Puerto Rican Influenced Rehearsal Dinner

Our team loves creating fun, different events….especially when we get to use cultural influences. Recently we had the opportunity to design a fun Puerto Rican themed rehearsal dinner in San Diego, California. The location was the Loews Coronado Bay Resort on Coronado Island. Our backdrop was the beautiful Pacific Ocean and the Coronado Bridge. The groom’s mother is originally from Puerto Rico and she wanted to have a Latin flare for her son’s rehearsal dinner to bring in their heritage. The setting could not have been more perfect and all the touches we added made it special and unique. Kathy Wright and Co. transformed the area into a tropical oasis.

We wanted to bring in special touches that would stand out and make the event extra special for the bride, groom and family. Instead of a normal guest book, guests took pictures with a Polaroid camera, filled in information about where they had traveled from to be with the couple, cute stories they had about the bride or groom and advice for the couple. One touch that was special to the groom was using his late grandmother’s Puerto Rican recipes for some of the items on the menu. She would spoil her grandchildren with her cooking and as a surprise we were able to give the chef at the Loews the grandmother’s recipes. The groom said, “it was like she was here with us, and the food tasted just like hers…made with love”. We also incorporated a specialty drink to fit the theme of the event and they were styled with cute stir sticks. The stir sticks were imprinted with the name of the specialty drink. One of our favorite sites to get stir sticks, napkins, coasters and other items to personalize your event is www.foryourparty.com. For the favor at the end of the evening, we created a ‘garden of love’ with tropical cookie flowers. Within the wheatgrass we tucked hibiscus, orchid and plumeria shaped cookies. Bags and stickers were provided that said ‘Buenas Noches’, which means Good Night in Spanish.

When planning your wedding, rehearsal dinner or any event, make sure you have little surprises throughout the night. Also, incorporate anything that is special to you, like fun recipes that are family secrets, or traditions that are from your culture.

Happy Planning!!