Wedding

Bridal Shower & Rehearsal Dinner

Apparently it’s wedding week here on the blog. I promise I’ll return to normally scheduled content! I just want to share some of the fun that happened with the wedding before the “magic” feeling wears off. (How long does this post-wedding high last because it is blissful???) Plus I do love that my blog serves as a bit of a memory capsule for me too.

I’m not the best person to be “celebrated.” I hate the feeling of being the center of the attention and I really hate making people go out of their way. When we decided to do a tiny wedding on a short timeline, I was kind of relieved that we’d “get out” of doing a lot of the celebrating that comes with weddings. No engagement party, no bridal shower, no bachelorette party. (Well, I am kind of bummed about the bachelorette party because so many of my friends are from various points of my life, live all around the country, and they don’t know each other but I want them to!)

My sister-in-laws ended up going above and beyond for Mike and me and I truly had NEVER felt so loved. We have all really gotten to be friends and I’m so grateful for their friendship. I don’t think you can help who you love, but man, am I glad I fell in love with a man with a fantastic family!!! It’s like the cherry on top 🥰

On Thursday before the wedding, one of Mike’s sisters threw me a bridal shower and it was so lovely and so me. It was also a great way for all the girls of the group to get together and have some quality time. (It was just his sisters, my sister, our moms, my grandma, and the flower girls!) She put together a seated lunch, had the most incredibly “Carly” desserts, and then did a little gift exchange.

I mean… ginger jar cookies and a hydrangea cake. I think they get me!!

It was perfect, honestly.

And then Friday night, Mike’s parents hosted everyone on their back patio for a “rehearsal dinner.” Aka just a dinner before the wedding– we had nothing to rehearse. Again, it was just so nice to have everyone together, regardless of what we were celebrating! I think the best part was that Mike’s youngest sister put together a video of all of our friends wishing us well before the big day. It was a complete surprise and I bawled. It felt like our friends were in the room with us celebrating…. so ridiculously thoughtful!!! (If you’re a friend who can’t go to a wedding or a relative of someone getting married during the pandemic…. FILE THIS IDEA AWAY!!!!)

I had a little bit of a “veil emergency.” The one I originally bought said it was “ivory” but it was way, way to white for my dress. So I rush-shipped a “dark ivory” one that ended up being the perfect shade. But my mom’s good friend sent up her veil as a backup!!! It was so thoughtful and fun to try on with my little rehearsal dinner dress.

Watching the video of our friends!

If there is any take away from the whole experience of planning a wedding, pandemic or not, it was really about keeping the important things important. Sure it’s nice to have beautiful flowers and to feel beautiful/handsome to have great food and great music… but we were really celebrating committing to each other and not only creating our own little family (which don’t even get me started on that because it’s waterworks central) but also bringing our two families together. The entire time was just filled with so much love. I feel beyond beyond beyond lucky.

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41 Comments

Julia

So sweet! It seems like you really did luck out 💕 You can tell they all love you and Mike so much!

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Mackenzie

Where is your sister’s blue dress from? Love all the beautiful details you included in here! Your wedding was gorgeous!

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Keyondria

Congratulations, Carly! Keep the wedding content coming. I look forward to it every morning.

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Lillian

These wedding posts are the boost I have needed lately, keep the wedding content coming! Congratulations to you and Mike, I am so happy for you both and your joy is contagious!

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Jennifer

You can keep the wedding content coming as long as you want!!! Amazing what Mike’s sister did with the video of your friends. So happy for you both! Such an amazing couple!

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Julianne

I’m loving the wedding posts; keep ’em coming! And I think “keep the important things important” is going to be one of my new mantras.

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Sammie

I’ve been wanting MORE wedding posts! The posts show that it was such a beautiful day. Congrats!!

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Laura

More wedding content please! You look radiant and everything looked so sweet and perfect. So happy for you and Mike!

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Courtney Jenney

I read your wedding posts with a HUGE smile on my face. You look so genuinely happy and at peace! Congratulations, Carly. May the “blissful” wedding feeling never wear-off!

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Brigid Devney-Rye

Thanks for sharing, can’t get enough. That cake! Those cookies! They’ve got you figured out.

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Michelle

I love all the wedding content! I’m with everyone else–keep it coming! With everything going on right now in our world, your joy and happiness over your wedding has been such a bright spot that we all need.

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Anne

Thank you for sharing! Those desserts were so you, and it was such a sweet detail. Thanks for sharing!! Looks like a great group of women.

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Anne Hawkins

I literally love the wedding content, please keep sharing if you feel inclined! So so happy for you!!!

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Sabrina

Carly,
I am HERE for ALL the wedding content!!!! Keep it up!
Don’t apologize! We are loving it!
Want all the details!,

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Tara

I’m loving these wedding posts!! Your wedding was so, so lovely! Absolutely perfect! I’m so happy for you! Best wishes on a beautiful life together!

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Elizabeth

My heart is so happy for you! You are such an inspiration for waiting for the right man in your life!

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Mary Kate

I am no where close to married but I love these posts because it is about you and your love and your happiness! Keep them coming – we all need a bit of joy right now!

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Laura

Love these posts! We are at point where everyone we know is married….so no weddings until children marry 😳 So, loving these because who doesn’t love a wedding?!
It seems like those like minded readers want to think up ways to keep you talking about it all 😉🤣so, my contribution would be to hear about recipes for food…maybe a cooking segment on insta live? 🙂 Also, how you decided on stuff for registry (if you did) (I personally got a thrill out of putting that together when we married 😉).

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Lisa

Carly,
I am probably as old as your parents, but love your content. With the popularity of Instagram, I see so many brides focused on the wedding, instead of the marriage. The wedding is a one day blip- the marriage is what’s really important. It really seems like you and Mike found a way to celebrate your day that focused on the union of the two of you and your families, instead of how many likes you had. Your celebration looks amazing because you were able to focus on what the real meaning of the day was. Love that!

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Tebecca

I think you’re incredibly kind to share all your details. Not only for the focus you put on your wedding, but maybe someone can only do a simple paired down wedding. You’ve showed them how it can be tastefully done without those enormous price tags that come with a wedding. Again. Best Wishes to you and Mike.

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Michelle

Thank you for sharing your memories with us. I have never seen such a perfect wedding. Just goes to show you, you don’t need to spend a ton of money to have a beautiful wedding.

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Theresa Magliozzi

I loved all these wedding posts! I keep crying reading them ha! What a sap. I am SO happy for you, I’ve been reading literally since day 1 and I just love seeing your happiness.

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Elizabeth

That hydrangea cake is to die for! 😮 Where is it from?
So happy for you guys. I teared up a bit going through these photos lol, such special moments!

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SARA

What a beautiful wedding… Just stunning. My son is getting married and I’m having a hard time finding a dress for the wedding… Where did your mother and mil look for and find their dresses? They both looked perfect.

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