Rehearsal Dinner at Ruby Palace

Did everyone have a wonderful Christmas?

I did, it was completely fantastical. Unfortunately I seem to have the flu. I hope it doesn't last long because I have approximately 243 things to do before New Zealand. But B made me some chicken noodle soup and I had this post already in the works so I had a bit of rest! I'm sure I'll feel better in no time.



I'm going to share a few pictures from the rehearsal. I totally forgot to hand my camera off to someone and so it sat there sad and lonely for majority of the rehearsal.

But someone did pick it up and snap a few pictures, so thank you!



The ringbearers and flower girls. This was the first time they met and they were instantly connected. The two on the ends are B's nieces and nephews, the two in the middle are mine.



It didn't take long for the 2 boys to separate and very quietly wiggle their way around the altar.



Things on the girls side are looking more mellow... and boring. Or is it depressing? Sad? Is there something on the floor?



With all the hustling around and direction giving B gravitated to the place he felt most comfortable.



My favorite part was when the wedding coordinator (a very serious, stern woman) was doing a role call of sorts and looked around and said "Where is the groom?!"

Then we all giggled because he was sitting behind her in the designated kids area. The look on his face is the general look of anyone being spoken to by the coordinator.



Here is my mom and Cassidy. I know you see her all the time but you see, she is the only child that will let me take her picture. The other ones are too busy moving around all the time. So its not that I have favorites, I just take control of the ones too little to run away.

Besides, she goes to absolutely everyone so she gets passed around constantly and everyone wants a picture with her.



Oh but here is the part of the post I couldn't wait to share.

This is the rehearsal dinner that B planned all by himself. He knew exactly what he wanted.



We went to Ruby Palace in Huntington Beach and had a 8 course Chinese Banquet. Its traditional for this type of event



Here you see most of what was on the Cold Appetizer Plate. Starting clock-wise with the scary greenish looking blob in the back: 1,000 year egg (surprisingly it tastes like egg only soft and creamy in the middle and jelly-ish on the outside. A lot of people tried this and it got rave reviews. I had to close my eyes. I'm a visual eater), honey walnuts, roast beef, shrimp, chicken and jellyfish.

Funny story, I went over to my mom and sister and asked them if they liked the jelly fish. They said they hadn't tried it yet. They thought it was the bright red thing in the middle of the plate (in the previous picture) which is actually a mushroom. They did tell me they liked the noodles.

Of course, there weren't noodles on they plate... they were eating jelly fish.



Shark's Fin Soup with white asparagus and crab. Its quite a delicacy.



This was really, really good. The shark's fin is actually similar to a noodle in texture. If I had served this and told everyone it was chicken noodle soup (with crab) they totally would have gone for it.

The dinner got less intimidating, I swear.



House Special Lobster in the most delectable sauce evah!



Sheesh, how did this get in here?



Can we just get another look at this lobster. The plate was covered in these pieces and you just lifted out big chunks of lobster.

At this point I tried to remind everyone that we had like a bazillion courses to go. No one listened.



The heads were quite entertaining. Poor little Ruby left the table because she thought the Crab Monster was going to get her.



Beef with Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli) or Gai Lon. Lovely.

I love the way its presented. Keep in mind that these huge plates or platters were presented to every table of 10.

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Pork Fried Rice. Chinese multi-course meals differ from many other multi-course meals in that the serving portions don't seem to get any smaller. If you went to an American restaurant that was serving 8 courses we would be getting dishes 1/10 of this size :)



Salt and Pepper Pork, simple, breaded and seasoned with salt and pepper. Delicious.



My bridesmaid Chrissy's boyfriend Matt. Did that make sense?

I think he might have taken Cassidy home if he had the chance.



This dish cracks me up because it has such a typical name. Its called Sweet and Romantic Shrimp! I love English names that they come up with for these dishes.

Its basically a sort of sweet and sour shrimp on one side and honey walnut shrimp on the other side.

Our table had a lot of leftovers because we only had 4 adults. Nothing got wasted though.. we took it all with us!



I almost forgot the black mushroom and bok choy!

I want to take this time to remind you that we all have dresses to put on the next day. Some of us ate 8 full courses the night before wearing a wedding dress. Actually all of us ate 8 courses.

About half way thru the dinner my fingers were swelling and my rings felt tight. But I was not about to miss out. I drank 3 bottles of water before I went to bed.



CSC! That stands for Cute Shoe Crop... didn't you know? Have I ever told you how much I love peep toe pumps?



Me and my girls. Two foxy ladies if you ask me.

Did you have a rehearsal dinner? What did you eat?