Sunday, October 21, 2007

Rehearsal Dinner #2

After finishing up Rehearsal Dinner #1 for the wedding party and guests, we all headed to Newport Vineyards for Rehearsal Dinner/Party #2.

This party was more of a welcome party for all of our out-of-town guests...which, since we aren't from Newport, was pretty much everyone! We were very fortunate that Mr Corn's parents provided both rehearsal dinner options for us. They had recently hosted the rehearsal dinner for his brother's wedding in December where most of the guests had attended since they were also all from out of town, so they recognised the benefits of having an event the night before the wedding for all of the guests to start to get to know each other.

When we pulled up into the parking lot, there were already a bunch of our guests gathered outside. I can barely express how great it was to get out of the van and be immediately surrounded by such warmth and love from so many of my close friends and relatives; many of which I had not seen in a long, long time.

We all headed inside the Winery. The dinner itself was held in a tent that is out the back of the building. It accommodated all 73 of us and it opened up onto a grass courtyard surrounded by the vineyard.


I actually didn't eat much at the 2nd rehearsal dinner, but there were several stations around the room and plenty of food. There was an Asian noodle bar; a kebab bar with beef, salmon and chicken kebabs; and the highlight of the evening, a mashed potato bar! They served up the mashed potatoes in martini glasses and then there were all sorts of toppings; real bacon, sausage, chives, guacamole, sour cream, cheese and at least three other options.

The wine was all very, very good and while our event was going on, they were also providing our guests with tastings and mini-tours of the winery.

After dinner was over, they put out a gorgeous dessert buffet with a brittle bar...almond, pecan, peanut, etc. Soooo very, very yummy. Soon after that, Mr Corn's dad got up and said a few words about Mr Corn and I and thanked everyone for coming. Since Mr Corn is such a HUGE NY Yankee fan (I know, we live in Boston, it's a travesty!) his mom and I had gotten him a Yankee cake as his groom's cake. It was presented to him while his dad tried to get him to wear a Red Sox hat!


The whole evening was absolutely wonderful. I even loved the ridiculously embarrassing slide show of old pictures of the two of us that ran on a large screen TV the entire night. The food was catered by Blackstone Caterers and was all very, very yummy.

Many of our guests commented that the rehearsal party was even better than some weddings they had been to. I highly, highly recommend Newport Vineyards for a rehearsal dinner or wedding reception. The staff was wonderfully attentive and the evening was absolutely magical!

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