Last Night as a Bride-to-be

Bride & Groom Thank You Speech
The windows behind us overlook downtown NYC & Statue of Liberty

Me & My Bridesmaids
These ladies rock!

Bride & Groom with my Uncles
They walked me down the aisle :-)

True story: we were one hour late to our rehearsal dinner. Only us! Minus that little detail, my last evening as a Bride-to-be was perfect.

RZ & I were greeted by the applause of our family & friends who had gathered to celebrate with us. Maybe they were simply glad we showed up but I prefer to think they were cheering for us, for our love, for our future. I could feel the love in the room & I will remember it forever.

The evening was fun & casual, just as we'd hoped. Everything was simple with hotel-supplied cocktail tables, black linens, votive candles & house music. The buffet & open seating allowed our guests to eat, mix & mingle as they pleased. Conversations & laughter floated in the air. I ate my fair share of funnel cake, I chatted with our guests & I posed for plenty of photos. Looking back now, I'm very grateful for this extra time to spend with our guests because the wedding went so quickly!

This was our golden opportunity to thank our bridal party, families & friends for their presence, support & love during our engagement, at our wedding & always. I'm not a good public speaker & RZ doesn't love it either. We kept the speech short & sweet, then handed out our thank you gifts. I'm not sure we could ever thank everyone enough but we tried.

The next thing I knew, it was time to say good-night after a wonderful rehearsal diner. RZ would be spending the night in the cushy hotel suite while I would be returning to the comforts of our home. Lots of couples talk about sad tears & heartfelt talks as they separate for the night. Not us! RZ was excited to watch tv & relax in the suite & I had a few things on my to-do list to tackle. But there was no mistaking our happiness: the next time we saw each other, I would be walking down the aisle!