Help, the rehearsal dinner is overwhelming me! My FI's father has offered to host it, but has left much of the planning up to my father and I. We originally had planned to have 40 guests including the wedding party + their dates (12), his family (12), my family (12), and some friends that have taken time off of work to stay with us and help with the wedding (4). We were planning to reserve a local restaurant with a limited menu and entrees $8-$12 per person. However, my step-father just let me know that my late mother's family would like to be included as well, as they rarely see me and want to spend time with me. I don't feel I can say no to them, but this brings the guest list at the rehearsal dinner to almost 50, half the size of the wedding guest list! This would be too large of a party to have at the restaurant, they don't have that many seats! I am also concerned about how much it will cost FI's parents, and even at $10 a head it would be upwards of $500 with tip.
What are some options for less-expensive ways to feed a crowd? We could host a dinner outside where we will be having the wedding and bring over enough tables and chairs from the reception site. I don't want it to be too much work doing food-prep, as we will be preparing food for the wedding. What low-cost, low-effort options are there?