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Wedding Etiquette Forum

Rehearsal Dinner: Who to invite?

I have a question on proper etiquette surrounding a specific rehearsal dinner circumstance.  Originally, the people invited to our rehearsal dinner were those people attending the actual rehearsal.  This included our parents, siblings, and wedding party (and, of course, any of their SOs).  This is how I've seen most people do it, and it was agreed upon by all family members, so we thought we were all set.  Since then, 3 people have RSVPd that they can't come to the rehearsal.  This happens, and it's totally fine.  My fiance's family, however, would like us to fill those 3 spots with 3 other people.  Here's where we come in to a problem.  I originally thought that we could include the grandparents, but there are more than 3 living grandparents.  I wouldn't want to invite just 3 of them and not the others.  I don't want to insult anyone by doing this.  The same goes for aunts/uncles, cousins, etc.  Three seats really isn't enough to open the dinner up to a whole other section of family.  My fiance's parents are paying for the rehearsal, and there is a food and beverage minimum that they are being held to.  They want to fill all of the seats that they made the reservation for so as to get the most out of the money that they are obligated to spend with the venue anyway. What should I do? 

Re: Rehearsal Dinner: Who to invite?

  • KayDeeeKayDeee member
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited June 2014
    If you can't invite all the grandparents, I would just leave the 3 seats empty. It's not worth the grief and trouble upsetting family members by inviting random people last minute.

    If making the minimum is that important to your fiances family, then invite all the grandparents or none.

    The extra money "wasted" on 3 empty seats isn't worth the trouble in my opinion. They should ask the restaurant what extra else they may be able to get for the remaining guests (appetizers, a special cocktail or dessert)

    Good luck.
  • KayDeee said:
    If you can't invite all the grandparents, I would just leave the 3 seats empty. It's not worth the grief and trouble upsetting family members by inviting random people last minute.

    If making the minimum is that important to your fiances family, then invite all the grandparents or none.

    The extra money "wasted" on 3 empty seats isn't worth the trouble in my opinion. They should ask the restaurant what extra else they may be able to get for the remaining guests (appetizers, a special cocktail or dessert)

    Good luck.
    Thank you.  This is exactly my thought as well... I'm just not sure my in-laws will be OK with it.  It's possible that the final decision will be taken out of my hands anyway.  We shall see! 
  • Make sure that you fiance is on your side as well. It would be awkward for you to present the idea to your in-laws only to find out that he's totally fine with their idea.
  • I wouldn't invite anyone to feel the seats. That's B-listing.
  • If invites have been sent out and then you add more people, that's B-listing, and people will know they weren't important enough to be invited the first time around. See if that money can be used on appetizers or something else.
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