

Obviously, I’m looking forward to my wedding day, but what I’m really excited about is the day before the wedding! Since we only recently moved to Vancouver, most of our guests haven’t seen where we live, so we’ve decided to do a BBQ/housewarming /rehearsal dinner! All of our guests will be invited.

Weddings, I realize, are about more than just the bride. Of course there is the oft-overlooked groom to consider, but Mr. Tiramisu almost always graciously takes a backseat when it comes to wedding decisions. This leaves just: the family. Oh yes, just the family.

You may recall that the wonderfully talented Alison Conklin so beautifully captured my mom’s sweet wedding in February. Alison’s photos were fabulous, un-posed, natural, and simply lovely.
Mr. Cupcake’s parents will graciously be hosting our rehearsal dinner, so the research started many months ago to find the perfect location. FMIL Cupcake is eternally excited about all of the wedding details, so it has been fun to have her involved in this aspect of the festivities.
I have mentioned that Mr. Cupcake and I are both old souls, and we adore old places with an antique vibe and lots of character. His mom decided to focus on finding a place that was an old Inn or had an Inn type of atmosphere for the RD. In historical Chester County, Pennsylvania, this isn’t too difficult of a task! It was just a matter of finding the right one. Mr. Cupcake is also a major history buff, so he really liked the idea of having our rehearsal dinner at a place with some history.
After lots and lots of Googling, emailing restaurants for menus and specifics, and asking around, we narrowed our search down to a great place called The Ship Inn in Exton, PA.

We’re having our rehearsal dinner double as a Chinese banquet dinner at this restaurant in Richmond. His family took us out for lunch there and in a very un-dimsum-like-but-totally-me-fashion, I got my very own plate of chow-fan Chinese canneloni while everyone else ate happily from all the other dishes on the table.

Hey y’all, Mrs. Magnolia here… still sick, and still waiting on professional pics. Our photographers told me on Monday that the pics were at the lab, so I should have them by the end of the week! Man, I can’t wait. Just yesterday, my Matron of Honor sent me a link to the pictures from her little brother’s wedding… which was two weeks after ours!
In the meantime, we’re going to talk about our rehearsal dinner. My in-laws decided to plan a seated dinner, since we would be having a buffet at the wedding reception. After debating several venues, including the Piedmont Room and Ansley Golf Club, they settled on 103 West.
103 West is a private event facility in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, managed by an upscale restaurant group. Both Mr. Magnolia and I had attended several work-related functions there, so we had no doubt that the food was fantastic. Initially, though… I had some reservations about the decor. Maybe it’s just because I tend to be more traditional, but the upstairs of 103 West has never appealed to me:

Our wedding is fairly elaborate for having only three months in the planning stages. And I will admit to being stressed (that is code word for going slightly crazy). However, I knew this was coming. From the moment we decided that our absolute maximum engagement length would be four months, I knew by the end I would be tired.
Which is why I have been standing my ground on my rehearsal dinner plan. I knew exactly what I wanted from day one… actually before that - I knew before Mr. Robin ever proposed.
Here is a vision of my perfect rehearsal dinner:

(center image from Banana Republic)