Rehearsal Dinner

Tom and I are interfaith, and the journey to the altar has been more contentious than I anticipated. It's not so much that our religions clash, rather our cultures often disagree. Case in point is the rehearsal dinner. In my Swamp Yankee WASP upbringing (triple bonus points if you can identify who a Swamp Yankee is), rites of passage are often marked by small and stoic celebrations. (Or none at all. My family has a vigorous tradition of elopement that I am bucking. And indeed, the wedding is already grander than I am comfortable with or had dreamed about as a young woman.) My understanding of Tom's Russian Jewish heritage (and this is my understanding, not necessarily the reality) is that rites of passage are marked by huge festivities with way too much food. And that's a good thing, mind you, just one that takes some getting used to. I'm used to rehearsal dinners being limited to the very closest to the couple - immediate family, wedding party and spouses, and venerated elder relatives. I think this jars with Tom's side's view that seems to feel that all out of town guests should be invited, and I have spent more than a few hours in panic of finding a venue that we can afford that can hold as many people as are likely to be invited. (70% of our guests are from out of town.) Good luck, that's not a task I want. This is NYC after all.

But sometimes, I get a twinkle in my eye when I think of the rehearsal dinner as a chance to have the wedding that I wanted - you know, the casual one in a red barn in New England with twinkle lights, pies, and beer in galavanized tubs? And so I was pumped when I saw this rehearsal dinner featured on Snippet & Ink last weekend. (Definitely click on that link!) Rolling hills? Yes, please! Mexican banners? Absolutely! A pinata? Rad! BBQ? Bring it on! An awesomely vibrant color palette of red and white? Count me in!

So, here's a few thoughts. Rent out the Teatro or the Library at Columbia's Italian Academy. (Whoops...maybe we should have looked into this for the wedding. Any budget brides in NYC should consider this space.)




Have either Pisticci (our fave neighborhood Italian restaurant) cater, or serve BBQ from Daisy May's. Make these flags with slogans like, "Hooray," "Congratulations," and "Finally." Print up buttons for each guest with facts unique to them, such as "Ask me about my restored, vintage jukebox." Decorate with bunting flags or Mexican cut-outs. Use orange as the dominant color and gray for accent. And of course, have a pinata.


There's a truly great wedding photographer, Elizabeth Messina, who has just started a blog, Kiss the Groom. I was taken by her tree logo.
I've been looking for a way to incorporate trees into the wedding as they are an important symbol in Judaism, and Tom proposed with the most darling tree scuplture made out of wire. What I especially like about the Elizabeth Messina logo is the texture used to delineate the tree. Wouldn't this be perfect for the rehearsal dinner invitations?