Wedding Week Recap – Rehearsal Dinner… But First

The rehearsal went really well and everyone was mostly quiet and paid attention, for the most part.  J and I had not practiced our dance for almost 2 weeks and we knew our DJ was all set up in the banquet room for a wedding he was doing that night, so we asked if he could try our CD and let us practice our dance one time before we left.  In case you haven’t caught on yet, I absolutely LOVED our DJ and would recommend him to anyone who needs a DJ for anything.

It took him a couple minutes to get everything up and running and it was the first time in a LONG TIME that I’d had a chance to be with Jason, just us.  It was also the first time in a long time that either of us had been in a completely quiet room.  We really didn’t even say much to each other, we just held hands and took a second to enjoy the quiet… the calm before the storm resumed.  The music started and we walked on the floor and we remembered our dance like we’d just practiced yesterday.  It was great and the music sounded great and it was an amazing chance to stop and take a breath.

We went back outside and the bridesmaids and groomsmen were entertaining each other and getting to know each other while they waited for us.  We all got in cars and drove the short distance to the rehearsal dinner.  We got there and everything was set up and ready to go.  We had been in on Tuesday and spoken with the lady who’s in charge of catering and created a menu.  At each place setting was a very nice custom menu, in our wedding colors, that they and created for us.

Everyone raved about the food.  I had the prime rib, mixed vegis and tiramisu… it was AMAZING.  We had great service, everyone’s food was right and it came out hot, which is sometimes a challenge with a group that large.

When dinner was done, J and I went up to the front and thanked everyone for coming to be a part of our wedding.  It was a short speech, but that’s really what we wanted… nothing too formal.  We also gave the wedding party their gifts...

Purple socks that I gave each of the guys... with the "No Cold Feet" stickers on the boxes.

J's gifts for the guys...

a box with their named engraved on the top and pocket watches... also engraved.

My gifts for the girls... more to come on these later.

My Mad of Honor had sent an email to all of the girls letting them know that we wanted limited toasts at the wedding… MOH, Best Man, Father of the Bride and J’s thank you.  She also told that them that if anyone else wanted to say something, they were welcome to do so at the rehearsal dinner.  After J and I said our thank yous and gave the wedding party their gifts, one of the bridesmaids came up to me and said “do you want us to say anything”?  My mouth said, “no… you don’t have to”, but my head said, “you knew that this was going to be an opportunity to say something if you want to so if you weren’t planning on doing it, then you obviously didn’t want to and I don’t want you to put something together at the last minute just because you feel like you have to”.  Bridezilla comment squelched, J paid the bill and we decided that the fun should not stop there!

Wedding Week Recap – After the Party is the After Party