Hitched: Bridal Luncheon

Hello there lovelies! Today in the Hitched series, we are going to begin recapping the events from Friday of wedding weekend, starting with the Bridal Luncheon. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of pictures from the luncheon or rehearsal. Future brides – assign someone to take pictures at your luncheon and rehearsal. You may think you’ll have the time but you won’t!

darling invites

We kicked off wedding weekend Friday morning with a luncheon in honor of my bridesmaids. It was planned for the veranda of the Ballantyne Hotel, which overlooks the golf course. It was the perfect venue for the event I had in mind. But…there was a 30% chance of rain for Friday, and while 30% seems like nothing the weather had been kind of sporadic for a couple weeks before the wedding. At the very last minute, I toured our rain plan venue but decided it was a little too formal so I crossed my fingers and gave the go-head to set up outside. And it did not rain! (Lucky for the boys as well because they were golfing.)

bridesmaids before the luncheon (Bethany wasn’t there yet)

Elizabeths, Anna, Kate, and Corey’s grandmother, and my grandmother

My bridesmaids, both mine and Corey’s moms and grandmothers, and two of my aunts were in attendance. We started with a fruit and cheese tray and lots of catching up, then sat down for lunch.

Of course I had to snap a photo of my last place card ever with my maiden name. We had cobb salads and fresh baked rolls for lunch. The service was impeccable. I definitely recommend the Ballantyne as a venue for any event in the area. 

After lunch, I passed out gifts to my bridesmaids. I got them each a monogrammed robe, which they wore the following day, and a pair of earrings to wear with their bridesmaids dresses. The earrings were custom designed for my bridal party by a jewelry designer in Charlotte and the girls are still loving wearing their robes after the wedding. 

I gave our mothers framed pictures as their gifts. Corey’s mom has a very modern sense of style and my mom is very traditional. I tried to chose frames that reflected their taste and then framed an engagement photo for Corey’s mom and a bridal portrait for my mom. I framed smaller prints for both of our grandmothers as well. 

We enjoyed a lemon raspberry cake by Tizzerts Bakery in Charlotte before heading off to get changed and freshened up for the rehearsal, which we’ll discuss next week.