need suggestion for plan B tent rental and extra chairs and tables- rehearsal dinner

nannerswolf

We are having our rehearsal dinner at the Coffman Park Pavillion which has bathrooms and running water and electricity, but no northern wall. We are getting married on Labor Day and I am concerned that 1)we will have more OOT guests than places to sit and 2)if we have a lot of OOT guests and we need more tables and chairs, there won't be enough room for them in the actual pavillion if it rains. All of this is based off of the OOT guest list which has the potential to be huge or not very big at all. I would rather not waste money renting a tent I don't need, but I won't know until the wedding is almost upon us. Most of the OOT guests are from his side and no one seems to have a guess as to who might come. Is there a company that rents chairs and tables and tents on short notice? A 10X10 tent at Home Depot is about $150. I don't have a lot of room in the budget to pay for this stuff if it is going to go unused. We can't change the location because it has to be a place my cousins can walk to on the Sabbath. Does anyone have a suggestion? TIA

nnoble4

You could just send out invitations to the rehearsal dinner to a set amount of people that can fit under the pavillion.  My whole entire family is from out of town, so we are strictly limiting our rehearsal to immediate family and the bridal party. I don't think there's any reason that you need to invite absolutely every out of town guest. Just another thought.

KellyRVT

Both of our entire families are out of town. We are only inviting the bridal party and our parents to the rehearsal though.

[Deleted User]

Due to your situation, I second the idea of just sending out some quick invites for the RD. That way there is no question as to who is invited and who is not. You are not obligated to invite the oot guests. It is a nice gesture if you can, but since it sounds like the venue can't comfortably accomodate them all, don't worry about it. This way it saves you from having to rent and/or buy tents and chairs.

As far as the invites go, they don't have to be fancy or elaborate. You could make them yourself or for whoever is hosting or you can buy them. I know my MIL hosted ours and she bought them at Party City I believe. They said RD on the front and she filled in the details on the lines, sort of like a kid's birthday party. Our venue could only hold so many people comfortably as well, and that way we didn't have people showing up unexpected.

nannerswolf

Thanks for the advice. I think I am going to contact the hotel and see if they have a place I can rent in case of rain. Then my cousins can just stay there  and I won't have to worry about it anymore. Unfortuantely, I have a lot of people who would be unhappy if they weren't invited to the rehearsal dinner, so that route would entail a lot more diplomacy. Thanks!