Some of the fun things that we did were, “girl talk”, card games, pranks on each other (we’re all not as innocent looking as you might think. Kevin taped the girls’ toilets shut and the girls trashed and silly stringed the bass’s room.) and we had a birthday party for Jessica in the lobby. Oh, and how could we forget Josh J. hooking up his X-box to play in his hotel room. (sheesh!)
Friday was full of rehearsals all day long. We were given plenty of time to kind of get to know the other singers that sat around us in rehearsal. It became quite interesting. We could all tell unique stories about that. (Danae especially.)
Saturday we woke up early packed up our stuff and traveled on the bus to Salt Lake. We then had our first rehearsal in the Tabernacle on Temple Square, where we would be performing that night. It was really neat to sing in the tabernacle and the organ was incredible.
After our last rehearsal we were free to eat and take a short break before getting ready for the night. We had two rooms in the Marriott to put our stuff in, sleep and get ready in. It was a very nice hotel and the perfect spot for our first appearance in our madrigal formal wear.
Some of us spent time in the mall for our break. Josh D., Kevin, Maren and Chad had a interesting experience in a store in the mall…let’s just say it stirred them up a bit. A big group of us also spent our time trying to squeeze as many people as possible into a photo booth. It was awkward, yet tons of fun! After eating and our break time we began to get ready for the evening in our tuxes and dresses!
After we were all dressed up we met in the lobby and exchanged boutonnieres and corsages. Jessica and Michelle O. made the ones for the guys and Braydon made the ones for the girls. It was so much fun to be all dressed up for the occasion. Then the guys escorted the girls as we walked down to the Joseph Smith Building to see the Testaments. After the Testaments we took pictures in the lobby and then out on Temple Square. We had to take some of the “non-committal engagement photos.” It’s a tradition! It was a lot of fun and boy did we all look “hot”, or maybe the more appropriate word is classy, in our tuxes and dresses. Hee hee hee. After pictures we went back to the hotel restaurant and had dessert. After that we headed to the tabernacle for our performance. It was really neat to sing in such a big group in the beautiful Tabernacle. It turned out to be a great success! The orchestra and band also did a marvelous job. It was a night to remember and well worth the many, many hours of preparation. It was definitely a great weekend!