Rehearsal Dinner

tegdirb2001

What did you guys do or what do you plan to do for your rehearsal dinner?  How many people will be attending and what is the range that it will cost?  I am already thinking about this because I didn't include this in the budget...opps.  This is something that we will be paying for.

TIA

[Deleted User]

It depends on how nice of a place you go to.  Many Broadway Pizza locations have private rooms available and are as low as $10.50/person for food.  Call around at different restaurants in your area and ask if they have private rooms and how much it would be etc. 

We are doing a Buffet style dinner at Moe's in Mounds View for $12.50/person which comes with 2 entree selections (everyone just takes as little or as much of each as they want) and then a veg side, a salad and roll.  Many places offer things like this but can range up to $20+/person, just depends. 

Then for # of people it depends on the size of your WP.  Traditionally everyone in the WP will attend, and they should be allowed to bring their significant other.  Then of course grandparents and parents since they will be at the rehearsal as well, and RB/FG and their parents and if you want, you can include OOT guests as well.

We only have 3 BMs and 2 GM's (and then FG & RB) and without inviting OOT guests we are at about 25-30 people.  So with tax and gratuity and everything it will cost about $500 but that is not including bar tab.

SuperRNluvsChef

We also didn't include this in the budget.  We're going to have the dinner at my parents and have some food catered in.  Probably from Green Mill or something like that.  We're hopefully going to rent a tent and put it in the backyard and we'll have a fire going out there and music playing.  Maybe not as nice as a restaurant but those RD's can get crazy expensive!!

I Want Cake

FI's mom said she'd host ours, but hasn't said anything about it yet.  As far as I know, we're going to just have WP members and their SOs plus our parents and my grandpa, since he's the only grandparent we've got left.  FMIL may want OOT members there, too, since they're pretty much all FI's family.

jenn920

I just added up our RD attendance and it is in the 45-50 range   We didn't put it into the initial budget either, so hopefully we can keep it cheap!  Pizza is a great idea; some of the other places I looked into are Famous Daves and Pizza Luce.  I also emailed Vescio's (LOVE their food and its not terribly expensive) but their caterer hasn't gotten back to me...

martiac225

We are having at ours at Pizza Luce (downtown loc), and we will have approximately 30 people.  There is a $700 minimum and we will have a private banquet room and bar.  We haven't picked out our menu yet, but will more than likely have a buffet set up with various pizzas, pastas and salads.  I plan on surprising FI with a cake in the shape of a can of his favorite Surly beer   Can't wait, we love Luce!

emilykathleen511

Another option for you is to not rehearse the ceremony, which would then mean that you would not have to host a meal. If your ceremony isn't too complicated, it shouldn't be to hard to manage the day of with a bit of pre-instruction. Up to you of course, but it is an option.

maybe984

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_rehearsal-dinner-6?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:ec69571b-3919-47ec-9168-3d480145a3e9Post:e2da5bfa-7b88-4ea2-9c98-093c31ab41e8">Re: Rehearsal Dinner</a>:
[QUOTE]Another option for you is to not rehearse the ceremony, which would then mean that you would not have to host a meal. If your ceremony isn't too complicated, it shouldn't be to hard to manage the day of with a bit of pre-instruction. Up to you of course, but it is an option.
Posted by emilykathleen511[/QUOTE]

I disagree with this. A lot, actually. The RD is about wayyy more than just feeding people after a rehearsal. We didn't have our rehearsal until the morning of the wedding, due to venue availability... but we still had an RD the night before. It's about thanking the people who are extra important in the wedding and having a chance to spend some time with just them before the craziness of the main event. It doesn't have to be extravagant, but I'm a firm believer in the importance of having one.

emilykathleen511

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_rehearsal-dinner-6?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:ec69571b-3919-47ec-9168-3d480145a3e9Post:94dd9d75-ee3e-4f7f-b4be-1b27af84efe1">Re: Rehearsal Dinner</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Rehearsal Dinner : I disagree with this. A lot, actually. The RD is about wayyy more than just feeding people after a rehearsal. We didn't have our rehearsal until the morning of the wedding, due to venue availability... but we still had an RD the night before. It's about thanking the people who are extra important in the wedding and having a chance to spend some time with just them before the craziness of the main event. It doesn't have to be extravagant, but I'm a firm believer in the importance of having one.
Posted by maybe984[/QUOTE]

<div>You can be a firm believer in having one, but it doesn't change the fact that it is an option not to have one. If you want to thank people and spend time with them, then do so. It doesn't have to be at a rehearsal dinner. </div><div>
</div><div>That being said, I completely understand wanting to have one, and I know that most people do. I'm not necessarily discouraging that, just throwing it out there that it is not a requirement to rehearse the ceremony and host a rehearsal dinner (the two being a package deal of course...I would never suggest getting everyone together to rehearse your ceremony and then not feed them and thank them afterward).</div>

kmr333

I'm going to look into Broadway Pizza, too, since there is one near our church and it the prices are right.  Other good options I found are O'Gara's and McGovern's, both in St. Paul.

 Drinks can really set you back if you do open bar, so we may purchase a few pitchers of beer and bottles of wine and then people can fend for themselves.  Another option for drinks is to ask the restaurant/bar if you can do drink tickets, maybe two per person.