Rehearsal Dinner HELP!

[taylorali]

So my FMIL & FFIL are paying for the rehearsal dinner. They do not want to spend a lot of money at all. Given that they are paying for it, I want to respect their wishes of course and do something that is not insanely expensive.

My DF & I would also like to give a speech that night, as our entire wedding will be at the dinner the night before. (Everyone coming are bridal party/immediate family. - So it's 45-50 people.)

I also want to give my DF a surprise "grooms" cake from an outside bakery that night too.

We had originally planned on Splitsville, but after seeing pricing - doesn't seem like that's plausible.

Anyone have any restaurant ideas that can provide an intimate setting so that all these things can happen? I'm not sure how Rehearsal Dinners generally work in Downtown Disney. I really have only seen pictures of them In parks/resorts. (But you can't bring in an outside vendors cake, right?)

Everyday my FMIL asks me! Please help!!

 

[ChavonDisneyWedding]

When u say they don't want to spend a lot of money at all what does that mean budget wise. There is a difference between inexpensive and inexpensive for Disney which I am sure u already know. I would check with them on a specific budget for the dinner first. If they really want to keep it cheap there are a lot of options off property or u can maybe to a cookout style meal at the campground which is awesome! Fort Wilderness gets over looked more than it should..it is beautiful and a ton of fun. Plus u can buy and cook your own food on the grills there.

 

[WDWLover75]

I agree with PP, ask you FMIL how much the budget is per person. Even at outside restaurants, you might be looking at $30 to $40 per person (without booze) for a private party. When talking to places, make sure they give you the actual cost per person including tax, service charge, and any other charges. Many places should be willing to work with you, if you tell them you can afford x per person, they will pull together options for you. I know one place we booked for my company holiday party, we actually did just appetizers......there was a ton of variety and everyone left stuffed and the price for that was about $10 less than if we had booked the cheapest meal.

Once she gives you the budget per person, I would try reposting here as people may have ideas. I also agree that Fort Wilderness has many great options, the couple things for me that I thought might be difficult were transportation and coordination of buying all the supplies (food, plates, etc) and going through all that the night before the wedding.

Portobellos at DTD seems to have quite a few options for a private party and private rooms, you could try their website. Also, are you tied to a Welcome Dinner or do you just want a Welcome Event? If you don't need to have a full meal or a meal at all, there are more options.

Do you think most people will have cars?

 

[MrsDuck]

We had our rehearsal dinner at T-REX Cafe in DTD. We paid for it ourselves. They put us in the back and it felt very private.

Prices were good - $25/pp. Didn't inquire about the grooms cake though!

 

[andeesings]

Also, what are you having as part of your wedding? Are you having a dessert party? Because you could probably have a Wishes dessert party at the Sago Cay with a custom menu that is reasonable.

 

[taylorali]

I'm trying to plan something inexpensive - nothing over $2000.

Not sure what options we have. :/

Mostly everyone will have cars because my DF's family are all driving down.

We have probably 50 people coming. Everyone that's coming to the wedding is immediate family/bridal party.

I like the idea of somewhere in DTD, but I know my mom won't want us to have it at the T-Rex restaurant. She'll want it somewhere kinda fancier. Idk!

I'm at a loss!

 

[1EvilQueenfan]

As one of the PP said, look into Portobellos at DTD. I know a past bride did have a private function there. It might be cheaper than doing a catered event through DFTW. Good luck

 

[Jousey]

We had our Dinner at Raglen Road, they have a seating area of the main bar that can acomidate around 20. If you give them a call they can help you find a place in the restraunt. We even did a personized menu without prices to help contain the cost and the Irish dancers came over an danced for our group privatly. They also stored and cut our cake for no additional fee. It was a great time and I did not see the bill but I think it was resonable to the amount of people we had. I can not remember the person we talk to but I know we started by just calling and talking to the person that answered the phone.