Friday, August 23, 2013

Frock Fridays: Rehearsal Dinner

I bet you guys can't wait until my wedding posts return to their normal once-a-week schedule, huh?  I'm sorry.  It's almost all over, I promise.  (For the record, Jon and I have been murmuring that to each other repeatedly since I landed on Sunday.)  The day itself is going to be amazing, and I'm so touched by all of your advice - thank you from the bottom of my heart and Jon's.

When I packed for this trip, I put everything for the wedding in a solid carryon: my dress and veil and shoes, of course, but also all of our paper goods, the flags I'd made, the DIY wooden arrows, and a few other gifts and decorative pieces.  You know I almost exclusively wear dresses, dear reader, so I figured that there had to be a frock I could wear for our rehearsal dinner amongst everything I packed for the four days in London before the wedding weekend, three days afterwards in Norfolk on our honeymoon, and a last day in London for my birthday.  But I wasn't really excited about anything I'd brought, and I decided to see what I could find in the last dregs of the sales...

rehearsal dinner


I wandered into Westfield after meeting up with a friend in Holland Park on Monday afternoon and, as fate would have it, found this French Connection dress within ten minutes!  It was on sale for £45 and there was a little bit of make-up on the neckline just inside, so I got a further 10% off.  Mine isn't a halter - the straps go up normally in front and then criss-cross in back - but I couldn't find that image online so you'll just have to imagine.  (I will Instagram it, so look there.  No social media once real wedding prep gets underway on Saturday, I promise!  I can feel Andrea glaring at me from Atlanta...)  There's a bit of navy blue in the embroidery at the bottom of the frock, so I'll wear it with my JCrew espadrilles and a navy cardigan.

Because I slept really badly on Wednesday and Thursday nights, I'll make sure to have a cup of Sleepytime tea before bed tonight and will open up the sachet of Aromafloria lavender bath salts I packed so the smell fills the room.  In the morning, to try to keep myself relatively calm, I'll start the day with a scented bath in my empty bridal suite at Bruisyard Hall (scroll down this page to see the bedroom and ensuite bathroom - it's the fifth row of photos from the bottom) and will try out the Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Eye Mask that I got as a sample after a facial a while ago.  (Do these sorts of things expire?  Oh well.)  After any last touch-ups to my nails with Essie Mademoiselle, I'll be ready to prep with the girls!

linking up with {long distance loving}

22 comments:

  1. Love the look you made, so girly and classic :)
    xoxo
    Suzanne from www.writtenbysuzanne.com

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  2. Absolutely love the look! And SOOOOOOOOOOO excited for you guys! You're getting inundated with advice, but I just want to say - be present in the moment. It goes SO fast. After all that prep and all that work, all of a sudden it's there and it's gone and you'll sit there for a moment wondering what the hell just happened to you. The little details you're able to soak in will mean so much to you after!

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  3. What a beautiful dress! Starting the day off with a scented relaxing bath sounds so perfect - and it's some rare time to be alone in your thoughts on the day.

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  4. your wedding posts are awesome! plus, why shouldn't you be able to post as much as you want about such a special day in your life? :) your rehearsal dinner outfit looks so cute!


    heyprettything.com

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  5. Gorgeous dress and navy cardigan! Love it. And we all love the wedding posts! :)

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  6. I say the rehearsal dinner is certainly a time for treating yourself to a pretty new dress - especially for such a deal! You'll be lovely. And I hope you have an amazing day! So exciting that it's finally arrived, and I hope you can relax and enjoy your love & friends & family.

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  7. beautiful dress, Betsy!!


    and ah! I just got so excited for you. sorry in advance if I stalk the instagram hashtag! :)

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  8. you are going to look gorgeous tonight! Love that dress! I'll be stalking you on the instagram :)

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  9. That dress is perfect!! Can't wait to see it on instagram. It's so close!!

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  10. Lovely dress! What an exciting weekend ahead - congrats and best wishes from a random reader :)

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  11. Love the dress! I seriously cannot believe that tomorrow is the day... I'm so so so excited for you guys :)

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  12. One of my favorite nail polish shades. And that dress is gorg!

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  13. What an exciting time!!! :) And a lovely dress.

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  14. Beautiful dress, and you're going to be such a beautiful bride! So excited for you!

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  15. those photos of Bruisyard Hall! so, so gorgeous. it's going to be a beautiful backdrop for your wedding. [how do you pronounce its name, by the way?]

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  16. Glad you can feel my glares ;) I am so, so excited for you, and can't wait to see pictures (after the day!) Have a wonderful day tomorrow, you deserve every minute of it! x

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  17. That's good to hear you've got some relaxation, alone time planned! It seriously helps to get away for a moment from the silly chatter of your friends and just reflect. Thinking of you and your husband-to-be this weekend!

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  18. bruise - as in "ow, I just bumped into the edge of the table and I'm going to have a..." - and then yard - as in "my milkshake brings all the boys to the..."


    :)

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  19. This all looks perfect! The lavender bath salts and Bliss eye mask are a great touch. Mmm, I feel relaxed just thinking about it.... I hope that your evening has been wonderful and that tomorrow is an absolute dream!! Happy Wedding Eve!!!

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