Greenville City Club Rehearsal Dinner

When our son got engaged, we realized we would be having a wedding within 10 months of our daughter's wedding. Thankfully, sons getting married are a lot easier than daughters. A little support here and there and the rehearsal dinner. Our son requested something similar to his older brother's rehearsal dinner... high-rise with a view. There were only a couple of places with that option, so it got narrowed down quickly.

Thankfully, The Greenville City Club had recently been renovated and was available. Win-win. I had the best experience with the staff there and bonus - we were the only ones using the club that evening.

All photos by Megan Brock

The club provided gold Chiavari chairs (so exciting to those who care about the asthetic of chairs in a venue, like me), white linens and all plating. It is a beautiful place so I only added a couple of tablecloths, contrasting napkins, lamps, and flowers.

I fell in love with the sage green and white tablecloths from PPR in Greenville. It was a fun touch to add to the family tables, which I requested to be one long rectangular table instead of the round tables. The green color was used in the wedding, so it tied it all together. I also ordered nice blue-grey linen napkins with hemstitching. PPR had them all ready for pickup at the correct time and provided a drop-in bag for the dirty linens to deliver back after the event. It was a very easy rental process.

I loved designing and ordering the invitations. I chose a blue tone with gold foil accents. I will have a way to allow ordering for this style and a few others on the website soon! (I removed my phone number—don't need to have that blasted all over the web)

I used the blue colorway to make the table assignment sign, which also served as a simple welcome sign at the door of the Blue Ridge Room. The City Club is a fun place to have an event. The elevator opens up right into the club on the 17th floor. The garage provided very easy access and was reasonably priced.

One fun detail I like to add to rehearsal dinners is monogrammed napkins which the bride can keep afterward with her new last name initial on them. They look great on the family table, and then the bride gets a little gift to use in her home.

FLOWERS...I love flowers. I think they make everything more special. I love the florist I have been able to use the past year, both for my daughter's wedding and then my son's dinner. She is great.

I wanted to have some photos of the bride and groom from their engagement photo session so I decided to make table number signs with their photos. I ordered gold wooden holders and added a blue geometric shape with a text box for the numbers. It was a fun way to add great photos of them to the evening decor.

Menus aren't necessary, but they are sometimes kept as keepsakes, so I decided to make a name place card and menu to put on all of the plates. I wanted to tie in the blue color and incorporate the fonts already used on the invitation and signage. I printed them on nice cardstock, punched small holes with a hole puncher, and added a brad and gold tassel to tie them together.

The club has stunning chandeliers. They look absolutely great. I also wanted more intimate lighting for the evening, so I ordered gold table LED touch lights. They were a perfect addition to an already beautiful event space. I have already used the lights at numerous other events, so they were well worth the investment. It seems that if you play mahjong, you need to have one of these lamps as well. I've never played; maybe I'll need to try it sometime. Buy some LED touch lamps and use the warm light setting—no cold (blue) setting, please. Just no.

The food was great~ the club provides great options at a reasonable price point. I was happy to be able to offer chicken, tenderloin, and salmon as well as a salad and sides. The cheesecake was a hit, but then again, when is cheesecake not a good option?

Of course, I had gathered 400 or so photos of the bride and groom to show on the multimedia screens in the room. I always love suggesting that for rehearsal dinners. It can be a lot of work to gather and organize photos from both sides of the family, but it is worth it to watch people enjoy the finished video of the bride and groom.

I strongly suggest hiring a professional photographer to capture the night's moments. Fortunately, I had an excellent photographer who documented the entire event for us. We cherish having those photos, as they help preserve the memories long after the event is over. Make sure to get photos!

The night ended with toasts from loved ones for the bride and groom, and we shared a lot of tears and laughs together. It was a wonderful time where I was able to enjoy the details that made it special and also be in the moment- not worrying about the logistics of the evening because the club's staff took care of us so well. Too bad I don't have another child to take advantage of the great venue. I will recommend it to others though.

The goal is to think about all the small details to make the event meaningful and also to let it move along seemlessly throughout the evening so it feels naturally perfect. No timelines, no rules, but well-organized so people know it was well planned, and they feel special when they see the effort placed into the event.

Rehearsal Dinners are really a fun event to be able to plan. All the details were done out of love, and I know they were enjoyed that evening.