Not having a rehearsal dinner?

Pizza & beer for our rehearsal dinner if we have one!

DO NOT SKIP A REHEARSAL. You will regret it. It's not just people "walking," you're letting them know who needs to be seated where, how they need to walk, what parent will be escorted by which GM, etc. It's VERY worth it to do a rehearsal.

As far as a dinner, if you can't afford to do a fancy meal, like others have said, get some pizza and beverages, or a party sub, etc. You could bring all of that to a local park nearby your venue.

I have to agree with Rusticbride. A rehearsal is not just walking down the aisle. It's also when to walk and where to stand and in what order and whether people are walking together. One of my bridemaids was just in her brother's wedding, and she said she was so thankful for the rehearsal, except that they only rehearsed the ceremony. When it came time to re-enter for the reception, no one had any idea what order to go in and it took 15 minutes for them all to figure it out. It seems simple, but it's not. A rehearsal takes all the guest work out of figuring it out on your big day.

We are having our rehearsal dinner at my parents house the night before the wedding. It will just be the wedding party/participants and immediate family, so a fairly small gathering. We are planning on casual food that we will make ourselves... appetizers, sandwich stuff, soups and salads (and dessert of course!)

Not only will having it at my parent's house save on costs, but I am planning on spending the night before the wedding there anyway, as I would have to be there early in the morning with all of my bridesmaids to get ready!

Our rehearsal is at 3pm on a thursday so i plan on a bunch of pizzas and maybe some beers, because after that we part ways and meet up at the wedding. nothing spectacular thought, no out of town guests, just the BP.

The wedding I was in 2 weekends ago, we just all went to a restaurant and split the checks

Originally, I wasn't having one, but my mom strong armed one...Another thing added to the budget...*sigh* lol!

Consider, doing something less expensive though, like having Chipotle Cater, a BBQ, or even finding a diner or something that can accomodate everyone.

We are paying a price fixed menu (about $25 pp beer & wine additional) for about 30 people. Its definately an added expensive, but what mama wants, mama gets.

If you want to have dinner and not foot a huge bill just do something low key at home Cookout or something like that

No one's home is close to my venue. I'm going to see if I can negotiate with the venue. Since I plan to rent out the manor for me and the bridesmaids to spend the night maybe they will waive the rehearsal dinner fee and allow us to bring our own food in and set it up in the kitchen. I thought a rehearsal would be very important especially with a large wedding party.

@ItsGoodtobeKing That's what I was thinking because I don't remember going to any rehearsal dinners for the weddings I've been in, and a few of them we did exactly that, but I guess that's a big no no!

Are there any restaurants near the venue? You are just feeding people for coming out. It doesn't have to be fancy. It could be a little italian restaurant or a wing spot. Just some place for folks to get together and have a little snack before heading back home.

We are having one and FH's family is supposed to be taking care of those expenses. I don't want anything fancy and I would be happy with barbeque or pizza

The closest restaurant is probably Cheddar's. I wouldn't mind going there, but I am very big on budget and I like to know exactly how much I'm going to spend on everything. I guess I'm less concerned about the actual expense and more concerned about taming my OCD by knowing a cost ahead of time lol

If your group is okay with just going to the restaurant and paying for themselves, by all means do that! Maybe you guys can order a dessert for everyone or get a bunch of apps or some bottles of wine at the table?

I have always been told that the RD is the time where the bride & groom essentially "thank" the bp and give gifts etc. My sister didn't host a dinner, but did have a rehearsal that everyone was required to attend - with no real explanation til after, and it seemed completely weird and rude. I would have much rather heard the truth - we cant afford to have one - instead of not hearing anything from her. And if she had given me the option, I would have gladly paid for myself and my son (ring bearer) at a restaurant than just went home.

I personally think its necessity and wouldn't skip it. That being said, I would NOTTT spend $750 just to rent the place. I would find an inexpensive place around the venue, or in my hometown and host it there.

I recently treated my bridesmaids to lunch at Cheddars, and for the four of us, plus tip it was almost $100. That included one drink per person. But we ordered off the menu... and one girl got extra sides, etc.

One idea would be to contact them manager and ask them to set up a limited menu. You could maybe pick 3 inexpensive items (an entrée salad, an entrée sandwich, etc) and let your guests pick from them?

We had ours at a restaurant near the chapel. Do a limited menu at the restaurant. I contacted the manager and they let me pre-order appetizers for the night as well as let me create a menu of entree choices I thought our guests would like (we didn't want to pay more than $13 PP).

Im not doing a dinner the night but Im cooking for my bridal party and friends the week before and giving out bridal party and parents presents. Just wanted a dinner that would be comfy and not breaking the bank. I have a total 20 bridal party including the kids not including the parents and grandparents so I understand. Our rehearsal is going to be on a thursday and alot of my bp work and have kids so I want them to come and be done as quick as possible but I am providing small finger foods and juice.

Where is the venue? I know you're in the Houston area; so am I. I'll give suggestions if I know of any place that might work.

It doesn't have to be a huge 5 course meal. You could always do something low key like order pizza or a party sub from Jimmy Johns or subway or get a bunch of burgers and brats and grill out (if the weather is nice enough). Taking them out for ice cream afterwards might be fun! But as everyone's mentioned, if you are having a wedding rehearsal, it is courteous to feed them for their time.

Hi Erica! My venue is Moffitt Oaks. It's a fairly new venue (less than a year old) out in Tomball off of 290 and Telge.