Rehearsal Dinner Deets

People have described to me the moment that it finally hits them, the OMG feeling that tells them that Yep, this is really happening...When did I have that feeling? My fiance and I were sitting at our spots at the altar of our church during our ceremony rehearsal and we looked at the faces of our wedding party sitting in the pews. We both turned and looked at each other.

Yikes! We're getting married!!! And it feels sooo good!

We scheduled our rehearsal dinner the Thursday evening before our wedding, giving us all of Friday for any last minute prepping -- which we definitely needed. We planned a lowkey, casual backyard get-together after the rehearsal.

The rehearsal dinner invites I made using a free template from Download & Print, free 4X6 prints from Snapfish, leftover envelopes from our Save the Dates and leftover cardstock from our invitations. Cost for 22 invites plus postage: $10. 

Our church coordinator did a thorough job going through each step of the ceremony, which was a Catholic ceremony without communion.

It's starting to sink in...

Feeling the excitement!

But the rehearsal went much longer than expected. We ended at 7:30 p.m. and our rehearsal dinner was scheduled at 7:30 p.m. We still needed to drive to our family's house to get the backyard ready for the dinner! We invited other guests who didn't need to be at the ceremony rehearsal so we had to get there as soon as possible.

But of course there was bumper to bumper traffic moving at a glacial speed on the 210 freeway. Oh, LA traffic, must you rear your ugly head now???

Despite being nearly an hour late, our rehearsal dinner was still a fun, casual affair at our house.

We used our own tiki torches and my father-in-law borrowed tables and chairs from his work.

For centerpieces and added lighting, my mother-in-law gathered old candles from around her house. It added a nice ambiance to the evening.

The food was a mixture of home-cooked Filipino food, catered Chinese food and grilled short ribs.

Saying thanks to our wedding party. Yep, that's me wearing a silk Chinese top in traditional red and gold, in honor of my fiance's cultural heritage. My guy's wearing a traditional Filipino barong, in honor of my Filipino family.

It was a lovely evening with both of our families coming together and getting to know each other.  And yes, the rehearsal dinner was part of our wedding budget. Including the food, drinks, utensils and all decorations for a dinner to feed 30 people, we spent $230.

Next up: Getting ready for the big day!