Wedding Blog
I’m the girl from Maine who doesn’t eat lobster, and I actually pronounce the “r” at the end of the word since I lost my accent in college! Despite all of this, I hope our guests will be excited about receiving these this week:
Pretty cute, no? All credit goes to my FMIL and the woman she worked with to design them.
We had some trouble figuring out who to invite to the rehearsal dinner. At first, Mr. Tiramisu and I wanted it to be small, inviting only our immediate family and our bridal party. I think that a small dinner followed by a meet-up later on to include out-of-town guests is a great way to go. Mr. Tiramisu’s mom, though, who is planning this event, really wanted to treat all of our out-of-town guests to an old-fashioned New England lobster bake. Since so many of our guests are from out-of-town, going this way would have excluded only a small group of guests. Which is how we ended up inviting all of our wedding guests (250) to join us the night before the wedding for a lobster bake welcome party.
I’m hoping that any added stress of such a large event will be outweighed by the positives of getting to spend more time with our traveling guests. Anyone else have a large rehearsal dinner or attend one? How did it go?
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I think it’s a great idea! It’ll be a ton of fun - and yay for York, Maine!! My husband’s grandmother lives up there and we love visiting the area all summer long!
We had our rehearsal dinner (with the wedding party and their guests) and then a rehearsal party (with all of our guests) and it was AMAZING!!!
At the end of the weekend I looked back and was so grateful for that rehearsal party because it was the start of the most incredible weekend ever. Plus, I got to hang out with people and see people that I wouldn’t have had enough time with on the actual wedding day!
Our friends did the same thing - and we loved it as guests!! They were in a similar boat - most people out of town, so they threw a big backyard BBQ and it was fantastic. As a guest it was really really wonderful to be able to spend more time with the couple, especially in a more relaxed atmosphere.
We loved it so much - we are doing the same thing! 2/3 of our guests are OOT so we are inviting everyone to a Welcome Party. My advice, keep in low key and relaxed - you aren’t trying to throw another reception!
Hi there,
A friend of mine did the exact same thing (lobster bake in Maine with the entire guest list) and it sort of felt like it was a wedding reception. People were then pretty tired for the wedding the next evening and it didn’t have the same level of excitment and energy. Also, there were only one or two speeches becuase people were intimidated to get up and say a few words. Did you consider doing a rehersal dinner for the wedding party and then welcome cocktails for everyone after? Whatever you do will be great for the two of you. Just something to consider.
So many of our guests were out of town that about half the list was at our rehearsal dinner. I would have loved to just include them all.
Our rehearsal dinner was just a fun, relaxed party, and a great chance to talk with some folks we hadn’t seen in a while. I think you’ll have a great time.
@Ryan: Ahhh that is my biggest worry, and one of the reasons I didn’t want to do a big party… but I got overruled… hopefully we can keep it more casual…. eeek!
Just incase you didn’t already notice: There is a typo.. the L in please in the first line is missing!
@Natalie: “All credit goes to my FMIL and the woman she worked with to design them.”
We didn’t have a rehearsal dinner the night before, but we had a mehndi, which is just like a big party with food, music, and henna artists. We invited everyone who was invited to the wedding and we were initially worried it would be overwhelming. But it was SO much fun and it was a great chance for my extended family and Mr. J’s extended family to mix and mingle. I thought it was a great warm-up to the big day.
Eh - that’s the type of typo that your brain just skips over and if anyone did notice it hopefully they’d just get a little chuckle out of it. Besides - it’s casual!!
We had a barbecue (pulled pork & ribs with all the fixings) for all of our wedding guests the night before our wedding. It was a great way to spend a little time with everyone in a relaxed, laid back environment. It was also a really good way for our extended families and friends to meet each other before the big day.
This very cute design is by Four Seasons, available preprinted or for your own printing from multiple sources, including InvitationBox:
http://www.invitationbox.com/fs-i381.html
The name of the design is Beach Lobster.
We also ordered our RD invitations from a standard design carried by InvitationBox. They were very fast to work with, and did a great job. They also proofread, and offer an electronic proof, for free if you have them print your order.
We are going to invite all of our wedding guests (150-200) to a welcome party the night before. It will be super casual-a dive bar with checkered tablecloths/sunflower centerpieces, a burgers, fries and coleslaw basket for all (with veggie burgers for the veggies) and a bluegrass band. I am excited to see everyone and to have more time to spend with my OOT guests (virtually the entire guest list). I think that your guests will appreciate the thoughtfulness of your invite.
Do not let this stress you out! It is your FMIL’s party to throw. If this is the kind of party she wants, then step out of it, relax and enjoy.
We will be having all of our guests at our rehearsal dinner, but all of our guests equals only about 50 people, so it’s not that big of a deal.
We opted for a casual welcome party for all of our guests the evening before our wedding and it was so much fun!
It gave a lot of guests the opportunity to meet each other which, I think, made the wedding reception that much more fun.
If you’re worried about people being too tired for the wedding, just make sure it ends early. Ours was over at 10 p.m. Of course, that didn’t mean that people weren’t at the hotel bar the rest of the night and into the morning! 
And, even then, our wedding was still lively and fun!
We just got married 3 weeks ago and had a large rehearsal dinner. Every single person (all 218) were invited to the rehearsal dinner. Out of the 165 people that attended the wedding, I’d say about 120 were at the rehearsal dinner.
I felt the same way you did up until the night of the dinner. I thought the huge “cocktail party” was going to be overwhelming and stressful. Something I didn’t need hours before the wedding. But it turned out to be really nice. It was a great way to meet everyone (since most of the invitees to the wedding were on the groom’s side) and actually get to have some nice conversations the day before the wedding. Because you don’t get to really talk to anyone at the wedding reception itself! The only thing that was a bummer was we didn’t get to thank everyone for coming and they were no speaches or anything given. There were just way too many people and everyone was having such a good time, we didn’t want to interupt the party!
Just make sure that when you feel tired and you’re ready to go…you go! I hit a wall at about 10:30 pm and hightailed it home to bed. But the groom on the other hand, stayed up way too late, drinking too much booze that night!
Oh and remember….eat something that night! There were so many people, that I forgot to eat until my bridesmaid made me a plate of food, sat me down, and made me eat! I have no regrets about that night. I’m sure you’ll have a great time!!!
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Mrs. Tiramisu, Annapolis, MD/Maine
Age and Occupation: 26, Eye Doctor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Project Manager/Real Estate Management grad student
Engagement Date: May 15, 2007
Wedding Date: July, 2008
Blogging Since: March 4, 2008
Venue: Oceanfront lawn and tent
About Me: I was born and raised in Maine, now living in Annapolis, Maryland and planning a hometown wedding from afar. I’m nothing short of obsessed with wedding planning, and am loving the do-it-yourself madness that has now taken over my life! As for me, I’m a craft-loving, martini-drinking, girly-girl who loves traveling, photography, my schnauzer, and above all, spending time with Mr. Tiramisu.
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