TM’s family threw our rehearsal dinner on the Camp Lucy property. It’s a resort in the hill country where our wedding was taking place so it was great to have most everyone on property the night before! We had plans for using the hall and the deck that overlooks this massive wooded valley but it was pouring during our rehearsal and dinner.
We ended up doing the ceremony rehearsal in the reception space and then I made TM meet me at our alter space and practice walking down the aisle – it was totally worth it. Even in the rain, worth it! The rehearsal bouquet I’m holding is made up of the bows and ribbons from all the gifts at my bridal shower or pre-wedding gifts. I’ve had a lot of people ask; I think it might be a southern thing. Have yall heard of it? Have you also heard of the superstition that the number of ribbons or bows you break while opening gifts is how many kids you’ll have? We’re keeping that number a secret ha!
Anyway back to our rehearsal dinner. After our rehearsal we went to the hall to get our rehearsal dinner started. Per what seems like everything in or surrounding our wedding we switched some things up and did things that made sense for us. We knew that for our wedding we didn’t want it to be bogged down with sitting and waiting so we had our speeches at the rehearsal dinner. My mom and TM’s dad gave a sweet little two person riff and then TM’s dad took over for his speech. Then my maid of honor and TM’s best man gave their speeches.
Can we take a moment for this floral installment on the chandelier? I’m trying to find a better picture but I told TM’s stepmom I envisioned a cloud and boy oh boy did she deliver! It was baby’s breath and it just looked like it was floating! Perfection!
We had a small cake to cut because both of us don’t really like cake (although TM’s stepmom found what seems like the only cake we wanted seconds of), we wanted a different dessert at our wedding, and we still wanted to have the experience of cutting cake.
The theme of the night was our dogs: Winston, Penny, Teddy, and Parker. TM’s sister, a budding photographer and one of my bridesmaids, came over to our house one afternoon and took pictures of us and the puppies, so those snaps were displayed all over the tables. A few family members even snagged a photo or two to take home with them! Little miniatures of them were on our cake too! I created a menu on Canva of each of their drinks – Winston recommended the old fashioned, Penny recommended the cosmopolitan, Teddy recommended a gin & tonic, and Parker recommended a margarita!
After our rehearsal dinner we had what we called a ‘mingle’ thrown by my Aunts. Most of my aunts live out of state so instead of throwing me a bridal shower they threw the equivalent of an after party to the rehearsal dinner. So when we were done with the rehearsal dinner we went out to the covered area between all the rooms our guests had on property and had some snacks, desserts, and more drinks! Only our wedding party and immediate family members were invited to the rehearsal dinner so basically all family members, bridal party, and most out of town guests were invited to the mingle!
While the rain wasn’t ideal, I knew it was going to stop raining that night and the next day was going to be sunny and clear so I was smiling! The entire night from rehearsal, to rehearsal dinner, to mingle was so wonderful and fun. Both TM and I were able to relax and be with our family and wedding party and just, surprisingly, relax and have fun!
