WFW: Rehearsal Dinner

So once we'd finished rehearsing, it was time to eat!

Like other times during the planning process, I learned that things I took for granted about a wedding were foreign concepts (literally!) to Ross.  Once I explained the concept of a rehearsal dinner to Ross he was on board.  I have to say it was pretty cute.  He was so in to our wedding and being involved.  When I first started planning the wedding I started making decisions without him.  He had to stop me and ask to be more involved!  I believe his exact words were "I only plan to get married once and I'd quite like to see how it works."

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned Ross' parents.  Sadly, they died several years ago.  That meant that Ross and I would be hosting the rehearsal dinner ourselves.  We knew pretty quickly that we'd be having Italian food for the rehearsal.  It's our favourite!  We quickly settled on Buca di Beppo.  (I already wrote a post about how much we love it!)  Ross was especially excited about the prospect of picking a menu that was made entirely of things he could eat- no meat in sight!

First up, we had our invitations.  I showed Ross several options for cute, casual invites.  He wasn't having it.  He wanted something more fancy.  He felt that it would go with the rest of the wedding better.  Awwww.

Anyway, the night of the actual rehearsal, we rushed from the church to the restaurant.  Everyone not involved in the rehearsal was already waiting for us.  So much for my place cards!  I ended up just handing them out to everyone- oh well.

My cousins and their hubbies

One end of the table awaiting our arrival. 

We get there!  See my black and white bag of place cards? :)

The late arrivals get settled.  You can see me handing our place cards in the background.

My Aunt Pam showing off her and my Uncle Mike's place cards.

Our littlest friend was excited about the rubber ducks.

His big brother was too.  They both had pirate ducks.

The restaurant was great.  We had tons of food and the family style serving platters made for a great atmosphere.   We had the whole room to ourselves and were able to mingle and chat and stuff our faces.  We  had a few toasts from people at the end of the meal, and just a few more tears.

Mingling!

Waiting for the food.

Eating and laughing.

The food arrives!

The salad.  Probably the whole reason we had our rehearsal dinner there.

Ross loves this salad.

Yumm-o! Bruschetta!

Pasta with tomato sauce

Cheese ravioli

Celebration cake

By the end of the night, our littlest ring bearer had 

collected most of the ducks and placed them on a plate.

 True story:  Over Christmas, Ross and I spent a good couple of hours assigned people rubber ducks and writing names on them.  All of the bridesmaids, my mom and my grandmothers were fairy princess ducks.  All of the groomsmen were cowboy ducks.  The little boys and their dad were pirates.  Other people were assigned based on personality.  Seriously.  My brother rolled his eyes at our stupidity, but we thoroughly enjoyed the fun.  We debated the merits of different ducks for different people.  Example:  We used one with a hard hat and shovel for my dad because he's an engineer.  (Have I mentioned that we are nerds?)  :)

After a lovely evening it was time to say goodbye.  My parents, brother and I went back to my apartment to finish up some last minute wedding stuff.  Ross and his groomsmen (sans my brother) went out for a drink- I guess we'll count it as his stag do.  By the time they were ready to head back, we were done.  Ross and his best man were staying at my place while I stayed in my parents hotel room.  That's right, I spent my final single night on a hide-a-bed.

We finished up the last of wedding to-dos (the escort cards and seating plan) by about 2AM and I hit the hay.    As excited as I was, I slept really well!

Next up- the morning of the big day!