ugh...rehearsal dinner....

Rhonda R.-Thank you so much, those are all wonderful ideas. I guess I just had it stuck in my head that it had to be somthing bigger then it is. I will deffinatly be looking into pizza and salad that sounds good, who doesnt like pizza?

We did a lasagna party (I made it all ahead of time and had dessert delivered). I hired someone to do clean-up. It was a blast and not expensive.

If you think 30 minutes is too far away (I don't think it is), then you don't have to have your rehearsal at the venue. Have it at your Mom's house instead.

We're doing a simple backyard bbq at our house following the rehearsal. Myself my sister, my mom and fmil are doing all the cooking and thanks to costco will be getting all the food for a very reasonable price it doesn't have to be a formal affair at all!

All of these ideas are making me feel so much better about doing it at a house.

FH just got an email from this guy about renting his house while his away for 5years. $700/month for 3bd 2bath 2 story house! I hope it goes thru, if it does we will just do everything in our house!!! I cant wait to hear if we can get it.

Mrs. Jones 2013 - you are very welcome! You see...it'll all come together and everything will work out just fine!!

My dad is making Italian (or Mexican, he wants Italian, I want Mexican), and we are having a 50 person dinner at the church. It will be low-key, casual, but since my dad is a chef, I know everything will turn out amazing!

My sister just had her bridal party, parents, and grandparents for the RD and it was short, simple, and they just ordered KFC and it was at my parents house (she also got married there).

I WISH I could do something simple, but FIL's are paying for it and apparently all out of town guests HAVE to be invited. That's 64 of my 100 guests. I am not happy. Not happy at all. I was also told "your rehearsal dinner is going to be fancier than your wedding" Which also made me feel crappy.

If you have the option to go small DO IT! I envy you!

We're doing a BBQ picnic thing at a park about 20 minutes from the venue. There is no need to spend a ton of money and guests will prefer the informality of that kind of thing. Another idea is a potluck. We're doing that for our joint wedding shower.

I was considering have my rehearsal dinner at a restaurant. When everything is said and done it would cost us around $600 to have it. I've since decided that I'm going to have it at home but have the food catered - total cost would be around $300. We could put tat extra $300 towards something else for the wedding or our honeymoon.

I think you're on to a good start by doing it at your future mother-in-law's house. If you really want something different, budget-friendly, and totally fun, see if the in-town guests are up for making it into a potluck.

I'm just going to expand on the potluck idea. I know much of my family puts their love into their food as much as I do. Cooking for others is a joy, and to be able to share it with a party like that would just be so much fun for both my fiancée and myself (speaking as attendants and contributors, not as the couple of honor).

Mrs. Jones, I'm also in the Phoenix area and doing the rehearsal dinner in my parents backyard. We will have about 50 guests (wedding party, immediate family, OOT guests - my parents also have a large yard). We're getting pizzas from Costco and will also provide salad, veggie/fruit trays, and dessert (drinks too obviously). We don't plan on spending more than $300.

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful ideas of what to do.

I also called panda express to see how much it would be there. They have a catering for 26-30 people with 4 entrees and 4 sides for $169. AMAZING and I love panda. So I'm thinking of that as a top pick.

Mmmm..I love Panda, too! That's a GREAT price!

Having it at your home is fine. Our initial idea is to have a Game Night. But since our budget has increased, we will probably go to a restuarant and have a Game Night there instead of in our home.

My mom told me that we are going to have several OOT guests staying at her house the night before the wedding(12 to be exact) So its going to cost more to feed them as well. So I'm back at the begining of planning this..

We have gotten costco lasagna a couple times it is really good. the all natural one with sausage and beef. it is 12.99 for two pans. I think it would be a cheap, easy and good dinner. just add bread and a salad.

Your mom's house is fine except, as others have said, for the added clean-up, etc. for you. Is there an Aunt, Cousin or Sister that can host it? That will make it easier on you and your mom right before the big event.