Rehearsal Dinner

msubiria

We are planning our wedding under a budget and would like to have a rehearsal dinner.
Is it OK to make guests pay for their own dinner?

Thanks,

MJ

J&K10910

Nope.

Ok:  Pizza.  Grilling out in the backyard.  Crock pots full of BBQ.  Not having a rehearsal at all.

Not ok:  Guests paying for themselves. Pot lucks.  Having a rehearsal and not feeding people.

Viczaesar

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_rehearsal-dinner-57?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:e14d7fa1-da8f-43d4-8558-a8c1c7765290Post:d5683e92-a5fe-452e-81eb-0596e5e2a9d3">Rehearsal Dinner</a>:
[QUOTE]We are planning our wedding under a budget and would like to have a rehearsal dinner. Is it OK to make guests pay for their own dinner? Thanks, MJ
Posted by msubiria[/QUOTE]
Absolutely not.

NOLAbridealmost

Unfortunately, having guests pay is not okay for the rehearsal dinner. It has to be paid for by the hosts.  

That said, there's nothing that says a RD has to be fancy or overblown with the budget.  BBQ, pizza, Italian, Mexican restaurants all tend to have really affordable options.  You can order a large amount of take out and host the event at someone's home where you can bring in alcohol.  

You can also skip the RD entirely if you skip the rehearsal.  We could easily have had the ceremony without a rehearsal. 

msubiria

I figured that, just wanted to make sure. Thanks.

msubiria

Thanks everyone for your responses. Truly helped!

ShakeUpTampa

We have to feed a little over 20 people so we are doing a salad, lasagna, and garlic bread. I waited for the right sales for all the sauce, ricotta, noodles, and bread. We are buying the cheese and meat in bulk and got the salad items at Sams.

willywally5

You absolutely cannot ask or expect guests to pay for their meal. That is the epitome of tacky. 

You absolutely CAN have a great meal on a budget. Some of the  suggestions above are awesome. I helped a family member and we had several of the groom's fave dishes including a decadent baked mac-n-cheese and brats on the grill. The food was GREAT, very 'them' and the whole deal was super fun. 

Good luck!

toothpastechica

we are ordering pizza and breadsticks! Cheap and easy and fun for a laid back night before the stress of a big formal day!

dori851

Like PPs said, you can't make guests pay for their own meal. However, you can make the RD as casual as you'd like! It doesn't have to be anything fancy at all.

msubiria

I narrowed it down to a bbq at my house for just the wedding party. Thanks again ladies.