Rehearsal Dinner Charges

Yes. Just like eating at a restaurant you'd pay for each plate, each drink, and gratuity. And they're setting up a taco station and a bar.. if it's too expensive do less.. RDs don't have to be pricey..

That seems a bit too expensive for a rehearsal dinner. That per person cost is more than what my per person cost is for my reception. Rehearsal dinners don't have to be fancy. I would keep looking for a different place.

Forgot to add that they have a minimum charge to use the room. We just feel like the server fee is excessive. Like it should be covered in the PP charge. We are looking at other options but are kind of limited. I want something nicer than a 10-pack of Taco Bell tacos but not a 4-star restaurant.

For 25 people you are in the same realm as a large birthday party. A restaurant should not be itemizing out these expenses. You should be able to get way better food than tacos for that money.

Keep looking for a regular restaurant with a big back room that won't charge you extra.

I do agree that the PP is expensive for a RD. Rehearsal dinners do not have to be anything fancy at all. BBQ is usually cheapest as far as catering.. Pizza and beer works too.. catered sandwiches.. all that matters is that you feed them. The wedding is where all the fancy-ness is expected.

You also shouldn't need open bar for a 25 person dinner. That could be where your money is going. Just pay for the drinks that are consumed. ETA: strange autocorrect

That is expensive for what you are getting - a taco station. If everyone was getting a steak dinner, then totally understandable. But it's too much for a taco bar.

Seems a little steep, like PPs mentioned, it sounds more like a birthday party than an RD and shouldn't cost as much per person as that, honestly. I would advise you to keep looking.

Planning our rehearsal dinner was one of the most stressful parts of wedding planning for us. There were definitely a lot of places that we felt were kind of "nickel and dime-ing" us and charging for all sorts of little things or having kind of excessive minimums to meet. It does sound like the place you are looking at is a bit overpriced for what you are getting. By "per drink" charge do you mean they set it up like a consumption bar, where people order drinks and then you get the bill at the end of the night? If so, that might not be the worst thing. Some restaurants we looked at wanted like $20pp for each hour of open bar, and considering we didn't think most of our guests would drink that much we would have much preferred a setup where we only paid for what our guests actually drank.

I agree with Emily. I'd balk at $80 PP for chicken -- forget a taco bar. I assume you're having a multi-hour, top shelf, open bar (with that entree and price, it had better be full top shelf open). However, even with the open bar, I think this is too expensive for a meal that is essentially a buffet taco bar that doesn't requires servers to either take the meal orders tableside or deliver the dishes. I'd be far more comfortable with about $50 PP.

Thanks, everyone. Just want to make sure my expectations aren't totally off the mark.

My venue offers a taco bar at $23 per person (no alcohol included). It does seem a bit excessive to me.

Hmmm that seems a bit high... we aren't even paying that for our wedding. (Granted its a day time wedding...)

For our rehearsal dinner it's $24 per person for the buffet and 2 drinks (whatever they prefer)

It better be a damn good taco for that price.

I'd keep looking

We are looking at 600-700 total for a pizza buffet with beer and wine for around 50 people so that seems like way too much

It's not out of the realm of possibility honestly, on a charge by charge basis, but it's an expensive choice. Everything you''ve mentioned is something that's rational to charge for but maybe you need to find a less expensive option; pizzas and beer/wine, a less expensive restaurant. I live outside NYC; I can pay 20 bucks for dinner or 200, it's just a different dinner and a different choice.

Seems to me you could make a simple reservation for 25 at some larger restaurants- without even mentioning 'rehearsal' .... we went to Olive Garden with 25 after a funeral- they accommodated - we tipped the wait staff handsomely.

That seems excessive, but I'm cheap lol. I agree with a lot of posters in here, look for a restaurant with a large back room area instead

So the place we ended up going with has a $3k minimum charge -it's a holiday weekend in CT, which is around $75per. That price was inline with places that wanted to do a "per head" fee for food and then per head of alcohol. So to me it doesn't sound high, but it really is dependent on the area I think.

This seems like a completely fair charge to me since it's clearly a private room and you stated that there is a minimum to use to room. Although it does seem pricey for a buffet style taco station, are they including any other food (salad, appetizers, dessert)? Do they have other food that you can serve, or do you specifically want tacos?

You can certainly find somewhere cheaper to host your rehearsal dinner, but I'm not shocked by the price quote!

Sounds a little pricey. But we are at I believe 38 pp. And Byob.