Friends and Family around the Fire Pit (Photo by Ashley Janne Photography)
After the rehearsal everybody went back to their rooms and threw on their warmest duds and we headed over to the hotel’s pool and barbecue area which we had rented out for the evening. It was forecast to rain but we got lucky and there was merely a light mist but we had plenty of blankets and a fire pit on hand for those who were chilly. My cousin Michelle, her wife Jennifer (the same ladies who played a large roll in throwing our Vintage Wedding Shower) and my dad had prepared an awesome Mexican taco bar, with great beer and badass margaritas.
Me and My friend Stoober at the Rehearsal Dinner (Photo by Ashley Janne Photography)
Heres the deal Joey and I, love us some tacos. The entire Mexican food genre brings me nothing but great joy and these were no exception. My dad had grilled up an insane amount of carne asada and chicken, whilst my cousins had made homemade salsa, amazing vegan Spanish rice and beans and of course their signature margartias. The food was BEYOND delicious and everyone really seemed to enjoy it.
Not content to allow the evening to go completely smoothly and without public embarrassment and injury. Whilst everyone was sitting down for dinner I had grabbed a chair from another table, and while I was pulling it out Joey thought I was being chivalrous and pulling it out for him and before I had figured out what was happening I had pulled a chair out from underneath my future husband and he landed flat on his butt. I FELT SO AWFUL! But he was laughing so I knew right away he wasn’t too hurt, it instantly loosened everybody up though, especially Joey’s sister who took way to much joy in seeing him fall. Haha.
Joey and his Groomsmaid Leanne (Photo by Ashley Janne Photography)
If you’re considering skipping the rehearsal dinner or making it more intimate by having it be only immediate family and wedding party, My suggestion is to reconsider. By planning a lower cost dinner it was easier for us to invite more family and in doing so we got to see a lot more of our out of town guests for longer periods of time which was nice since we didn’t see much of anyone for to long on our wedding day. Post tacos we had batches of cookies and S’MORE fixings for the fire pit. Something about S’MORES just brings people together in mutual love and nostalgia.
Our Groomsmaid Brooke and her son Hayden playing at the the dinner (Photo by Ashley Janne Photography)
After Dinner, Joey and I had separate “Bachelor Parties” and sleepovers with our wedding parties. Both of us elected for more G-Rated affairs, my group went out for drinks at the Cheesecake Factory. Which resulted in much hilarity, and a beautifully sung slow jam about the human body, after drinks we caught a viewing of “Let Me In” in honor of my fondness for horror films. Which was a fantastic movie, BUT SO SAD. After that we headed back to the hotel where we watched TV, ate my favorite cupcakes from Sprinkles. and laughed and chatted into the wee hours (such a mistake in hindsight). As for Joey, his maid of honor has recently won a big jackpot here in Vegas and she purchased tickets for his whole group to go to Disneyland for the evening, they too were out into the wee hours of the morning.
Joey and 3/4s of his girls infront of the Giant Mickey O'Latern at Disneyland (Photo by Brooke Jensen)
That’s a great idea for the rehearsal dinner. Great way to cut the budget. I’m definitely going to consider doing a low-cost homemade dinner at a family members house rather than a big expensive dinner at the hotel. Thanks for sharing!
Totally love the taco bar and COMPLETELY agree on he low-budget rehearsal dinner = invite more people. We did Dagwood style sandwiches and ice cream sundae bar. The food was hit and we actually got to talk to people!
Smores! So awesome! Can’t wait to see more recaps…
So much fun!