Beach Rehearsal Dinner

One of our latest events planned on the central coast was a rehearsal dinner.  The hostess hired us to plan the event, purchase the necessary elements and set the party up.  She came to us with the parameters that it was to be held at Avila Beach and she wanted all the food to be grilled on a stick or finger food.  The idea was simple but elegant.

Our inspiration were teal colored preserved orchids.  Summer found these online at save-on-crafts.com.  This site was a great find.  They have tons of great decor and crafts, but be prepared that what you save on the items themselves will be made up for in shipping.  We tied the napkins and silverware with a raffia bow and hot glued the orchids onto the raffia.

The plates were made of bamboo, purchased from smartyhadaparty.com.  This site has many creative options for disposable plates and serving dishes.  We used their plates for two events we planned.  The plates were such great quality we ended up washing them to use again for another party.

Burlap table runners ran down white table cloths.  The center pieces were large vases with river rocks and shells in them.  We finished the center pieces off with the sticks people were to use to roast their food.

Finally, we marked off the area using the painted PVC poles from a previous event we planned.  We strung wire across the poles and hung small jam jars with wire handles by teal ribbon.  We made the jars from wire we had in stock.  We set the event up quite a bit earlier than people were going to show up so instead of using tea lights (two hour burn time) we put votive holders into the jam jars and used a full sized votive.  The hostess of the event had some lanterns and shepherd’s hooks from her wedding and we used those to mark a path from the stairs people would come down to the area for the party.

The food table was prepared with bamboo trays of food.  We used Summer’s big drink jars to serve smores.  We tied two graham cracker halves and a piece of chocolate with kitchen twine and put those in one jar and marshmallows in the other jar.

On the other end of the table was an apothecary jar with sand and shells in it.  We provided small scrolls of paper tied with teal ribbon for people to write a wish to the bride and groom.  The bride and groom took home the jar to read at their leisure and decorate their new home.

We had so much fun planning this event.  It was fun to create it and see it come into being.  Thanks Brittney for letting us be a part of your family’s special time.  We loved it!