Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Highlights from the Nashville Wedding

Tony was "cavity searched" at BWI airport because he forgot that he was carrying his box cutter on his belt.

We flew Southwest Airlines and did not realize that it was a "free for all" seating, we were some of the last to board the aircraft and therefore did not get to sit together on our way to Nashville.

We upgraded our rental car from a Ford Escape to a brand new black Chevy Camero (very fun, and it got us LOTS of attention in downtown Nashville)

Had an outdoor picnic at Beth and Jeff's on the first night where I got bit by a mosquito (?) and then my entire wrist swelled up from it and it is not FINALLY not itching anymore! My allergies to bug bites seem to be getting worse!

Tony and all the groomsmen went bar hopping and got home sometime after 2:00 am. Tony got a new nickname from the guys of the band "TAGSBRUSCO" (because they did not know who he was prior to the wedding, but they would see our email address on correspondence back and forth when the bachelor party was being planned)

Beth and all of us went to a really trendy bar called Patterson House (which from the outside you would NEVER think was a bar), what makes this place really special is that all the drinks are made from scratch (they fresh squeeze the juice, and make all their own syrups)...even the ice in our glass was special as mine was a globe shaped ball of ice. I really hit it off with another girl (Erin) from MD that knew Jeff from college and we hung out the entire weekend together.

Friday, Tony and I shopped at 2 different malls where I bought a "Nashville outfit" as we both felt so under dressed walking around town. Everyone in Nashville seems to be dressed to the nine's all the time, so my outfit is my souvenir from the trip the only think I didn't get was a pair of cowboy boots (because you wear them with everything) and then walked around the beautiful Opryland Hotel. (we had been there before when we were dating and it has changed alot...definitely a place I would want to stay if we travel to Nashville again)

We attended the rehearsal and then it was off to the dinner at a place called "Rumor's East"...where they had a tent set-up outside for about 60 people. We sat with 3 of the band members and their wives/girlfriends and really had a wonderful time. We were introduced to some southern favorites like fried okra and shrimp and grits...very yummy! All of the wedding party stood up to say kind words about Beth and Jeff and there was not a dry eye in the room. Tony even shared a childhood story about rescuing Jeff from a test hole at their house in Darnestown by using a vacuum cleaner.

Saturday we hung out at the hotel as Tony had to be at the church by 3:00 pm and the ceremony was not until 6:30, so I had lots of time to kill. I got a ride over to the church with Jeff's parents.

The ceremony was beautiful, there were 12 girls and 8 guys in the wedding party. The ceremony took about 25 minutes and then we waited for the pictures to be taken afterwards.

The reception was held at Cannery Ballroom. It reminded me of an old warehouse that was converted into a reception hall. Dinner was served buffet style and then they had a live band of guys that they travel with while they are on tour. At about 11:00 pm the band wanted a break, so The Lost Trailers played 3 songs for all of us (it was AMAZING).

When it was time for Jeff and Beth to leave we all got sparklers (like the ones you use on the 4th of July) and we lined up outside in 2 lines with the sparklers lit as they came out to get in their antique car to drive away!

We headed out to the airport early Sunday morning and were able to score seats together on the airplane home!

Our trip to Nashville will be one we both remember for a very long time!