You're My Everything: Dinner and Drinks

Finally, it was time for to celebrate the rehearsal with the rehearsal dinner!  Mr. Snow Cone's parents, together with Clark's Corner Store, pulled off what will easily go down in history as the best rehearsal dinner ever.  We had some tasty little appetizers to start the evening off, as featured below.

 Photo from BM E

The biggest hit of the pre-dinner munchies, though, had to be a little gem tucked away in this photo:

See that in the bottom left corner?  That's right, the pizza.  We had quite the spread of delicate finger foods to whet our guests' appetites, but the title of favorite appetizer would have to go to the pizza.  There's a hole-in-the-wall pizza joint in Johnstown that Mr. Snow Cone loves.  Try as he might, he hasn't found anything comparable in Pittsburgh yet, so most trips back to Johnstown involve a trip to his beloved Santo's Pizza.  When it came time to plan out the rehearsal dinner menu, including the pizza as a little nod to Mr. Snow Cone and Johnstown-specific cuisine was really a no-brainer.  I was a little skeptical, admittedly, since Santo's isn't my personal favorite, but judging by the rate of pizza disappearance, I think I was wrong.

During cocktail time, our guests got a chance to check out our personalized wedding map, a definite labor of love.  To be honest, I didn't hear a peep of feedback on it, minus my Grandpa, who is a total map-head.  He's not one to gush over most things, but he seemed to be fascinated and really impressed with the map.  Even though that was the only direct comment I got, that comment was enough for me to feel validated in pursuing this beast of a project!

Above four photos by Christina Garber

For dinner, everyone scooted into the backyard to the tent that served as headquarters for the dinner buffet of surf and turf.

Photo from BM E

I can't fully describe how nice it was to have the dinner in my family's backyard.  It was comfortable and familiar while still being appropriately formal and special.  All of our guests seemed to really dig the setting, too.  Not to toot our horn, but I haven't hear a less than glowing remark about the entire affair (toot toot).  It was the absolute perfect way to kick off our official wedding festivities!

The cool kids table (duh)

Photo from BM J

The coolest kids at the cool kids table (double duh)

A far less cool table (just kidding!  Hi, family members!)

Remember that special, personalized beer some groomsmen brewed, labeled, and transported?  

 Photo from BM B

Apparently, it was delicious.  Sophisticated palettes and new beer drinkers alike couldn't stop raving about it.  Suffice it to say, it didn't last very long into the evening.

 MOH H digging the beer

Photo from BM J

But don't worry, we had libations for the non-beer drinkers, as FIL Snow Cone and Dad Snow Cone are demonstrating below.

Photo from BM E

As awesome as the rehearsal dinner was, the fun didn't stop there.  Because, lest you forget, after the party, there's the after (birthday) party!

All photos from FIL Snow Cone unless otherwise noted

• We spent a low-key night with some of my friends and family.
• We ran some errands and received some one-of-a-kind brewskies.
• I had a moderate-sized freak-out at the rehearsal.
• I went toe-to-toe with the priest over a few significant details.
• We expressed our gratitude to our bridal party, without any tears (almost)!