On the Thursday night before the wedding, we invited our parents and the wedding party to do a rehearsal out at our venue, followed by a delicious dinner put together by Garrett’s family.
It ended up being a great chance to us to unwind with drinks and yummy food, while catching up with everyone.
We did the dinner at the Windfall Ecology Centre in the Sheppard’s Bush Conservation Area in Aurora, Ontario. It’s a beautiful 5000 sq ft home built in 1920 and was the original home of the Sheppard family before if was donated to the Ontario Hertiage Trust in 1972. The kind folks there let us take over their first floor for the night. It’s such a lovely building with big thick moldings and gorgeous fixtures, surrounded by a 58 acre heritage estate. If you’re in the York Region area, be sure to check out their Windfall Ecology Festival coming up on June 7th and 8th!
It ended up being the perfect space, with room for an extra long table with everyone around it.
We tried to keep it as eco-friendly as possible, using the old fashioned dishes and cultery from the house, along with my mom’s green fabric napkins (which we’ve used for events, weddings and family parties). Garrett’s parents picked up some amazing food from the same caterers who did the wedding – chicken parmesan, roasted red potatoes, lasagna (meat and vegetarian) and big salads. We all left stuffed, with plenty of leftovers to keep us fueled for the next few busy days.
This was the first time I’d had all the bridesmaids together since the bridal shower. It was so great that they were all able to make it.
Garrett’s groomsmen were all there too, including my little brother (second from the right), who isn’t looking so little anymore.
It was a great night and the perfect way to kick off our wedding weekend with everyone who had been helping us so much. Looking back at these photos, it’s hard to believe this was less than a week ago! Time has just flown by and I’m glad I made an effort to really live in the moment – and that I remembered to take some pictures too 🙂
What a beautiful venue. And the food looks so yummy!