Rehearsal dinner pricing

whodatbride

How much are you budgeting (our your in laws paying) for your rehearsal? My fiancé and I are paying for ours and I am trying to keep it as reasonable as possible.

Aeb74

We are paying for ours as well. For this, we're going to Elizabeth's in the bywater. If you've never been, it's casual and the food is great! They are totally flexible as to menu selections and will work with us to keep it at the price point we want. They are a quick cab ride away from the FQ. Tableau and Tujagues were also priced, but their food and beverage minimum didn't work for us due to the smaller size of our group. When is your dinner/wedding?

whodatbride

We are getting married Feb 28 and the rehearsal is Feb 27th. We will have about 30 people at the dinner.

whodatbride

@Aeb74 How much are you paying per person?

Aeb74

We're not sure yet of a per person cost, but budgeted approximately $1200 for the entire dinner.  I plan on contacting the restaurant this week to pin down a menu.  Our dinner group will consist of 15-17 people.   They said with that size, we can order straight from the menu, but if it's over 20, recommended a set menu.  The priciest item they have is around $25.  So even if we opt for a select menu, we can pick a few entrees at a varied range that will still offer a nice option.  And a few apps.  One thing they said they can do as far as alcohol (that's where you really spend!) is do either cash bar, set a dollar amount and once you hit that, the server can let you know and you can convert to cash bar.  OR, what we may end up doing is offering certain beer and wine with the dinner. You can pick which ones so you control the cost.  If anyone wants a cocktail, they can purchase that on their own. 

So, it seems like they'll really work with you!   We really enjoy this restaurant and know the food is authentic local, so opted for this.  They also said we can let them know our budget and they can create a menu based on that. 

One more suggestion would be looking up Chartres House.  I cannot remember who I worked with there (Taylor perhaps?) but they were pretty flexible as well and had nice menu options.  They also offered a signature drink to offer with the meal.  They're right in the middle of the French Quarter, and this restaurant also has two or three other restaurants in their group that might suit your needs.

We're paying for this ourselves, so if you need any other tips on how we're saving, let me know!  FYI, our florist is IRIS and the girl there (Nicole) is absolutely wonderful to work with!  We're doing some flowers, lots of candles.  Her price point is spot on for our needs and her work looks great (she's got a FB page that she's posting recent pics to).  She didn't seem like she wanted to strangle me either after I changed my mind a dozen times on flower colors.  LOL!  Keep them in mind, they're really great so far for us!

Our wedding is 11/8---right around the corner!!




 

whodatbride

Congrats! We are using Firefly Ambiance for décor. We are getting married at Rosy's and our only flowers are going to be bouquets that we are doing ourselves. Firefly is awesome! Thanks for the advice!!!

Aeb74

We kept flowers to a minimal since we're traveling from Chicago and can't bring them back with us.  I would hate for them to go to waste.  Happy planning and congratulations!  

FYI--I'm a huge fan of the FB "visit New Orleans" page.  They're really a great resource for restaurants, etc. if you don't know the area.  I think with the rehearsal dinner if you get out of the quarter a bit, you may find something a little easier on the wallet.  At least we did! 

whodatbride

I am from the New Orleans area, but most of the wedding party is not. I am trying to find a place that doesn't cost a fortune, but gives everyone a real taste of New Orleans.

Aeb74

I wanted to do ours at Liuzzas by the Track.  LOL!

28124

Ours is pricey at Antoines at around $80/head but I know my future in-laws looked at Palace Cafe and it was more like $40-50/head. It was a pretty room but my future mother in law was dead set on having a balcony so she went with Antoines instead. 

Aeb74

Well, we were all set on Elizabeth's and they are not getting back to me with sample menus....a week later and I've had them lined up for months.  I'm still waiting on the menus despite a follow up.  Grrr...now we're back to the drawing board three weeks prior (not cool).  We found Tommy's in the warehouse district and so far the woman I'm dealing with (Emily) is prompt and worked up a great menu for us for what we want!  Price can vary from $50pp to $75, then liquor options. 

mrandazz001

We were looking for a budget friendly place with a New Orleans feel.  My in laws are helping pay for it, but we needed to keep the budget low.  We found a private room at Joey K's restaurant on Magazine street with a balcony wrapping around the room.  They were really reasonable and known for their good southern food,  The room will seat up to 50 people which is what we are having. 

GeauxWed

My in-laws handled our rehearsal dinner and we had it at Bourbon Vieux.  I think that might be a little too large for your group, but it is owned by Creole Cuisine, who also own Royal House.

I was a little skeptical of Creole Cuisine having good food and thought that it would be more targeted to tourists, but our local friends and family commented on how great the food was too!

http://www.creolecuisine.com/

We worked with Stephanie Jones stephaniej@creolecuisine.com