Rehearsal dinner ideas?

22 years ago

Have any of you hosted a rehearsal dinner at home? We're considering a bbq, likely kabobs, salads, punch, drinks, etc...Just wondering if some of you would like to share ideas or experiences for this type of event, esp what foods you served....Thanks!

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Comments (10)

duckyhead
22 years ago
We are having ours at home and are planning on an italian dinner... spaghetti w/ meatballs and lasagne with 2 types of salads (spinach and our favorite restuarant's signature salad... we are getting their large take out servings of salad and spaghetti, but are making everything else ourselves...) various appetizers (garlic bread, bruschetta, etc...) and cheesecake and cookies for dessert.

Our "rehearsal dinner" is open to all of the out-of-towners, which is the majority of the guestlist, so we are planning a large meal... Lasagne is easy to make early and then freeze...

Hope this helps :)
-DuckyHead
joann23456
22 years ago
Duckyhead - Friends of mine had a similar dinner at home in their basement. They had a number of small tables with white and red check tablecloths and candles dripping in wine bottles.

It was so much fun, and not too expensive.
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Nettie: You don't *have* to invite all the out-of-towners to the rehearsal dinner; in fact, if the groom's family is truly hosting, I think it's sort of rude to expand the guest list on them. If they *offer*, OK, but I wouldn't even ask them, for fear of them feeling pressured. Normally, the rehearsal dinner is strictly related to the rehearsal. Therefore, it's the bridal party and their dates, the officiant, and the immediate family (mom, dad, siblings) of the bride and groom. Grandparents aren't traditionally on that list. However, if they're there, it might be a nice gesture, so their feelings aren't hurt. One thing I think that happens when the out-of-towners are invited to the rehearsal dinner is, esp. if it's in a restaurant, it sort of feels like the reception itself, bcs everybody's there. So I'm sort of a foot-dragger on this; I don't like to invite the out-of-towners. Plus, I personally prefer the most personal touch possible for rehearsal dinners, and a big crowd makes it hard to do at home. (not that an out-of-town MOG can have it at home) That said, AS an out-of-town guest, I like to have something to do, and a chance to see some of my relatives. If you don't want to or can't expand the rehearsal dinner, you might recruit someone among the out-of-town guests to organize a get-together somewhere in case people would like it. Maybe an aunt and uncle can tell everyone that they'll all have dinner at whichever local restaurant, if they want to come along, and everybody can gather that way, and feel like they're not abandoned, without having to crash the other event. My uncle let us all know that they'd be hanging around at the restaurant AFTER the rehearsal dinner, and we could join them for drinks if we wanted, so we did that. We got to feel a part of things, a little, but they didn't have to feed u. We married in my true hometown, which meant that EVERYBODY except my mom and dad traveled for the wedding. So *I* hosted the rehearsal dinner, and asked my mom to help plan, and brothers to help cook and serve. We had a barbecue at a local park; and everybody was invited. I couldn't have afforded a restaurant meal for all those people, and this keps it from feeling too much like the real wedding reception (which was a buffet at mom's house, so it's not like it was THAT much different). Good luck!
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your poor cousin! Her course of action sounds sensible. And once she's clearly communicated this (perhaps in a nicely worded letter sent "return receipt requested" to MOB, groom, and bride? LOL! But seriously, she should put it in writing), she needs to cut off contact w/the MOB as much as possible. Because she SURE doesn't need to spend her mental and physical energy trying to pick a wine that will not break her bank! The groom and his wife-to-be need to point out to the MOB that the groom's beloved mother is fighting for her life, and shouldn't be stressed at this point. And the poor bride! Her mom is gonna make her look like Bridezilla! And it think it's really crummy for the bride's side to create a HUGE wedding and insist that the groom's side pay the alcohol bill for them all. It's one thing for the groom's side to pitch in, but neither side should be bankrupting the other.
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Do you have a dressy blouse or simple black sweater that you can wear instead of the top and jacket? For me, even though the slacks are dressy, the fact that they are pants, bumps them down a notch from a dress. I think the a jacket makes an outfit look more formal. But, since the men are required to wear sports jackets, that elevates the formality of the event. Unless everyone is coming in jeans, and you didn't get the memo, clothing will run the gamut and you will be fine in your choice of attire or with just a nice top and the dressy slacks.
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Glitter53
Original Author
22 years ago
Duckyhead, ours will also be open to many out-of-towners as well as the wedding party, and for the life of me, why didn't I think of lasagna?! I make a great one! I could do a couple: a meat one and a vegetarian one(my favourite!). We love bruschetta and our fresh garden basil will be so wonderful by then, esp for the lasagnas! And yes, we could order salads in from our favourite restaurants, too!
And they DO freeze well! I'm also decorating the wedding cake that day, too, so it'll save me tons of work if I make them way ahead and freeze them! I love it! Also, I was worried about the weather in early Sept as far as a bbq goes, so this will be perfect! As for desserts, I think a nice, rich ice-cream with our fresh home-made strawberry sauce and real whipped cream. Thanks, Duckhead!! What a great idea! :-)))
duckyhead
22 years ago
Glitter... YUM!!! I'm so glad that I helped spark your culinary creativity :) I love fresh basil from the garden... mmmmm.... strawberrys and ice cream... yumm... :)

Ours is in 2 weeks, so I will let you know if we find any snags in the plans!

-DuckyHead
sweet_pea10
22 years ago
We had our son's rehearsal dinner in our back yard and it was a great success. We prepared sloppy joes in the crock pot so that they could cook while we decorated at the church and had the rehearsal. Everything was ready to serve when we returned home. It was June, so we had watermelon for dessert. We invited a number of "extra" people too, including the pianist and wife, the soloist and her husband, the minister and wife, and any out-of-town relatives who were already here. We hung a pinata in our apple tree for the children and they had great fun with it. By being at a private home, everything was relaxed and there was no need to feel rushed.
Glitter53
Original Author
22 years ago
I discussed the menu with my DH, and he said we'd have everything catered by an Italian restaurant here! Woohoo!! Love it! But the ice-cream, home-made strawberry sauce and real whipped cream stays! ;-D Good luck with your wedding Duckyhead....and yes, please let us know how everything turned out!
Sweet-Pea, that's exactly what we thought about having it at home: casual, mingling of new relatives, out-of-towners...and much praying for sunshine! ;-D Thanks for responding! Nice to have it all over, hm?
janetwilson
22 years ago
Speaking as an old married woman (17 years) I always vote for an at-home rehearsal dinner. We were married in January and my rehearsal dinner was a barbeque - complete with a hayride from the church to the groom's family home.

My cousin was married in August and had a backyard luau - the guys all wore grass skirts - it was hoot!

My sister had an Italian dinner - lots of candlelight, yummy food - very relaxing and fun.

I think we tend to make too much of a production of the rehearsal dinners - they should be fun and relaxing for everyone, there's enough stress the following day!
duckyhead
22 years ago
Our rehearsal dinner turned out very nicely, despite a few snags... here's a couple things I learned:

- When making all of the food for both the rehearsal and the wedding (Including the cake!!) make sure to be *EXTREMELY* organized and in communication with all people involved with the cooking. We had some major miscommunications with my mom (who seemed to beleive that she could do everything herself and didn't realize she was "crazy" until the morning of the rehearsal!) so the rehearsal dinner food wasn't made until the day of, when it was supposed to have been made a week ahead of time and frozen... my brother and I ended up making the food with some help from other people while also making sure that the house got cleaned and decorated!

- A coordinator of some sort is very useful when it comes to rehearsing... we had people sitting around waiting for one thing to happen while others were outside waiting for the people from inside to come out... we ended up starting the rehearsal more than an hour late! And once it started we really didn't know what was going on... our officiant was my "Hubby"'s uncle and he didn't really have anything to say about the order of things...

Anyway, despite the snags, I think everything was wonderful... I'm sure that it could've gone more smoothly, but it was still very beautiful and a wonderful meal! :)

(We ended up having a spinach salad with meat lasagne and vegetarian mushroom penne - no dessert - mom forgot to make the cheesecake and remembered 30 minutes before the rehearsal...)

-DuckyHead
MaryAnn_AL
22 years ago
For my stepson's wedding rehearsal dinner, I rented a shelter at a nearby park. I put checkered tableclothes on the tables and served barbeque with all the fixings. Borrowed an old cold drink cooler for the cold drinks. It went over great!
butterflywingz
19 years ago
I am having a chocolate fountain with berries and cookies. A variety of fine wines and spirits. Now we are going to be totally formal for the go through because I know suits and such can get so hot. Now everyone is allowed 1 pet if they must. We will have food for the pets in crystal bowls. All of this we will have in a full view aquarium. Hope you gals have luck

Rehearsal dinner ideas?

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Rehearsal dinner ideas?

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