These days, the wedding celebrations start long before anyone even gets to the church to say “I Do,” inclusive of welcome parties, cocktail hours and rehearsal dinners.
Of all the events on your pre-wedding calendar, your rehearsal dinner should be a time for you and your hubby-to-be to relax, let loose and enjoy a pre-celebration with your family and closest friends. Here are three ideas for modern theme parties that center around delicious food, tasty beverages and, most importantly lots of fun!
Southern-Style BBQ
Backyard barbecues often bring to mind hot dogs, hamburgers and checkered tablecloth decor, but the food and the theme have a great deal of potential to bring both summer fun and southern sophistication to your rehearsal dinner. If you have managed to secure an outdoor venue with lots of open space, you are perfectly set up to host your bridal party, family and closest friends with southern eats and treats.
What To Eat: Think outside the hamburger box! If you have experts manning the grill, the possibilities are truly endless. Steak and BBQ chicken are an excellent place to start with the meats, while ribs are the epitome of BBQ and can be fixed to your liking on the grill or in a smoker. Choosing grilled romaine for the salad will surprise and delight and, as for the sides, corn on the cob and brussels sprouts can also be cooked over the coals. Everything on the menu is rooted in southern comfort, but steering clear of pulled meats and potato salads gives you a fancier feel; guest can sit down for a plated dinner after mingling during the preparation.
What To Drink: No matter your drink of choice, there are plenty of ways to up the ante in the beverage department. Set up a bourbon bar so your guests can sip swanky spirits as the grill masters go to work and offer signature libations and bottled beer from a local brewery. As for non-alcoholic drinks, have the bar mix up uniquely flavored lemonades, like strawberry rhubarb or blackberry basil, and offer sodas in old school glass bottles.
Decor Must Haves: Keep your decor simple and let the food and outdoor setting work their magic. Incorporate small elements that give a nod toward your theme, like placing chalkboard name cards at each seat or stocking tin bins with your glass bottle sodas.
Mexican Fiesta
Tacos aren’t just for trucks or Tuesdays, they are also the perfect food for a pre-wedding fiesta! With upscale ingredients, inventive recipes and more modern, tropical decor, tequilas and tacos are the new news in rehearsal festivities.
What To Eat: Tacos are a must at any fiesta, but for your pre-big day party serve them up with a twist. Whether you opt for a build your own taco bar, serve them family style at the table, or sit down for a plated meal, choose to fill your shells with creative combinations like steak, poblano peppers and mushrooms, blackened chicken and avocado, Baja fish with citrus slaw or sweet potato, blacks beans and goat cheese. While these scrumptious tacos are sure to steal the show, don’t forget about the guacamole and salsas for dipping. Offer an array of sweet and spicy salsas, like mango jalapeño, pineapple, or habanero lime, while getting inventive with the guac by serving a traditional version alongside a crab or pomegranate concoction.
What To Drink: Margaritas are as synonymous with a Mexican fiesta as the tacos themselves, but there is no need to stick to the original here either. Instead, infuse your unique party theme into your beverages by offering a margarita that matches back to your menu or decor. A pineapple, mango or pink pomegranate margarita add a special touch and are a delicious treat. In case not everyone is on the tequila train, stock the bar with a beer brewed in Mexico or fruit-infused sparkling water.
Decor Must Haves: For a fresh take on the fiesta, try incorporating gilded pineapples and palm leaves instead of cacti and sombreros. Also, for fun and flair, pick up a gold glittered letter piñata to display your soon-to-be new initial.
Woodfired Pizza Party
Friday night pizza night is getting an upgrade! Flatbreads from a brick oven are the centerpiece for an upscale, yet relaxed Italian soiree. Add in loads of deliciously themed sips and snacks and you and your guests will be celebrating your impending nuptials with Napoli’s finest offerings. Buona notte!
What To Eat: It’s a pizza party, so the main event is pizza, pizza and more pizza! However, your rehearsal dinner is the time to rent a brick oven and provide delectable, unexpected toppings for fanciful flatbreads. Set up a pizza bar, with pies as far as the eye can see and ingredients ranging from mushrooms and truffle oil to grilled pork belly and ricotta or lobster and brie. Take your Italian-inspired soiree to the next level by pairing your pizzas with infamous Italian appetizers, like marinated olives, artisan cheese boards, brussels and beets, mozzarella and tomato skewers or even wood-fired oysters.
What To Drink: Certain things are just meant for each other in life, like you and your soon-to-be husband or pizza and wine! Stock the bar with a variety of Italian wines that your guests can pair with their pizza or create a wine tasting station for pre-dinner sipping, snacking and chatting. Add in a classic Italian beer, like Peroni, and sparkling Pellegrino for a refreshing non-alcoholic option and your perfect pizza party bar is set.
Decor Must Haves: With tables full of pizzas and towering cheese boards, little decor is needed to finalize your Italian fete. Use cafe lights to invoke an Italian piazza. Simple votives and candles will give your venue that Venetian cafe-feel and soft ambiance.
Most importantly, remember to have fun with your rehearsal dinner and choose a theme or plan a party that is truly fitting for your personality, allowing you and your groom to have some fun with the people who mean the most!
Style Me Pretty Contributor – Katie Patton is a merchant and freelance writer from Ohio, currently residing in Celebration, Florida with her fiancé. When she isn’t working you can find her sipping and snacking on a patio, traveling to see her friends and family, endlessly scrolling Instagram or Pinterest and, of course, planning her own upcoming wedding!