The Rehearsal Dinner: Part I

LOOK AT ME. Finally getting to The Rehearsal Dinner.

We’re getting there guys.

First we started with The Wedding Welcome Party…& now we’re moving to night 2: The Rehearsal Dinner.

After we woke up ( slightly hungover ) on Friday, a bunch of us met at the brunch tables. We all enjoyed watermelon mint mimosas, traditional Huevos Rancheros, fruit plates, & WATER. Like I said there were 55 people at my wedding so meeting for brunch was easy. No big deal. After brunch we immediately headed to the pool! Here was my pool look if you’re wondering…

Wedding Looks: Day 2 | Poolside

{ plum tank | plum skirt | bra chained necklace | white bikini }

I wore a purple two piece get up. Loved how it was plum because we had to stick with the theme here. Underneath I wore a L*Space white bikini to be kind of bride-ish ( plus it pushes up the girls ). AND underneath THAT I wore the gift I gave all my girlfriends for the wedding: a dainty diamond chained bra I designed especially for the girls with CAM Jewelry. This is by far one of my favorite pieces because you can wear it under anything: a bikini, a tank, even a crop top. It kind of peaks out in the perfect way.

For my hair we did a FEISTY, aggressive braid…which was FUN! I feel like Shawn, my hair stylist needs to spill the details on this one? Makeup was simple because we were poolside but definitely wore CC cream because it contains SPF 55 & has a dewey finish.

We kept the pool simple because we wanted to really go hard at night. Some details: chilled rosé filled squirt guns that said #THEBOSSTICKS, chips/guac/salsa, a little Rebelution ( LOVE their music ), & some cute rafts. Casual.

The guys of course ended up body surfing, which was HYSTERICAL. THIS PICTURE of them in the ocean needs to be framed immediately, no?

I feel like they had a few too many?

After the pool/beach it was time to get ready for The Rehearsal Dinner!

For The Rehearsal Dinner, I still wanted the story to come through.

We started feminine with baby’s breath for The Welcome Party & for the wedding I wanted to end very masculine, so I’d say The Rehearsal Dinner was something in between.

I mixed the soft flower ( baby’s breath ) with my favorite heavy flower ( the black Calla lily ) to contrast light & dark.

Thank God for Esoteric Events! I collaborated closely with Kristin, the owner, throughout the entire process & I feel like she really got my vision even though I can be a picky bitch sometimes. Highly recommend Kristin if you’re looking for a wedding that’s custom, one of a kind, OR different. She gets it.

The florals were all done by Arete Florals & as you can see, they got the vibe as well. Simple AND feisty, just how I like it. Their flowers were INSANE.

I’ll get more into the whole decor in the next post ( there are too many photos to put in one post ) but a huge shoutout to Del Cabo Event Design who did all the fabulous rentals and One & Only Palmillia who hosted the dinner on the beach.

The band played smooth jazz, Frank Sinatra, & a little bit of Bossanova.

As we listened to music we stuffed our faces with mini empanadas, chicken taquitos, guava margaritas, & spicy enchiladas. I didn’t want the food to be stuffy at all. In fact, I wanted drunk food. Food that everyone likes, you know? Simple with A LOT OF SPICY salsa options.

The drinks were flowing after dinner & we had some of our best friends talk. Everyone was laughing the entire time. That’s what was cool about our small group of 55; everyone was laughing the whole time. Nothing too serious, you know? The Nanz would have liked it that way. FUN.

After dinner/drinks/speeches my dad gifted me a vintage ring that belonged to my grandma.

He had me close my eyes. On my wrist he tied a beautiful white tulle ribbon. At the tip of the ribbon he let the ring drop on to my finger. Crazy but The Nanz’ ring fit perfect on my right ring finger. My dad is VERY special to me, like my grandma, & he had the most beautiful little speech planned.

It was really a perfect moment.

AND then? We partied. HARD! LOL.

Wedding Look: Night 2 | The Rehearsal Dinner

{ my gold dress ( another option ) | big hoops | dainty rings | patent pumps ( similar ) }

Moving right along, I wanted to do something very different outfit-wise. As you can see I opted for GOLD. LOTS OF GOLD. Really just wanted a Sharon Stone Casino moment with a slick back ponytail. I feel like the HUGE-ASS gold hoops completed the look…& for some reason these hoops are very flattering to the face ( like they lift the cheekbones kind of? ). Anyway, I’m in love. I threw on some gold dainty rings, a flirty lash, & a pair of black patent leather pumps. GOOD TO GO.

As far as the whole outfit, I did not want anything precious. I wanted feisty. The dress is low key & spicy, just how I like it. Too white would have been predictable.

( YOU SHOULD KNOW there’s a whole story behind what happened when I was wearing this outfit. Let’s just say I had kind of a buzzed DIVA night. More to come…In the meantime you can you hear Taylor’s Rehearsal Dinner speech on TSC HIM & HER Podcast. He thought it would be a good idea to reveal his penis size, amongst other things? But you have to listen to hear the whole story because I feel like it’s too much to discuss in one post ).

That’s it for now. Michael is bugging me to watch The Grinch because we just decorated our tree. He’s very traditional like that.

Per usual, I am very unprepared for the holidays & need to get my ass to the mall…also I will for SURE be whipping up some homemade potpourri tomorrow. It’s so easy AND SMELLS SO GOOD.

Ok so, prepare for PART II of this post next week. So much to share!

Hope you’re all having a great Tuesday!

lauryn, x

+ more wedding posts | The Welcome Party.

{ photos }

SHOP THE REHEARSAL DINNER LOOK: