Rehearsal Dinner Help Needed!

[Dani916]

Hi All-

I have a question that I need advice on. Normally it is appropriate etiquette to invite all out of town guests to the rehearsal dinner. The problem is, everyone will be from out of town. My fiance wants to include everyone, but he is not sure how much of the bill his father will be willing to pay. Of course I would love to include everyone, but I don't know if it is financially feasible.

Ideally we would like to have the rehearsal and dinner with just the wedding party and immediate family, and then have everyone for a dessert party at Epcot for Illuminations. The problem with this is we would require two escorted entrances into the park and would most likely need to provide transportation (more $$$$)

Does anyone have any ideas, helpful suggestions, other non park areas (not in the parks) to have dinner?

Thanks for any guidance. I appreciate it!
Dani

 

[Brit_Jude]

It is a nice gesture, to invite them all so that you don't leave them at loose ends in a strange town the night before the wedding. Tradtionally though it really was just the immediate families and those in the wedding party. However, if you don't invite them, you can include a list of restaurants or things to do on your wedding website/invitation such as DTD, wishes fireworks, times of the parks etc. Also, you can hold the rehearsal dinner on the early side, and then include a note in your invitations saying "If you're in town the night before the wedding, we'd love to see you! We'll be at the xxxx Pub/lounge etc after X pm – please join us if you can make it."

Or you could have the rehersal dinner another evening and have a no host mix and mingle at a pub or lounge the night before the wedding and see if you can arrange some snacks or appetizers.

 

[CanadianBelle]

I've also heard that people have gotten around the need for the escort and transportation by letting guests know ahead of time that they need a park ticket so you could say something like "if you're in town and happen to be spending the day at epcot/theme park, we would love to meet you for a dessert party. Please meet us by the XX pavillion at XX oclock"
that way you don't have to pay for the viewing fees either

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

We are not inviting everyone, only parents and those in the Wedding Party. We are having a DP and I want it to be a thank you to everyone in our wedding. I also don't want it to outshine the wedding itself. I don't think it's necessary to invite everyone in you instance. If we could afford to we would, but we can't.

 

[BecBennett]

Normally it is appropriate etiquette to invite all out of town guests to the rehearsal dinner.

Is it??

 

[Soonji]

I've heard that Trail's End does well for rehearsal dinners -- low(er) cost, buffet, good food, and no admission required!

You might also want to consider 'Ohana. I've seen large parties there before, and the atmosphere lends itself to a party. Don't forget, also -- Ohana means family!

 

[HopefulDisneyBride]

We had our RD at Sea Breeze Pointe. They set it up buffet style and had menus and stuff to choose from. We were really happy with it - gorgeous night, it was overlooking the water, and we even got to see the Epcot fireworks. Everyone told us that they had a really good time.

 

[pezaddict231]

I think that rule is really for home weddings when you would have very few out of town guests, so as a courtesy you invite them since they wouldn't have anything else to do.

For our RD, it will just be the BP along with their dates and immediate family.

I think it's great when the Bride and Groom are able to do a very large rehearsal dinner or welcome party. We really wanted to but it just wasn't in the budget. I'm still disappointed we had to cut it, but I think our guests will appreciate having time on their own in Disney especially those that are only there for a few days. I agree with a pp, maybe provide a list of your favorite attractions, restaurant suggestions or things like that.

You could also do a DP at Sago Cay or the Marina, no transportation fees, no viewing fees, so that will cut your costs a little.

 

[Dani916]

Thank you all for your ideas!