Friday, May 25

I hadn’t seen Mia and Gregory and Lily yet, so in the morning I went out in search of them and ended up hooking up with them at their pool. Lily was loving the water and Mia and Gregory were loving the natural surroundings. It was Lily’s first trip out of the country, and out of Northern Georgia for that matter, so I was happy to see them having a good time playing in the pool.

After finishing a few more wedding planning details, that afternoon I had my hair and makeup test with Anna in my hotel room.



Lauren was there to keep me entertained and talk relationships. Hilary came by to help consult on hair and makeup, but ended up saving the day by fixing all the ipod playlists I had created. Javi stopped by to take over the job of music DJ.

With all of this wedding stuff I’ve had the opportunity to have more beauty treatments than ever before in my life. Now I can honestly say that I like the results more than the process. Having pretty polished nails is lovely, but sitting there for the hour to get them done can be downright boring. I never really knew this before. I always thought it would be so glamorous. And it is. When it’s over. One exception: massage. I LOVE Massage. Anytime, anywhere.

After the makeup test, it was off to Zama beach club for the rehearsal, the weather was amazing and the sunset stunning. I said a little prayer for the weather to be the same the next night—the night of the wedding.

Here are some photos of everyone gathered for the rehearsal.









Then the group headed back downtown to the stunning club, La Pena.



Somehow the only photo I have from the Rehearsal Dinner is my niece Lily playing with a sculpture of a turtle.



With its open air courtyard, dramatic carved wooden chairs, and breezy beach front patio, the place was amazing. It was our first chance to see everyone all together and it felt great. Everyone chatting and mingling. Hugs and hellos.

Three highlights of the evening:

1) Catching up with Jon near the end of the evening and hearing him remark how amazing the music was at this place. I asked him are you serious? Yeah, he said with a big smile, it’s great! I said, this is OUR ipod!

2) The toasts. My mom had a great joke about me being the star of my own reality show “Everyone Loves Shana.” But what stole the cake was my sister Hilary’s speech all about our love and friendship growing up and how it has changed over the years. It was so great. Full of details, touching moments and funny recollections. It really touched my heart. The waterworks began.

3) At the end of each toast, when everybody would clap, there was a dog on the roof that would start barking and make everybody laugh and cheer even more. That dog hung out there the whole night, watching over the party. That was awesome.

On the walk home, Jon and I were so pleased. We said, that the rehearsal dinner party would have been enough. Whatever happens on the wedding day will just be bonus.