It was on this day last year that Zac and I headed out to Wolf Lakes Park with our families and bridal party for our wedding rehearsal. We were both very excited that the time had finally come to get this show on the road.
The rehearsal went very smoothly and ended pretty quickly. After the it was over, Zac and I had invited our clan back to our home for a backyard fiesta themed rehearsal dinner.
Zac had worked hard to get the back dock completed over the last few months. The cement had been poured, the pond was finished, and the seating had been built. On their last visit, Zac's parents had brought up this amazing sign as a gift for the area. The "Zac & Cristina's Cantina" sign went perfectly in the space!
We had set up a few tables and chairs in the backyard with bright yellow linen, sombrero centerpieces, and bright multi-colored floral arrangements.
All of the decorations, including the multi-colored lanterns that were hung from the awning, doubled as decor for the post wedding day brunch on Saturday. As Saturday was Cinco de Mayo we thought that it would only be fitting to have a fiesta theme for the event. Making the rehearsal dinner the same theme we were able to get all of the decor and set up complete the day before the wedding and it was all still in place and looking great for the brunch two days later. We knew that we might be a little tired after the wedding so keeping set up minimal for the brunch was fantastic!
At the dinner we all had time to relax a little and enjoy some food and margaritas. Zac and I also gave out some gifts to our bridal party, officiant, and parents.It meant so much to have all of these people participate in our day. All but two people from our bridal party live out of town so we felt pretty lucky that they could all make it to the rehearsal.
For my girls, I had large men's button down white shirts embroidered on the pocket with their initials. They wore these shirts while getting ready the next day along with a pair of boxer shorts that I included in their gift bags.
They also received personalized wooden hangers that I made for their dresses. The hangers went pretty well with the "Mrs. Chapman" hanger I had ordered from Etsy for my own dress.
The parents received frames. Zac is the last one in his family to get married. We thought that his parents would love a frame filled with photos from all of the weddings in their family. The first photo was from their wedding, followed by a photo of his sister Sarah's wedding, a photo from his brother Eric's wedding, and a blank spot ready for a photo from our wedding. From their faces when the gift was opened, we think they liked it.
I am the first one in my family to get married and my parents don't have any photos from their wedding so our gift to them was a little different. My mom is quite the picture lady and we knew that she would want to display a bunch of pictures from our wedding as soon as possible. We left 3 of the 4 spots open for her to fill as she desired. In the first spot we placed a printed saying: "Today a bride, tomorrow a wife, always your little girl."
The rehearsal evening was a fun night and made Zac and I both pretty excited for the next day. We're so glad that everyone from our bridal party and both of our families were able to make it out that evening to share in the rehearsal and enjoy some yummy fiesta food. We were also super grateful that our videographers from Ahwahnee Films, were able to capture the whole night.
Once the sun set and the night came to an end I said goodbye to Zac as he headed to the hotel with his groomsmen since the girls and I had a bridesmaid slumber party planned at the house. I had a difficult time sleeping that evening. I was far too excited for the next day.
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