Let me give you some background first: Our wedding is small (family and a few close friends) being that my fiance and I are both working full-time and my fiance is going to school full-time at a fairly expensive school. We are also saving to buy a house soon, so our budget is very strict. I will be paying for most of the expenses, with a little help from my parents. His parents haven't offered any help financially, which I didn't expect. I don't mean that rudely, we just were not counting on help from our parents but mine happened to offer.
We have almost everything paid for, and I have gone over my budget slightly. I know traditionally the groom's family pays for the rehearsal dinner, but I realize that doesn't mean they HAVE to or want to. I am estimating that the cost of this dinner would be at least $300. I really don't want another expense because I have already gone over my budget and I'm sure there will be other expenses that I haven't thought of yet because the wedding is still about 6 months away
The last time we saw his parents, they asked if we have a room block for the night of the wedding (it's about 2.5 hours from where they live) and what time we are starting so they get there on time. Based on that, it didn't seem like they were even aware that there is typically a dinner the night before. So I'm pretty sure they were not planning on paying for it or helping pay for it.
My question is how do I handle this? Just have a dinner with the parents to bring down the cost? Not have one at all? I don't want to do anything that will end up hurting someone's feelings or make anyone feel awkward, so any suggestions are appreciated!!