Vintage charm, iconic San Luis Obispo venues, and thoughtful personal touches beautifully defined Amelia and Tyler’s unforgettable rehearsal dinner evening. Hosted at Buona Tavola in Downtown SLO, the couple wanted to tie in their love for San Luis Obispo by highlighting this area before celebrating the big day in Arroyo Grande where they grew up. Having traveled the world together throughout their relationship—and with an Italian honeymoon on the horizon—they wove their love of Italy and exceptional cuisine into the celebration by choosing this authentic gem to kick off the weekend. Right next door is the iconic Fremont Theater, which just so happened to be the perfect welcome sign and way to kick off their fairytale weekend.
Keep scrolling to read more about the details of the San Luis Obispo rehearsal dinner, as told by the bride.
The Vision
"When planning our rehearsal dinner, we knew we wanted to make it really special because it's the start of the entire weekend! To us, the rehearsal dinner is almost just as important as the wedding because you get to spend time with all of your favorite people in a more intimate setting, and kick off the celebrations and build off that anticipation. I remember us looking at each other and saying, 'It's not even our wedding day yet but this is so much fun!'
Tying in our love for San Luis Obispo was important to us, but we also included small personal touches like our love for Italy and travel by hosting it at Buona Tavola and my personal love for books with a personalized book purse that highlights our wedding weekend and love story. To keep up the dramatics and really start the weekend with a bang, we used the iconic Fremont Theater as our welcome sign! I remember wondering if we could do this, and thinking nothing of it, and we walked by after our wine tasting at the restaurant and Tyler was like, 'might as well just ask', and it ended up being a completely seamless process and the theater even gave us adorable printed tickets with the title we chose! They turned a fun, simple idea into something amazing and unforgettable."
The Inspiration
"Tyler and I kicked off our wedding weekend with a dreamy rehearsal dinner hosted at Buona Tavola Downtown SLO. Since we were getting married in Arroyo Grande, where we grew up, we really wanted to tie in San Luis Obispo as a key part of the weekend since it was where we started dating and lived for most of our relationship. Giving this special part of town it's own moment the night before the wedding was the perfect way to show off the entirety of the area to those coming from out of town, and bring in a key part of our personalities and love for SLO.
We went on a three week trip to Europe while we were engaged and Italy was a huge part of that trip, and we instantly fell in love with that country. We then planned our honeymoon in Italy, and thought it would be a sweet way to start off the weekend and make it something personal and exciting for us. The space was what initially caught our attention, because it's such a small gem in Downtown SLO with a gorgeous back patio. We are also huge foodies, and Buona Tavola has incredible authentic Italian food, but their customer service is where it really impacted our experience. The owners were incredibly invested in this night from the get-go, and made us feel so special and heard throughout the entire process. Tyler and I went in to taste a couple of the wines after we got our marriage license and they made it an entire experience by offering us plenty of wine and even cooking us something special in the kitchen so that we don't leave hungry."
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