#521: rehearsal dinner.

Hi, I have ask you to post what you are thinking of for a money-saving rehersal dinner? Here's my deal: the grooms parents are a different religion and at this point are refusing to come or pay anything for the ceremony. Obviously, we are devasted about them not willing to come (especially becasue we have tried everythign to get them to come.) Anyways, this also means we are footing the bill for our rehersal dinner and we need something cheap to do becasue we are already footing the bill for most everything else for the wedding. Please help. Any tips or anything on cheap rehersal dinner ideas. I don't want to punish my family and friends by not doing anything

i haven't talked much about the rehearsal dinner because...i haven't thought much about it. i don't know what the tradition is when it comes to who pays for what...but i do know that we are footing the bill for everything and anything that involves the wedding. and that includes the rehearsal dinner.

thinking out loud:
1) our rehearsal will most likely be held on friday morning, the day before the wedding. which means. we will be having a rehearsal lunch.
2) after the rehearsal, we can trek it over to a nearby restaurant.
3) or, we can trek it over to someone's house and cater.
4) and if we do the latter, i could cater from somewhere like california chicken cafe, wahoos, or boston market. yum.
5) ok, so now that i've thought about it, i think i will cater. not only is it cost effective, but it will keep things cool and casual, which is keeping in line with the vibe of the weekend. i just need to figure out whose house i could borrow.

so, in conclusion, catering from a local fave is what i plan to do. there are simply soo many fantastic cheap eats out there...it would be an absolute shame to not consider their catering services.

alternative options:

*costco is a great resource for bulk goodies, especially if you're open to prepping the foods yourself. which i'm not. but if you are, i'd say there's a good chance you could save even more money going this route.

*i'm not into the idea of potlucking because i feel like making my peeps work wouldn't go over so well. BUT. you may have family members or close friends who are totally into potlucking. i don't. but if you do...do it, prove it.

at the end of the day, you are not "punishing" anyone if you decide not to have a formal/informal rehearsal dinner. in fact, maybe you could have a small desserts and tea type gathering instead right after the rehearsal if that works better for your budget.

the entire point behind a rehearsal dinner/gathering/anything is to say thank you. that's it. so as long as you do that, whatever you do as a sidenote to strengthen your expression is just that. a sidenote.

words are mightier than food*. hear me?

*not always but definitely so in this instance.