Rehearsal dinner at home?

sarah0725 · April 2011

Hey, I'm looking for people who had their rehearsal dinner either at home or in a house setting to tell me how it went down.

Here's why: Charlie really, really, really, really wants the rehearsal dinner to be the BEST PIZZA EVER from Mack & Manco's in Ocean City. We have 19-20 people coming to the dinner, and during the summer, Mack & Manco's is so tremendously busy at all times that they don't ever do reservations or rope off tables for a group or anything - it's just not cost effective for them. And we'd never be able to just walk in there and find seating together for our whole group.

So we need to find another place for the dinner. Our families are both renting beach houses for the week, but neither has seating for 20 (unless couches and floors are also employed). I haven't been successful finding a good public park with tables to have the dinner outdoors. And I feel like if we rent a room somewhere, the cost effectiveness of having pizza for the dinner would be nullified.

The moms kind of want to scrap the whole thing and have the dinner at a restaurant, and both of them are putting pressure on me to change Charlie's mind. I don't really want to change Charlie's mind, so I think we need to figure out a way to use one of the beach houses for the dinner. Hence my original question.

AdeleDazeem · April 2011

Sarah!

Mack and Manco is awesome. AWESOME.

I'm going to think really hard about somewhere in OC that you can put a lot of people.

Hang on.

baystateapple · April 2011

My BIL and his wife had their rehearsal dinner "at home" (it was more a rented beach house, but still, a home atmosphere). It went really well. Just make sure you have a lot of plates, silverware, and glasses on hand (my MIL rented from a company). They did theirs buffet-style and we all had a really good time.

sarah0725 · April 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_rehearsal-dinner-home?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a79f679-4af8-4c63-a248-a412fb6930bcPost:af36051f-d225-4e5f-aae7-d1251fe04b60">Re: Rehearsal dinner at home?</a>:
[QUOTE]My BIL and his wife had their rehearsal dinner "at home" (it was more a rented beach house, but still, a home atmosphere). It went really well. Just make sure you have a lot of plates, silverware, and glasses on hand (my MIL rented from a company). They did theirs buffet-style and we all had a really good time.
Posted by baystateapple[/QUOTE]

And you guys just sat around the house and stuff? What happened when people wanted to give toasts or give gifts or stuff like that? Did everybody just look up from where they were?

midgetthemighty · April 2011

Does anyone have any extra room in their vehicles to bring extra folding chairs with them? Do you know anyone in Ocean City who you would be able to borrow chairs from? You could also look into renting some chairs but that can be expensive. A church in the area may also loan some chairs for you for cheap (or maybe even free!).

I know nothing about the area, so these are just generic suggestions. I hope you find a way to make it work! Sounds like an awesome rehearsal dinner.

jessicabessica · April 2011

Ideas for how to use the beach houses--
- Have people sitting on couches (this really depends on your families/friends as to if this would fly).
- Rent chairs and folding tables. My mom has rented beds when we have lots of houseguests, you can get all kinds of stuff.
- Get beach blankets and eat on the beach, if one of the houses has beach access. If you have some beach chairs and a folding table to keep the food out of the sand, I think that makes people more comfortable.

emilyinchile · April 2011

Is there space at either of the beach house to rent an extra table and some more chairs to make seating for 20? It seems like those rentals wouldn't be too much extra.

kgorman307 · April 2011

I wanted to do ours at the house my parents are renting, but logistically it wouldn't work. We'll probably have approx 75 OOT guests at the dinner & my mom brought up a very good point that all those people wouldn't work out unless we rented port-a-johns. I would think with 20 people, that shouldn't be an issue.

FI's cousin got married 2 years ago and her RD was at her sister's house. There were approx 40 people there, and they had italian food catered in. It worked fine. There was outdoor seating, and they just rented a bunch of chairs (which is pretty cheap) and had beer/wine. With pizza I would think it would be even easier - you really don't need a table to eat pizza, just chairs. I guess it just depends how much space there is in the rental house? I think it's feasible.

AdeleDazeem · April 2011

What kind of houses are they renting? Do they roof decks? Are they on the beach?

Could you put the pizza in a central location of the house then have an inside table for seating, deck table for seating, and maybe a roof deck table? People can just mingle.

Do you want everyone to be in the same place? That might be harder.

My sister had a beach party post-rehearsal dinner cocktail party. People milled around the house in all the above places.

There is also a little covered area of the boardwalk way down at 59th and Central. People do weddings there. There are benches along the sides and I bet you can bring in tables. It's right on the beach so you have that. Of course, seagulls might dive bomb you for dinner, but that's part of the fun - right? The rocks are also right there so you'd get some wonderful pictures.

sarah0725 · April 2011

I haven't been in the rental house yet, so I'm not sure whether we're going to have room to set up an extra table. That's a really good idea, though, and one that I hadn't thought of for some reason.

We're probably going to try to get into the houses the day of our tasting in May, so we can figure out if tables are possible then.

kgorman307 · April 2011

Cousin's RD - I can't remember any toasts. You could always have everyone look up from where they are, and make sure anyone outside comes inside for them. Just announce that you're going to be making a toast.

She grabbed the WP and brought them all to the kitchen to distribute the WP gifts & the girls/guys opened them all at the same time. Everyone else just sort of looked on. It worked out fine.

baystateapple · April 2011

Pretty much. People were milling around in the kitchen, living room, and on the porch. When the B and G were ready to give their speeches and hand out gifts, everyone congregated indoors. It felt like an adult house party.

sarah0725 · April 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_rehearsal-dinner-home?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a79f679-4af8-4c63-a248-a412fb6930bcPost:ba825385-9e0d-4e37-a631-c930612c1825">Re: Rehearsal dinner at home?</a>:
[QUOTE]What kind of houses are they renting? Do they roof decks? Are they on the beach? Could you put the pizza in a central location of the house then have an inside table for seating, deck table for seating, and maybe a roof deck table? People can just mingle. Do you want everyone to be in the same place? That might be harder. My sister had a beach party post-rehearsal dinner cocktail party. People milled around the house in all the above places. There is also a little covered area of the boardwalk way down at 59th and Central. People do weddings there. There are benches along the sides and I bet you can bring in tables. It's right on the beach so you have that. Of course, seagulls might dive bomb you for dinner, but that's part of the fun - right? The rocks are also right there so you'd get some wonderful pictures.
Posted by Joy2611[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure about Charlie's family's house, but ours has front and back decks and a roof deck, along with an island inside between the kitchen and living/dining room that would be a good place to set up a buffet. I've already been thinking about making some sides to go along with the pizza. It would be kind of nice to get everyone in the same place if possible, and I think that may happen with 20 people, although it will probably be a little cozy.

Our house is on Asbury, so a couple blocks from the beach, and I think in the 30s. I haven't been down the 59th street end of the island much - I'll have to check it out!

AdeleDazeem · April 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_rehearsal-dinner-home?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a79f679-4af8-4c63-a248-a412fb6930bcPost:be510ce5-221b-424d-85d6-1514286fcd88">Re: Rehearsal dinner at home?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Rehearsal dinner at home? : I'm not sure about Charlie's family's house, but ours has front and back decks and a roof deck, along with an island inside between the kitchen and living/dining room that would be a good place to set up a buffet. I've already been thinking about making some sides to go along with the pizza. It would be kind of nice to get everyone in the same place if possible, and I think that may happen with 20 people, although it will probably be a little cozy. Our house is on Asbury, so a couple blocks from the beach, and I think in the 30s. I haven't been down the 59th street end of the island much - I'll have to check it out!
Posted by sarah0725[/QUOTE]

Oh my! So much deck space! Use it up!

When it's time to do toasts, just ask everyone to come into the kitchen... or take a walk to the beach.

This post makes me want to have summer RIGHT NOW.

sarah0725 · April 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_rehearsal-dinner-home?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a79f679-4af8-4c63-a248-a412fb6930bcPost:f8f7642f-74ad-4fd9-9054-c4f8a0cb8424">Re: Rehearsal dinner at home?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Rehearsal dinner at home? : Oh my! So much deck space! Use it up! When it's time to do toasts, just ask everyone to come into the kitchen... or take a walk to the beach. This post makes me want to have summer RIGHT NOW.
Posted by Joy2611[/QUOTE]

Haha awesome. :)

Well, this has all made me feel better. I'll have plenty of ammo when the next mom attack comes along.

LisaChris2011 · April 2011

I'm kinda late to responding to this thread, but could you do high coktail tables instead of the standard 6-ft tables? The high cocktail tables take up significantly less room, and where you'd be able to fit lets say, two 6-ft tables (6 people to a table=12), you can fit 4 cocktail tables (4 people to a cocktail table=16). Just a thought! Good luck.

The thread peaked my interest because I am also having our RD at a house (my FI's), and I'm having to be creative on the room set-up due to space issues.

lyndausvi · April 2011

I had my RD at our beach rental in Cape May. People were sitting at the bar, the large dining room table, tables/chairs out on the deck, the sofa. Basically where ever you could put a but they sat.

It lasted for hours, so it couldn't have been that bad.

jeslm · April 2011

Is there a backyard at either beach house? Or deck?

My friend had her rehearsal dinner as a backyard barbecue type situation in the backyard of the rented beach house in Brigantine. There was plenty of space, lots of food, good wine, and when people wanted to talk, the stood on a cooler. Informal, but TONS of fun. If you need more seating, pop out some lawn chairs, but at something like that, most people will be up milling around.

mkrupar · April 2011

My friend had their rehearsal dinner at her H's house. It was pizza, pasta, salad, all that stuff. They set all the food in the kitchen, buffet style. Then people ate in the backyard, in the living room, in the dining room, wherever. When they handed out gifts most everyone were in the backyard so they just gave them to the WP. I don't think there were any toasts. It should be too hard though to gather 20 people into a room for some quick toasts and gift giving.

jess9802 · April 2011

My best friend's RD was at her parents' home. They cooked some Costco lasagnas and had lots of salad and French bread. We were all able to sit outside at patio furniture for dinner, the prayer, and the toasts (?), but otherwise it was pretty relaxed. I thought it was great and a lot of fun. A lot more fun than the last RD I attended (at a country club).

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