In lieu of a regular rehearsal dinner, Erin opted to throw a giant party for all wedding attendees in town already at Cole’s Tavern, a bar and function location right down the road from the hotel. I had no idea that this place even existed … and minutes away from where I grew up!

 

How cool would this “patio” be in the summer??!

Jess and her little sister had taken on organizing Halloween games for the kids, and you know I was all over the candy!

I was really trying to remember that I had to fit into the bridesmaid dress the next day, but it was SO HARD with all of this edible brilliance everywhere I looked.

The buffet dinner consisted of salad, pasta with mushrooms and chicken, baked ziti, and sausage with peppers and onions:

I had some of everything on my plate … plus the obvious seconds.

After dinner, it was time to return to the candy. Jess demonstrated:

The Monster Mash was also apparently an excellent excuse for breaking out some rockin’ legwear couture:

(Erin’s niece Gwyneth and Erin!)

The open bar was on a time limit, and the boys decided to be super clever and make sure they were well-stocked for the rest of the night:

It was all for nought, though, since Erin ended up extending the open bar for the entire party …

… and so the boys started to get all sorts of crazy ideas into their heads. Hamilton, AK, and Ralph got a candy corn toss off the ground …

… while Joey worked the receiving end:

Next up was some sort of heated political football debate between Joey and Allan:

I needed to distract my hands from the candy corn jar, so I enlisted D-Lo and James in the procurement of a hot tea. I didn’t think that the bar would be able to accommodate my designated-driver-appropriate needs, but the guys summoned me a moment later with the goods in hand:

Next up: Who can drink the jar of candy corn and keep it down for 10 minutes?

Joey was tempted (and so was I!) but, ultimately, Hamilton was the only one man enough for the challenge:

The aftermath:

No crying over spilled candy corn allowed 🙂

At the end of the night, I delivered the bride safely back to her home. She had the leftover buffet trays of food on her lap for the drive and alternated between drunkenly shoveling it into her mouth with her hands and passing out. Once she was inside and solidly upright, I headed back to mom’s house to get a few hours of sleep before my 10:00 call to bridesmaid duty the next morning!

Is Erin Gunn the most fun bride ever, or what?!