Rehearsal dinner...

I mentioned in my last post that one of the reasons we cleaned out the barn was because we were planning to host my brother's and, now, sister-in-law's rehearsal dinner. I have to admit that I was really, really nervous about the whole thing. I knew that we'd get the space cleaned out, but I worried that the barn would be stinky and that 30 people would be grossed out to hang out in there (particularly if it rained, which it did). Frankly, I was more worried about this dinner than our own wedding and spent the whole day running around like a lunatic. I absolutely LOVE to throw parties and, several times throughout the day, I had to stop and remind myself that we were just throwing a little party.

The morning was spent with my mom and aunts, cutting hydrangeas from our garden for the wedding centerpieces. I added mallow, daisies, hosta, and lavender to this bouquet for the party and plopped the whole thing on top of an old beer crate. We used little, vintage Jello molds as candleholders...an idea that I stole from one of my besties (shout out to Sage!).

Our ring toss game was at the ready.

The wedding colors were shades of blue, so I tried to mimic that theme for the rehearsal dinner. The blue tiki torches came from The Party Store...yes, I know I'm a freaking spaz.
PRH's wood shop is on the other side of these curtains. I used a tension rod to hang them and hide all of the dirty tools. The curtains are from Pier One and they used to hang in our old playroom.

This old wood swan came from the first apartment PRH and I shared. We found it buried in the garden and had it hanging in our bedroom for years.

I didn't realize how many jars we'd found in the barn until they were all on the beams. This is how many we had after loaning several cases of old mason jars to my sister-in-law for the wedding centerpieces!

My friend Laura had come over the night before the rehearsal to drop off beeswax candles/more mason jars (I'm a freak and didn't think that I had enough). We stayed up late drinking beer and eating chips, which was exactly what I needed. Fun! These gorgeous candles were from Laura's wedding and were hand-made by a local artist. They smell SO good!

Because I was a bit worried about burning down the barn, I used fake candles for most of the mason jars. The six jars in the middle of this photo have real candles and the rest had fake ones. My uncle said he spent a good twenty minutes turning off all of the fake candles at the end of the night. I find that kind of hilarious.

I was intent on making some sort of bunting to hang in the barn. I cut an old sheet into pieces and then kind of knotted it together. It wasn't my finest crafting moment, but whatever, right? It looked...rustic?

Here's what the barn looked like that evening. Instead of getting all fancy with the s'mores like I did last year, I tossed the sticks and marshmallows on a nail and let people help themselves.

After a crazy, rainy morning the weather broke and everyone had a fabulous time- red wine and lots of beer definitely helped that along a bit. Here's a shot of my brother and his lovely bride- they're a fabulous couple!

And here's a shot of Kicky downing marshmallows like it was her job. As opposed to flower girl, she insisted on being called the 'plant giver'. This little dress came from Target (on sale for $5)- can you believe that?! So cute! I like that she looks kind of Gatsby in this photo.

Even Kicky's sidekick, Abbey Doll, got dressed up! The dress and headband helped grubby Abbey look semi-presentable at the wedding. My sister-in-law is smart and thoughtful. Doesn't my dad look thrilled to be holding Abbey?

The rectangular pit on the right is a BBQ pit that PRH and my youngest brother constructed that morning. Dinner was really, really good (thanks, Johnny!). The guys spent the night playing horseshoes and drinking beer.

Here's EZ E schooling the boys in horseshoes. The orange shorts and frog boots were the perfect combination. The guy on the right is my youngest brother- he gave the BEST toast at the wedding.

The girls spent the night chatting and drinking beer.

My sister-in-law (in the middle) with two of her bridesmaids. She has sweet friends!

You know what? I shouldn't have worried so much. The barn cleaned up nicely and everyone had a great time. There was a lot of laughter and bear hugs- I'm honestly not even sure what time everyone left. The best part? It all led up to a beautiful, AMAZING wedding!