Rehearsal Dinner, err Picnic

I think Tom and I have changed our minds about the rehearsal dinner more times than we have about the wedding. It's definitely been more of a pain in the rear end to plan. Our initial plan was to have a barbecue in my mother's backyard. Then reality struck, and Tom and I decided we did not want to spend the evening before our wedding doing dishes and cleaning up my mother's house. Then we started looking at restaurants, but reality struck again. Our wedding party is made up of a slew of picky eaters, and we struggled to find a restaurant that would satisfy everyone. To add, who exactly was invited to the rehearsal dinner? Just the wedding party? What about their immediate families that would be stuck in a hotel room without a car? What about other out-of-town guests that were traveling/staying with members of the wedding party? Cue the headache. 

Then, one day, while thinking of our ceremony venue, Tom and I had an epiphany.

We'll have our rehearsal dinner on the beach! A picnic! Our entire wedding party is coming from out-of-state and will be in town a couple of days before the wedding (their choice, not ours). Tom and I were trying to think of activities to do with everyone that would allow us to show them around Maine. Why not spend a day on the ocean? 

We decided to hold the ceremony rehearsal around 2 in the afternoon, followed by a rehearsal picnic on the beach. The wedding party is invited, of course, along with their significant others and children. If a couple of out-of-town guests want to show up, that's cool too. The entire point is we want to have a nice, relaxing afternoon before the hustle and bustle of the wedding the next day. 

So, we figured out the venue, what are we going to feed everyone? 

Source

Italians! Italians are a Maine thing, it's essentially a sub sandwich (just don't say that to a local), it's deli meat, cheese, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, and pickles on Italian bread with a little oil. We are looking to give our wedding party the "Maine experience," there is nothing more Maine than a good Italian sandwich, except maybe whoopie pies, and we are serving those for dessert. I spent my day on Monday calling a local sandwich shop and, with the exception of paper plates and stuff, our rehearsal picnic is set.

Our menu: 

Italian sandwiches; choice of roast beef, turkey, ham, or salami

Finger sandwiches; choice of chicken salad, ham salad, egg salad, or seafood salad

Garden salad

Chips

Soda/Juice

Whoopie Pie

Have you planned your rehearsal dinner?