so just got him to leave the bottle with him; I guess I should be thankful that he wasn't turning the bottle up and drinking directly from it.

The real drama began AFTER the rehearsal dinner was over. It was horse racing season in Hot Springs and dowstairs in the lobby of The Arlington, things were really hopping. There was a Big Band playing and a class group of dancers swing dancing. The air was electric. Perhaps, a little too electric. For you see, David (Justin's best man) and Sarah's sister (the maid of honor) began to have "words". Well, Robby (the self-appointed warden of these inmates) had already told Justin it was time for him to go to his room (yes, Warden Robby was smart...he got their room adjoining our suite so he could have a room check). On his way to the elevator, he said in a very calm voice, "Daddy just sent me to my room...I don't know why." And there my compliant child went. So, when "words" (alcohol induced words) broke out between David and Sarah's sister, Robby told David the same thing; "It's time for you to go to your room." Well, strong-willed, middle child (and alcohol impaired as well), David popped up and said, "If you want ME to go to MY room...you're gonna have to kick me in the balls!" AND Bada Boom, Bada Bang...There You Go...DONE! There amidst alll of the music and dancing and commotion, David fell backwards on to couch moaning with Robby still standing over him. A lady rushed over, saying that she was a nurse and offered her assistance...to which Robby replied, " Mam, we don't need any help here." David ended going back to a friend of our room; which was probably a very good idea.

The next morning, my sister was sitting in the lobby when David arrived on the scene and plopped down beside her. Looking around, he told her that he was there for the "family breakfast". "I'm pretty sure that has been cancelled," she said. Yea, he supposed so. The actual day of the wedding had arrived and it continued to be almost as eventful as the previous night...TUNE IN FOR TOMORROW'S BLOG to find out more about the events leading up to the wedding ceremony.