Cheap rehearsal dinner ideas?

raeyn · October 2009

FI's parents don't have much money these days, so the rehearsal dinner will have to be part of our already meager wedding budget. I've been googling ideas for inexpensive dinners but mostly people have suggested potlucks or at-home pasta/pizza/BBQ. Unfortunately a potluck won't work since just about everyone attending is from out of town. I'd love to invite everyone over and order pizza, but there's not enough room in our house for 19 people and using the backyard in January is out of the question. Does anyone have suggestions for super cheap places for a rehearsal dinner? Maybe a cheap event space that would let me bring my own food? Or a really, really cheap restaurant? My budget is just $480, so $25/person.

Noron · October 2009

If you don't do booze, you can easily have it at a pizza restaurant. We're doing ours at Moretti's in Mt. Prospect, and the pizza buffet with no beverages is $14.95/person.

WalteRose · October 2009

Agree with pp, we were going to have our RD at Lou Malnati's, and it was definitely less than $20/person (w/o alcohol).

morgie44 · October 2009

You can definitely do pizza for less than that! I think that the portillo's in the mag mile/river north area has party rooms as well. I think either one would be really good for oot guests because they are very 'chicago' things. You could also do Wishbone for well under that price. They have packages for 16-18 dollars pp.

valdagalcoffman · October 2009

You might also try looking into Gino's East pizza - the one downtown is always fun. I remember having sports banquets there in high school and it was pretty inexpensive.You may also look in a VFW - I can def bring your own food there!

jess&lane52804 · October 2009

I think FI's mom wants to rent a "summer kitchen" (aka this nice shed type building) at a local park through the park district and my guess is that the food will just be some kind of local catering. I'm not familiar with all their locations, but Portillo's catering is pretty good and reasonably priced.

raeyn · October 2009

Thanks for all the suggestions! I was so worried that $25/person was being unrealistic, so I'm feeling much better now!

angeliu27 · October 2009

We did Lou Malnati's. It ended up $25/ person with beer package. Another suggestion: Does any of your friends live in a high rise with a party room. You can rent that space and bring your own food. My sister did that for my wedding shower. It turned out nice.

Browneyes19826 · October 2009

I agree, we are defiantly doing it at a pizza place, we're thinking Gino's East. Since all of my fiances family are from out of town, what better then Chicago style pizza! Seems like the cheapest idea.. and that's what we're looking for too!

raeyn · October 2009

No friends in high rises, since basically everyone is from out of town. Lou Malnati's and Gino's seem like great options, though. I like the idea of offering Chicago-style deep dish pizza! For anyone who has booked at a pizza place, was there a limit on how long you had the space? If so, what was it? The package I'm interested in at Gino's says "based on 1.5 hrs", which seemed short to me but maybe not.

TheDohertys · October 2009

Lou Malnatis and Ginos East are both fun and not that pricey. I think it will be a great way for people to casually mingle and have a memorable time!

chosen175 · October 2009

We used Giordano's in Rosemont and they're way under your budget as well, even if you offer soda. Not sure about alcohol, though - we didn't have any. (It was dd's 1st birthday, so not really an occasion that required alcohol.) They had no time limits - they asked us how long we needed the space and we went from there. They did take away/wrap up the pizza after a certain time, though. They also let us bring in a cake and stored it for us until it was time to cut it.

krisdi78 · October 2009

We had ours at Gino's East and I wouldn't worry about the time limit - it seemed like we had plenty of time and since we were having the night before the wedding I didn't want to stay out too late anyways.

ennaerb80 · October 2009

I don't know where you're located, but we did ours at Gratto in Geneva. It's an Italian Tapas restaurant that also serves entrees. We negiated $20/person. That included pitchers of beer, wine, salad, 3 different pizzas, 3 different pastas that they just kept refreshing as we needed more and then dessert.

raeyn · October 2009

Gratto sounds awesome, but it's a bit far for us. Our wedding and accommodations are downtown at the Westin on Michigan Ave.

JamilaBailey · October 2009

We had ours at Girodano's in Oswego and it was perfect. We had a lot of out of town guests so they really liked the ideas of having Chicago style deep dish pizza. They had three party packages...we chose one that was like 11-13/person w/o alcohol and it was perfect. I think we paid under 450. They didnt have a time limit but the room isnt available until 8 for private parties. I hope this helps!

angeliu27 · October 2009

Lou Malnati's on Wells was about a 2 hour time limit. Which was suffiecient for us. I think I have the faxed sheet with the prices per person still. email me if you want a copy: angeliu27 at gmail dot com

Bubbles11 · October 2009

Buca de Beppo was excellent, several different price ranges and they will work with you and your budget. They were unbelievably helpful and accomodating.

JulieBadulie · October 2009

We are having ours at Jak's Tap in Greek Town near UIC. They have private party rooms, and you can get trays of ribs, chicken, etc. Tasty and reasonably priced. My fiance found it.

Cheap rehearsal dinner ideas?

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