A Cuban Rehearsal Dinner at The Columbia Restaurant

There are so many options for the rehearsal dinner. It can be a rehearsal dinner or a rehearsal lunch, it can be formal or casual, or it can be intimate or huge. I love the idea of a rehearsal dinner as a way to get all of your friends and family together before the main event in a more relaxed environment. It can be a great way to allow guests to mingle so they won’t be meeting people for the first time at the wedding, especially members of both families who haven’t yet met.

After Joe asked me to marry him, we went to a well-known local restaurant called The Columbia that has delicious Cuban food. While we were at dinner Joe said that is where he wanted to have the rehearsal dinner, and I immediately agreed. Leading up to the wedding, I looked forward to the rehearsal dinner and spending time with all of our closest friends and family; I also enjoyed that I didn’t actually have to plan anything for it. My Mother-in-Law did an awesome job and she only asked us for any preferences to food or entertainment, and all we had to do was show up. We had around 70 guests at the rehearsal dinner, mostly consisting of Joe’s huge Cuban family, of course, as well as our wedding party and other closest friends. It was so nice meeting many of Joe’s out of town family members that I hadn’t previously met. The dinner was held in a private room upstairs at The Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City.

When guests arrived, they could head to the bar and grab a delicious Mojito (Joe’s top pick) or some yummy Sangria (my top pick).

Guests enjoyed watching the creation of hand-rolled cigars at a table near the bar. Once they were rolled, they placed a “J | K” cigar label on them and guests were welcome to take them home as favors.

Along with the cigars, my Mother-in-Law had custom candy bars with pictures from our engagement session available for guests to take home. Joe still won’t let me eat the ones we have…of course.

🙁

Growing up in a Cuban family, one of Joe’s favorite traditional meals is roasted pig, so he really wanted to have it at the rehearsal. Of course, I didn’t eat any, I have a hard enough time eating meat that just comes out on my plate, forget eating meat while staring at the whole animal. But everyone enjoyed the roasted pig, along with the other sides and a yummy chicken entree that we both enjoy when we eat there. And the famous 1905 salad is an absolute must when you visit The Columbia Restaurant!

Can’t forget dessert!

Following the meal, we had a surprise visit from some Flamenco dancers who put on a great show for us and our guests. It was a lot of fun to watch and it was really cool getting our own private show.

Joe with his groomsmen

Me with my bridesmaids

At the end of the night, Joe and I said our last goodbyes before becoming husband and wife and headed to the hotel where we both were staying with our bridal parties the night before the wedding. I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend, and the rehearsal dinner was a great kickoff to our wedding weekend!

When it comes to the rehearsal dinner, don’t forget:

1. If you’re getting married soon and your parents or your in-laws have offered to host the rehearsal dinner, try not to be too involved if you don’t have to be. You have much more to worry about with the wedding itself. If anyone offers to throw you a party, you should let them throw it, as hard as it may seem. Obviously your input on food or potential locations is necessary, but leave the rest to them, I assure you they are capable of throwing a good party.

2. Even though it is not necessary by any means, it is still very polite to invite your out of town guests to the rehearsal dinner, and I would almost consider it rude not to, unless you’re having a very intimate affair with just your immediate family members and wedding parties. The rehearsal dinner will give your out of town guests a warm welcome to your wedding weekend and shows them that you truly appreciate the fact that they spent time and money to travel to celebrate you and your fiancé. This time is all about you and your soon-to-be-spouse, but if you expect someone to take time off of work (potentially), pay for a flight or gas, pay for a hotel, pay for a rental car (potentially), and a wedding gift, the least you can do is show a little hospitality and give them a meal and something to do in a different town on the night before your wedding.

If you have a restricted budget, you may not be able to invite all of your out of town guests, but you could consider having a cocktail hour instead of a full blown dinner, which would be less costly.

3. The rehearsal dinner should be a more casual preview for your wedding. You don’t want the rehearsal dinner to be nicer than the actual wedding itself. And I definitely don’t think the rehearsal dinner should be more formal than the wedding. If you’re wedding is super laid-back, and a business casual attire, you may not want to have a formal, cocktail-attire type rehearsal. It might confuse guests for the other events of the weekend. Or, if you have a 3-course meal at the rehearsal dinner, but you only plan on serving hors d’oeuvres at your wedding, guests will be completely thrown off when they get to the wedding and realize they’re going to have to go out to eat a meal after the reception.

This is supposed to be one of the most exciting times of your lives, and you can make the most of it by going with the flow and enjoying yourselves! If you have any questions or need any advice or help with your planning, feel free to leave a comment below or send me a message via the “Contact” section at the top of the page.

xoxo,

Kirsten

Photography by Carrie Wildes