Wed-cap: The Rehearsal Dinner

After we finished up with the rehearsal at the venue we headed over to The Fish Market restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. The place is definitely nicer than the name implies! Kristian's parents very generously offered to host the dinner which saved us a lot of money.

We had around 50 people at the R.D. which is admittedly more than I really wanted. I had wanted to have a smaller, more intimate rehearsal dinner with just the people that were actually a part of the wedding ceremony and their dates/spouses. My mother in law invited a few of her friends that were coming in from out of town for the wedding as well as Kristian's whole extended family that was invited to the wedding. Granted it was more than I wanted but since she was the one planning and paying for the event I pretty much just let her have free reign over everything including the guest list. Ultimately I enjoyed having everyone there, it was nice to be able to talk to everyone the night before since I knew we wouldn't have as much time at the reception to do so.

The food was great (though I didn't eat much due to nerves) and the drinks were flowing. My mother in law did a great job with all the decorations and setup. Kristian's uncle was kind enough to be the official photographer for the night and took over 200 pictures of the dinner. Below are just a few of my favorites.

My MIL blew up one of the pictures of us from our engagement party and framed the R.D. invitation. The flowers are extras from the flowers they used for our reception arrangements.

She had cute little shell shaped bottle openers and candy as favors for everyone.

Kristian and his mom

Shots!

After the drinks started to kick in.

We had the entire upstairs room to ourselves. The restaurant is located on King Street which is a very busy, popular street in Old Town Alexandria VA. The street is lined with cute little shops and bars and those windows gave us a great view of all the action on the street that night.

The view of the other side of the room.

Chatting with my MOH Krista and our reader Ashley and their husbands.

We had a head table which included all the bridesmaid and groomsmen and their dates. This was a similar setup to what we did at the reception.


Kristian and his groomsmen

Me and my AOII girls.

This is a picture of me giving Kristian's sister her bridesmaid gift. I gave all the girls little makeup bags full of items they may need the next day like hairspray, gum, bobby pins etc. I also gave them each a black and white damask clutch.

My bridesmaids Kelli and Colleen holding up their makeup bags. Each had a button with their first initial on the front.

I don't have any pictures of it but Kristian gave all the boys Swiss Army Knives which he knew they would all use and appreciate.

We gave our parents picture frames that had our wedding invitation wording engraved on one side and space for a wedding picture on the other.

Kristian's dad gave a very touching speech welcoming me and my family into his and telling Kristian how proud he is of him etc. His dad is a really great speaker.

This picture makes me laugh. The lady facing the camera is my mom. The lady she is talking to is a friend of my MIL. Check out the almost identical outfits. They could be twins!!

Me and Kelli...she is the girl whose baby shower I went to last weekend. She was like 5 1/2 months pregnant at the wedding.



Awww

We were given bead necklaces to wear for the night.

My mother in law did a really fantastic job putting the whole dinner together. I couldn't have been happier with how everything turned out. I just wish I hadn't been so anxious that I could have enjoyed all the amazing food.

After the dinner we went back to the hotel where I proceeded to get very little sleep.

What did/will you do for your rehearsal dinner?