What is the payment situation w rehearsal dinner?

I definitely wouldn't invite people and have them pay their own way

The best suggestion is to only invite those you can afford to feed. If you want to invite more people than your in laws can afford to host, then you and FH should pay the rest.

Hope this helps!

How about have it at home? We plan on keeping it simply the night before-chicken from the grocery store, Costco side dishes and simply dessert. For a small group I don’t think you need to go out.

If you're inviting someone to a hosted event, you need to pay. If you can't afford to host everyone, you don't have to invite out of town guests.

Definitely invite who you can afford to host - any way you can do something more casual? It doesn't have to be a big fancy meal - how about some pizza and salads?

I wouldn't invite people to the rehearsal dinner unless you can cover their meal. I'd just arrange to see them casually after dinner or something. People expect a rehearsal dinner to be hosted.

I think you only invite who you can afford to pay for. Additionally, consider that the rehearsal dinner isn't meant to be like another reception. I had to convey this to FH about his family coming from out of town. Unless they're directly in the wedding ,we should not have them at the dinner. I have family coming from the west coast (to east coast) and I have arranged a block at a hotel with a very nice restaurant across the parking lot. This way, everyone can have a convenient place to eat in an unfamiliar place even though they may not be in attendance at the dinner.

Exactly this. More and more these days I see couples combining the welcome for the out of town guests with the rehearsal dinner. That's great if you can afford to do that. But for me, that would be like having a second reception before the wedding!! There's no way we could afford it. Also, I feel traditional about some things, and this is one of them. Only the bride, groom, wedding party and B&Gs parents should be at the rehearsal dinner. I am allowing our bridal party to bring their spouses, as most of our attendants are married. But no extra people for any reason.

One thing you can do to keep costs down is to have a more casual dinner, at your (or someone's nearby) home, and order pizza or deli sandwiches. The rehearsal dinner doesn't have to be anything fancy. It's a thank you to your wedding party for participating in your wedding, and being at the rehearsal.

NOPE. If you're inviting people to an event, you need to host (pay for) it. Figure out what you can afford and invite accordingly.

My husband and I paid for our rehearsal dinner and only included those in the wedding (bridal party, readers, singers, priest) and their families along with our parents and immediate family. We wanted to keep costs down also which is why we didn't include anyone else. If you want to see out of town guests, say "we will meet up with everyone at X o'clock at X bar for a quick drink before our big day!"

The rehearsal dinner is supposed to be a way to thank your family and wedding party members for taking part in your day, so I think it would be in poor taste to have them pay for themselves.

We're doing ours at a local pizza place--cheap and easy the night before the wedding. Whatever you do it doesn't have to break the budget you just might have to do something that people wouldn't necessarily expect.