How Bride-To-Be Reese Witherspoon Celebrated Her Birthday

USMagazine, Wednesday, March 23, 2011, 9:47am (PDT)

She's getting married in just a few days, but that didn't stop Reese Witherspoon from sharing a low-key 35th birthday celebration with her fam and fiance Jim Toth on Tuesday night.

An insider tells UsMagazine.com that the Academy Award winner hit L.A.'s Tavern Restaurant with Toth, 40, kids Ava, 11, and Deacon, 7, plus her parents and siblings. The guest of honor sat between her dad and her talent agent beau.

"Jim seems to get along well with Reese's family," an onlooker tells Us of the dinner party. "He was joking around with her brother John and the two seemed to be good friends."

The birthday girl partook in wine and devil's chicken with braised leeks and mustard bread-crumbs, while her man had a martini and the braised lamb shank.

"Jim had his arm around Reese and was scratching her back from time to time," says the insider. "They looked into each other's eyes and talked nose to nose while smiling back and forth."

And the "Water for Elephants" actress, who has said she is open to having more children, seems to have found a strong potential dad in Toth.

"Jim was also hands-on with Reese's little nieces," says the source. "When they left the restaurant, he carried one of the little girls in his arms. He also gave Deacon a big hug at the end of dinner when he came up to sit with his mom."

And Witherspoon's family has one more reason to like her fiance: The witness reports that while everyone left together, Toth stayed behind to pay the bill!

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