Rehearsal Dinner Advice

Re: Rehearsal Dinner Advice

• kdcwedding

  

  July 2009

  Personally I think it's fine - you do what you can afford. We are going to do beer/wine at the restaurant where we are having the dinner, and if someone wants a mixed drink, they can get it themselves. It's not like it's a 5 hour party where you want to drink all night.

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• J&K10910 member

  

  July 2009

  You should provide the alcohol, even if it's beer, or a glass of wine with dinner.  And this will probably mean nothing to you, but I thought your name was RodeoQueen when I first looked.

  
  
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• ac_in_dc member

  

  July 2009

  Personally I think no alcohol is fine.  No reason to tell guests in advance, if they want to party they can do so after the RD.

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• BecW2be

  

  July 2009

  Can you perhaps pair a nice wine with dinner, and offer 1-2 bottles as centerpieces? That way, when that's gone, it's gone. Have a drink menu for the evening as well as a dinner menu, and don't include alcohol on it. I'd appreciate that something was offered at dinner, and this way you don't have to communicate that other alcohol will not be offered.

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• JoKelsiC member

  

  July 2009

  I don't know that it really matters. At my sisters wedding last year they didn't provide the alcohol, but people could get it if they wanted to pay for it. My family was actually insisting that they pay for their own alcohol anyway. I know cash bars are way taboo here, but I guess having them buy drinks if they want them at the RD is a little different.

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• Night_Sprite

  

  July 2009

  Ours will probably be in the church, which prohibits alcohol.  I don't think you should stress too much.

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• laurening

  

  July 2009

  The RD is usually the night before the wedding and most people aren't looking to drink too much. People generally enjoy a drink with dinner so maybe you can do wine on the table. You can always do a menu on the plate and under drinks list what is available. If you choose wine, just add white and red wine. It should be intuitive that any other option is not complimentary.

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• LucyD1029

  

  July 2009

  We provided beer & wine for our RD guests.  If you don't want to have alcohol, that's fine, but I wouldn't have a cash bar.  If you're offering something to your guests, they shouldn't have to pay for it, especially at the RD.

  

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• september's bride member

  

  July 2009

  It depends where you're having it, too. We're having ours at our favourite pub, and providing beer/drinks/wine for the first round only. We can't afford to provide some of the premium beers all night (some of them are $8/pint or more!) so we're sticking to the classics for dinner, and then our guests can purchase what they like off the bar menu afterwards if they choose.Last year, I went to a rehearsal dinner at a restaurant where the hosts provided no alcohol. They arranged with the management, however, to have drink features that night ($2.50 margaritas, $3 beers, etc) and the drink menu was placed at the tables with the prices showing. We understood that the drinks were on us, but the prices were reasonable so it wasn't a big deal.

  
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• eastunder1

  

  July 2009

  If there is alcohol there you should cover the costs.  BUT - it is perfectly fine to not have alcohol at the dinner if you can't afford it.  I've been to a few rehearsal dinners that were dry and it was no big deal.  These were in-homes-and-church-basement dinners though.  I think going to a restaurant could get tricky because there IS booze on the menu there, and you run the risk of looking cheap or ungrateful by telling people they have to pay for their own.  Maybe put a few bottles on wine on the tables?Basically, no you don't have to provide it, but if it is there, you need to be paying for it. 

  
  
  
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• mrsAE

  

  July 2009

  If you have it at a restaurant, you can create a fixe menu with who ever you schedule with.  The guests could order off that and see the beverage options that are listed.  I think you should have at least wine. 

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• banana468 member

  

  July 2009

  Ditto Mrs. AE.  Can you make it a fixed price or offer beer and wine?  What's the norm for your group to drink?At our RD, we were lucky to have the IL's pay but it wasn't a huge drinking event.  We each had maybe two glasses ea but for us, drinking is part of the meal.BIL and FSIL's RD is coming up and what MIL and FIL will do is have the RD go to a certain point.  After that, it's offially 'over' and then we're on our own for drinks if we want the party to continue.

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