A Napa Fairytale: Rehearsal Dinner

After washing away a slight setback with some V. Sattui Early Harvest White Riesling, we were back on track and headed to Pizzeria Tra Vigne with our wedding party and honored guests in tow.

A gourmet pizza buffet was laid out for us and the wine was flowing. Sadly, I don't have many photos because my camera spent the weekend in Mr. Barrettes' golf bag. Luckily I did have an aunt with a camera and she snapped a few good shots of the evening!

Lost in a pleasant thought.

Two of my pretty bridesmaids, who are sisters and also my cousins.

Mom Barrettes enjoying her muscat.

After dinner, Mr. Barrettes gave a quick speech and made sure to introduce everyone. Then it was time to pass out our gifts! I was so proud of my wrap jobs and I loved handing out my pretty boxes with purple (for the ladies) and black (for the men) satin bows. I'm really bummed I never took a photo of all the wrapped gifts, but you'll just have to trust me on this one. 

There was one gift I left out until the end. It was big and it never got wrapped. I managed to purchase paper and bows to wrap it but never managed to find the time. It would be okay...he would understand. My Man of Honor had done a lot for me. He'd gifted me 2 white dresses, he would make my hair pretty, helped pick out the venue, entertained me during Mr. Barrettes' bachelor weekend, and was my all-around go-to guy. He needed something special. I made a little speech and gave him this:

His house is full of gorgeous, unique, and sometimes fascinating wall hangings. I knew this needed to be his when I spotted it on One Kings Lane late one night. I mean, come on, the wine theme, the 2 male waiters, the word UNION... it was the perfect gift to thank him for being my MOH. One extra special bonus: Mr. Barrettes made the frame by hand back in Ukiah.

He cut the wood, mitered it together, recessed the frame to hold the glass and then backed it with 1/8' backing board. It was heavy, but it was awesome. MOH originally thought he would drive up to Napa from LA in a Winnebago so that he could bring his dogs and that plan fit well with my plan to give this to him. I was bummed when he told me he was flying in for the weekend, but I imagined we'd figure it out. We did!

Dinner wound down, night settled on Napa, and it was time to say goodbye to our guests. We weren't done yet, oh no, we still had one more event to attend-- we planned an after dinner meet-up with our friends from out of town. We mustered up a second wind and set off to Compadres Rio Grille...