Rehearsal Dinner

So other than the wedding itself, the only event we have to plan is the rehearsal dinner. We were forced to put planning this off for two reasons. One, the venue we are using has a rehearsal as part of the package, and we didn't schedule that with them until a couple of weeks ago. Two, my dad is very restricted on when he can come into town because of work, so we needed to wait until his flight was booked to plan the wedding.

Well we did the floral and first meeting with the venue a couple of weeks ago, and we now know that my dad will land in ATL at 11A on the Friday before the wedding. Our rehearsal starts at 2, so we pick up my dad and drive straight to Acworth. After that, at 3, we will have our 'dinner'.

Picking a place for the dinner had to include a lot of considerations, not the least of which was location. We wanted to have somewhere nearby the venue, and in addition because none of us are familiar with Acworth, having somewhere easy to get to from the venue was also a well intended desire. We lucked out! We tired a BBQ place by the venue, literally down the street on the left, and loved it.

JD's BBQ is delicious! When we told them we were hoping to have our rehearsal dinner there they offered us samples so we could try more sides, and they were brilliant. The bbq, the ocra, the greens, the cole slaw, the everything. All of it amazing. Not to mention that the serving sizes are huge.

After eating there we knew for sure they were a place to go, and our waitress let us know that the manager that would plan and work with us wasn't in yet, but would be in a couple of hours. So I called back in a couple hours later and she really was a delight to work with.

We chose two meats (pulled pork and chicken), two sides (green beans and cole slaw because, no matter how much I loved the greens and ocra, they're food that many people don't like and we want everyone to enjoy the meal), chopped salad, and desert (banana pudding, but I know Bradley probably wants to change that). In addition to this she is going to decorate the table with flowers, and drinks are included.

I love the decoration of the restaurant, and since the patio is outside we'll be able to take Batman with us, as long as it doesn't rain. She's going to use mason jars for the flowers, and an eclectic set of dishes that I am so excited about. Bradley doesn't like flowers or eclectic dishes, but he doesn't care at all because he just loves BBQ. This isn't to say that I'm steamrolling, however, as the dishes are simply what they use. They're going to set us up on picnic benches, put together so it's one long table, and serve the food family style. It's an amazing meal planned and I am so excited, especially when the rehearsal has even less people than the wedding, so it really is just close family and friends.

In another post I mentioned that I decided against getting a dress just for the rehearsal dinner. This was for a lot of reasons. To start, a bbq dinner doesn't really lend itself to dresses and slacks. It's going to be a more jeans and t shirt affair, though nicer shirts than Bradley's "I'm done adulting for today". Not to mention that my dad will literally be going from airplane to rehearsal, so it'd be a little inconvenient for him if he needed to wear slacks. Finally, it seemed like an extra expense for me to get a dress as I don't currently have one that would work.

In wedding planning there are a lot of extra things written out like you need them. New shoes, rehearsal dress, extra reception dress, professional makeup, DJ- all things that some people want/desire/need, but not everyone. Every wedding is different, and I'm finding that for us, some things we just don't need. A new dress for the rehearsal dinner cost money we'd rather spend on our honeymoon, for me to get better makeup for the day of, or for Bradley to get a nicer trimmer for his beard.

Everyone going to the rehearsal is updated, and it's nice to have it already planned. It was so easy to work with the manager at JD's, and everything worked out nicely. I'm certain that this will be a great meal and time to celebrate with my most immediate family and friends.

One month and 15 days until the wedding.