10.10.2008: Rehearsal Dinner at Longshadow Winery

On Friday evening, Jason and Kerry had their rehearsal dinner at Longshadow Winery in Temecula, and were kind enough to invite all of us! The winery is one of Vince & I's favorites...as much for the ambiance as for the actual wine. We went wine tasting there for Mom's 50th b-day back in March and had a blast! Anyways, the food was amazing and the drinks (WINE!) were flowing! Thank goodness we were in a tent because it was freezing outside! We loved it though...it was a nice escape from this AZ heat.


So, at the rehearsal dinner, the bride & groom gave speeches (Kerry gave a wonderful speech in Spanish to Jason's grandma!), handed out their bridal party gifts, and officially marked the beginning of the wedding about to happen. The rest of the evening was spent drinking, dancing...mostly by Andrew!...checking out the horses on the property, and just mingling with each side of the family. As Durbins, we know all the Sparks, as they have been our family for 25+ years now. But this was the first opportunity most of us had to meet Kerry's side. They were all extremely nice and very grateful to be out in CA for the event! Vince and I hit it off with some other AZ folks that are somehow related to Kerry...I don't really remember!! I think we all had a great evening and got to meet lots of new friends!!

So, after the rehearsal dinner ended, most of the Spark group ended up back at Mom & Dad's casita for more drinks. Somehow that turned in to a full-fledged party with WAYYYY too much alcohol and lasting well into the next day. I don't quite remember what time it ended, but I do remember security coming to tell us to quite it down. And I vaguely (clearly) remember Mom yelling at Vince every time her (or anyone else's) glass ended up empty!! He, as always, became the official re-filler!! We went thru about 25 bottles of wine, and more kept coming thru the door. Special thanks to Scottie who ended up on a beer run while out driving around trying to get Riley to fall asleep! OOOPS! :) It was truly a blast and we were sooooo happy to be able to share that last night of bachelorhood w/ Jason & family! I hope it was as (pleasantly) memorable for him!!! Wish you were there too, Kerry!! :)

Be sure to look at the Wedding Pics link on the side, as there are TONS more rehearsal pics on there too!!!