The Pink Elephant: Marie & Jason's Wedding Weekend: Part 1

We just wrapped up a wonderful wedding weekend celebrating my new sister-in-law Marie and brother-in-law Jason. Everything was perfect! I'm breaking up the recap into a few posts and starting with the rehearsal dinner since that's the event I helped create.

The rehearsal dinner was held at the Merrimon-Wynne house in downtown Raleigh - can't recommend it enough for events.

As a little gift for the bride and groom, I had koozies made with a sketch of the house. (Spyglass Promotions here in Raleigh helped me with these and were so easy to work with and better prices than online sites I found).

The food was a "southern supper" and included some of the bride and groom's favorites - BBQ, fried chicken, mac & cheese, string beans, cole slaw, potato salad, banana pudding, hush puppies, ham biscuits -- and of course cut up fruit. (Invitation from Charlotte's in Raleigh)

The sweetest bride and groom of all time! These are two of the most giving and kind individuals I have ever met. I couldn't be happier for them!

The matchmakers (Rachel and I) with bride and groom

Jean (my darling MIL) and I brainstormed together and worked on the rehearsal dinner ideas for a few months. We knew we wanted black & white and to tie in produce since the groom sells fruit and veggies for a living. We decided to keep it simple and go with only using granny smith apples. The simple, but elegant color scheme ended up being so gorgeous in the house and we had so much fun doing the flower arrangements, apple place cards and getting it all set up. I will say - we learned that event planning, while a rewarding creative outlet, is also exhausting! Thank goodness we enlisted a few of her friends, Rachel and had a VERY patient baby who happily hung out with us for 5+ hours while we worked away.

Jodi is the adorable owner of the M-W house. I am so impressed with how she transformed this historic Victorian home - preserving it's history & character, while bringing it into the 21st century with a clean backdrop for clients to bring their visions to life. Many times these historic event spaces can feel like you are in your granny's house - not this one!