Twas The Night Before Blissness

We shared a few of the amazing-if-we-do-say-so-ourselves photos from our wedding a couple of weeks back. There are literally hundreds more, but the highlights give you a good idea of how it all shook down and we were super happy (like can't stop looking at them) with how they turned out. In the beginning we were a little skeptical of having photogs and videoogs follow us around from 10 am on, but looking through the images, we are so happy the entire day was captured in bits and pieces.

And with that experience under our belts, we thought we could totally have a reality show.

Okay, not really.

Unless someone is interested, in which case, we are totally serious....maybe...

Anyway, not only did we capture our wedding day, but we got the night before too -- our affectionately titled Non-Rehearsal Rehearsal Dinner.

You see back when initial talk of wedding planning began, we had a couple of scenarios we considered:

1. A backyard wedding

I always loved the idea of a backyard bbq wedding. Being outdoors, hanging string lights, keeping it casual and warm. Side dishes. Macaroni salad options for my macaroni-salad-obsessed husband. The idea was great. There was only one problem: The Backyard. We don't have one. So that got scratched off the list pretty early on.

2. The Block Party

Okay, so we didn't exactly have a backyard....so what? We have a front yard and a street and the ability to block it off.... Of course! We would block off the street, pop up a giant tent, hire a band and just go to town with the ultimate wedding-block-party-bbq-beerfest-bonanza.

That one almost happened.

3. The Destination Wedding

The early favorite. Get away. Get a vacation. Get someone else to plan.

It had all the makings of a truly wonderful wedding. Minus the friends, extended family and the ability to micro-manage 100 different DIY projects. Scratch!

You know us.

So in the end, we opted for #4: A cool, modern space in the River Market of KC and although there were a few stressful moments, it all came together beautifully.

But we never quite got that backyard bonanza out of our heads.

Instead of an actual rehearsal, which we were pretty confident was a waste of time, we planned a party at our house. With zero family living in the area and plenty of friends coming in from out of town, it was the perfect opportunity to welcome them to our house for the first time and celebrate with a great summer outdoor event.

The best part? Somehow I convinced my Aunt Martha to cook traditional Syrian food for 75 people. That. Was. Amazing.

The party was so much fun, although true to form we ran around like headless chickens trying to play host and hostess to 75 guests, mixing drinks, handing out bomb pops and making sure we said hello, welcome, and thank you to everyone in a timely manner. Then we switched it up to Mom & Evie mode, showering a kiddo, combing hair, reading bed time stories and tucking in, all while the party kept going on downstairs and outside.

It was perfect though. A marrying (pun intended) of ideas that we had for a summer bash that brought our friends and family into town and into our home.

And now, without further adieu, we give you a few (clearly we don't know the definition of "few") highlights of our Non Rehearsal Rehearsal Back And Front Yard BBQ-esque Bonanza Dinner: