Alexa & Patrick’s Rehearsal Dinner at Hadicurari in Aruba

There are rehearsal dinners… and then there are rehearsal dinners on the beach in Aruba. 🌴🥂

Alexa and Patrick kicked off their wedding celebrations in the absolute best way—with their closest family and friends gathered together at Hadicurari for an evening of great food, tropical drinks, heartfelt toasts, lots of laughter, and that unmistakable Aruba breeze. We already knew this wedding weekend was going to be special, but this night made us even more excited for what was coming!

One of our favorite things about destination weddings is that the celebration becomes so much more than one wedding day.

Everyone has traveled to the same place. Family and friends are checking into hotels, running into each other around the resort, grabbing drinks together, and suddenly the wedding feels like one giant vacation with all of your favorite people.

Alexa and Patrick’s rehearsal dinner was exactly that. Guests gathered at Hadicurari, just steps from the sand, with palm trees blowing behind them and that colorful island atmosphere surrounding the entire evening. The tables were set, drinks were poured, and everyone slowly started arriving and reconnecting.

And before dinner really got underway, we obviously had to steal Alexa and Patrick for a few portraits on the beach!

Alexa wore the CUTEST little white dress for the evening, and Patrick kept things perfectly island-appropriate in blue.

We walked out onto the sand for a few quick portraits while the sun was still up, and these two looked so good against the palm trees, blue sky, and white Aruba sand.

There’s something we love about photographing our couples throughout an entire destination wedding weekend. The wedding day portraits will always be special, but these photographs tell another piece of the story—the night before, the anticipation, and the excitement of realizing, we’re actually getting married tomorrow.

Then it was time to head back inside because their people were ready to celebrate! Once everyone was together, the evening settled into exactly what a rehearsal dinner should feel like: relaxed, personal and FUN.

There were hugs everywhere. Family photographs. Friends catching up. Amazing food and desserts. Tropical cocktails. And, of course, plenty of speeches and toasts.

We especially loved watching Alexa and Patrick as parents shared stories about them. One minute everyone was laughing, the next there were emotional reactions around the tables, and then glasses were back in the air for the toast. 🥂

These are some of our favorite photographs from rehearsal dinners because they’re completely unscripted. Nobody is worrying about a timeline or wondering where they’re supposed to stand. They’re simply enjoying being together.

And when your people have traveled all the way to Aruba to celebrate you, that deserves to be documented.

This night is also the PERFECT example of why we’re such big advocates for photographing more than just the wedding day during a destination wedding. By the time the wedding arrives, we’ve already photographed parents, siblings, grandparents, bridal party members and friends. People recognize us. They’ve talked with us. They’ve seen us working.

That changes the energy on the wedding day. Instead of two photographers showing up as strangers, we already feel like part of the weekend—and everyone is much more comfortable when our cameras come out.

More importantly, these photographs become part of the complete story.

Twenty years from now, Alexa and Patrick won’t only have photographs of their ceremony and reception. They’ll have pictures of the people who flew to Aruba for them, the hugs with family, the ridiculous laughs around the dinner table, the speeches, the food, and everyone raising their glasses the night before they became husband and wife.

As dinner wrapped up and the sky went completely dark, we took Alexa and Patrick back onto the sand for one last photograph beneath the string lights.

And COME ON. 😍 Palm trees. Warm Aruba night. String lights glowing behind them. Their families and friends still celebrating just a few feet away. The entire evening felt like the perfect opening chapter to their wedding.

Alexa and Patrick, what a privilege it was to be in Aruba documenting not only your wedding day, but the people and moments surrounding it. Your rehearsal dinner was full of everything we love about destination wedding weekends—family, friendship, celebration, incredible scenery and a whole lot of joy.

And the best part?

The wedding hadn’t even happened yet. 🌴🤍