Rehersal Dinners

[JennRN]

I loved my RD! We did it at an Italian restaurant in Dallas-my husband's parent's paid for the whole thing. My entire family was there, as was his-even the out of town people! Also, we invited some of my husband's fraternity brothers who weren't in the wedding. There were probably 50-60 people there? I didn't know it was going to be that big-I sort of zoned out on that part of the planning. His mom did surprise me with some gorgoues flower arrangments there-we had a set menu and it was so nice!!

[Army Wife'79]

Exactly! Where do I draw the line? If I invite all the OOT'ers, then it's everyone coming to the actual reception. and then will the FIL's think I'm "stealing" their thunder with a second reception? Destination weddings have their own little sets of problems don't they?

[bejazd]

SthrnZeta that is a totally adorable picture of your friend. Ok, now I've changed my mind about the wearing your mom's dress at the rehearsal. I guess if you are in your mid-20's now your parents probably married in the early 70s...I was thinking of my mother's cathedral style ball gown from the early 60s (my mom would have killed me if I wanted to cut that up!)vs. the Betsey Johnson styles or even the Gunne Sax styles. I could even picture a suit worn at a civil service possibly working. hey, whatever the bride wants. It's her deal and she gets the last word on what she wears!

ArmyWife, we went to an out of town wedding last year, and I was actually happy we were not asked to go to the RD. It was a long weekend vacation for us (sin children) so it was nice to have a little extra time for sight seeing.

[SthrnZeta]

bejazd, that's actually not my friend, I quoted someone else

And I know it's "proper" to invite OOTs but that would mean having a mini-reception and I don't want that. So, this is technically a destination wedding, it's gonna be just the wedding party and SOs BUT I will reserve a block of rooms and have small gift baskets for everyone in their hotel rooms with a list of local restaurants, etc. I think that's fair.

[bejazd]

My bad. White Daisy gets the credit! in any case, she's darling.

I need another vacation without children! They've sucked out my brain, and I need recharging so I can focus!

[Scully]

I have to say, I was more stressed out for the RD than the actual wedding day! We had our dinner the night before our wedding at a local Italian restaurant which had a separate party room. Nothing too large or too fancy! Just a shortened menu and we invited immediate family and the bridal party (sans dates) and all of our OOT relatives and friends who were staying in a nearby hotel, where we had blocked out rooms. About 25 people in total. The food was amazing! And the drinks were fabulous. I think everyone had a good time and our bridal party definitely bonded! There, we handed out gifts. It made everyone more relaxed for the next day. My FMIL (at the time) picked up the tab. Although the dinner ran a bit late (we were all tired) I think it went rather well. Many good memories!