When my brother Joey told us he and Kristen were engaged, everyone in my family became so excited for them. They have such a beautiful relationship, and I knew right away that Kristen belonged in our family. The two people who were the most excited, perhaps, were my parents. They knew he would be happy with her for the rest of his life, something that every parent wishes for their children.
But, one aspect that heightened the excitement even more so was my parents’ one and only opportunity to host a rehearsal dinner. I come from a family full of event planners. Every family get-together, no matter how small (or how large), is carefully thought about, brandishing every unique detail right down to the adorable cocktail napkins. |
Because of the size of the crowd, my mom planned the menu very carefully. My parents looked into catering options but decided that it just made more sense for us to feed everyone ourselves. My dad is famous (to our neighbors, at least) for his lasagna recipe, so he planned out 14 varieties of lasagna to serve for dinner. This was a great choice because it was easy to customize gluten-free and vegetarian options. My mom planned a delicious summer salad to go on the side. She also bought a giant chalkboard that she wanted the menu written on. I offered to write it, and I think it came out great! To read all the yummy things we served, take a peek at the photo on the right. And, check out my post if you want to make your own customized hand-scripted chalkboard project! Below are some pictures of all of the great food and drinks from the rehearsal dinner.
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My cousin Sarah and I spent the whole day before the rehearsal dinner making lasagnas, but good company and good music made the time fly by. It wasn’t supposed to be our job to make them, but my dad ended up having his hands full all day. In my family, if someone needs your help, you help them. No matter what. Even if they don’t ask you. Even if you’re hungover from the bachelorette party the night before. Even if you’d rather be playing at the lake with your cousins. If we hadn’t helped, I don’t think it would have gotten done in time. I’ve always had a ‘get things done’ attitude and I know it’s because I’m part of this amazing and hardworking family.
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And of course, we had one of the best crowds that night. Plenty of neighbors, old family friends, cousins, aunts and uncles, and of course Joey and Kristen’s wonderful friends who are just some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. It was fun getting to know some of Kristen’s family, too! I was happy I wasn’t too busy running around helping to actually relax and have some fun. Everyone looked like they had an awesome time, which is really the only thing a host could ever ask for! Oh, and plenty of people were dancing too. I’ll chalk that up to my DJ skills, thanks to the Spotify playlist Joey and I made for the party. That night was a full blue moon, so my playlist had a lot of moon songs. Check out some of the photos below of everyone celebrating the fact that Joey and Kristen were getting #MarriedToMorrow.
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