Rehearsal Dinner

[Kelliex13]

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a rehearsal dinner restaurant? We wanted to look on Disney property and off.

 

[pixie08]

We had ours at O'hana- it was awesome! everyone had so much fun...people still call me and say "shaka cousin" There was food for everyone to eat even my picky SIL and vegetarian bridesmaid!

 

[honey2741]

Was your rehearsal dinner in a private room or in the main area with others around at Ohana? What did they do that was special to honor your pending ceremony? Thanks.

 

[pixie08]

Was your rehearsal dinner in a private room or in the main area with others around at Ohana? What did they do that was special to honor your pending ceremony? Thanks.

They do not have a private room...but we had 21 people so we were able to sit at a really large table in the center of the restaurant. If you have a large party you have to have the first or last seating..we did the first 5pm. that was good because it was not packed at all yet. It didn't start getting busy until we were almost done!

Did they do anything special yes it was hilarious. They announced us numerous times (the ukelale singer) we had a special dance and we lead the limbo line and passed out leis...I have recaped it in my TR! HTH!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1531169

 

[PrincessBrideKatie]

We are looking at California Grill, cause its where i wanted it for the reception, but our guest list is too large. But not a private room, thats too much money for FPIL to pay. I would just like to see the fireworks from there.

 

[honey2741]

Pixie08...I am going to enjoy reading your TR. Thanks for sharing! New to the boards, but I am so glad I found it. Very supportive.

 

[JaxTeach]

We are having our welcome dinner at 'Ohana. However, we were considering a local Olive Garden as well. Most of our guests are locals or semi-locals so it wasn't a big deal. The Olive Garden on 535 is very close to Disney. Just an option.

 

[caryndisneydiva]

there's also the restaurants at dtd!!!

 

[allisonswonderland]

There is a "private room" they act like they do not have at Cape May - we used that for our Farewell Dinner. I also know that Yachtsman has one though it is $$$. I had mine at GF Summer House, not a restaurant but it was 44 per person and we did not add any decor, used the tables that were already there and had a buffet style. Depending on your numbers, I do think the min is 1000, though. So if it is just the wedding party you may or may not meet that. We invited everyone attending the wedding to it. I just wanted to let you know that was an option. We just did tea and water with a cash bar(that was all the inlaws would pay for).

 

[orangetiggs]

Just a question regarding the dinner, do you get your guests to pay?? We cant really afford to pay for everyone as we are paying for the wedding ourselves adn cant really budget to pay for that. How did people put it that the guests would have to pay??

 

[figmentfan814]

We're having ours at FRESH at the Dolphin. We wanted something on property without having to pay too much, so we looked at non-Disney options that are still easily accessible.

I picked this one for a couple of reasons. First, our rehearsal will be in the morning and will take place at the Yacht or Beach Clubs or at the Boardwalk, so everyone can take the boat over for the dinner. Plus, we want to have the rehearsal in the morning because the wedding party wants to head to Epcot for the rest of the afternoon. Our other two options were for restaurants at Downtown Disney- Portobello Yacht Club and Wolfgang Puck (which were also great options.) We figured that keeping it within the Epcot area will allow us to save time in getting back to the park.

Another great thing is that they have a private area that is off in a separate room which we can have to ourselves. The windows look over to the Boardwalk and have a great view. They will also set up all of our favors, etc. too and will do one long table for the set up.

Instead of a plated menu (they do offer this option) we are opting for their buffet that has a changing menu every day. They have carved meats, roasted chicken, soups, salad station, sandwiches, and some other entrees with a Mediterranean fare.

Plus a pretty decent size dessert bar. I should have gotten a closer picture of the desserts!

The price is great too. We don’t have to pay anything for the room and it is only $21 per person including beverages.

 

[jnale]

I was just down in Disney for a site tour and we also asked the question about good places to have a rehearsal dinner. My mother-in-law is trying to decide between 3 options:

Our first option is to have a relaxed beach party buffet outside on the beach of the Beach Club resort.

The second option is a buffet at Ariel's which looks really nice.

The third option is the Italian restaurant in Epcot and she would select a few of the entrees from the main menu for the guests to choose from.

I'm not sure which one she likes best but they all sound nice for anyone!

 

[Malibelle]

We had ours at Ohana for 50 people which all wore hawaiian shirts. We sat on the side of the fire pit, almost like a private dining. It was great. We got in to decorate the tables and gave out leis to everyone. The entertainer came over to us during her show and make us lead the line for the kids activties and do a special dance. We paid for all our guest, if you can get the DDE card you get 20% for up to 10 people. Check out my link to our trip report to see pictures.

 

[MistressOfAllEvil]

We had ours at Ohana for 50 people which all wore hawaiian shirts. We sat on the side of the fire pit, almost like a private dining. It was great. We got in to decorate the tables and gave out leis to everyone. The entertainer came over to us during her show and make us lead the line for the kids activties and do a special dance. We paid for all our guest, if you can get the DDE card you get 20% for up to 10 people. Check out my link to our trip report to see pictures.

did Ohana supply the leis? or did you bring your own to pass out to everyone?
(this is where my welcome party is going be!)

 

[DisneySweetie]

Just a question regarding the dinner, do you get your guests to pay?? We cant really afford to pay for everyone as we are paying for the wedding ourselves adn cant really budget to pay for that. How did people put it that the guests would have to pay??

Great question. Hint - do not call it a rehearsal dinner. If you call it a rehearsal dinner, the idea that there is a host to cover everyone is implied.

I am not getting married at Disney, but we ran into a similar issue. DF's dad and stepmom were willing to pay for a reheasal dinner. But what we really wanted was an open house at our apartment complex for everyone to come and join. People are traveling from all over, we wanted to include everyone in a laid back party with frisbee, food, and fun. Instead of paying for the rehearsal dinner, DF's dad and stepmom are paying for the open house.

Since the wedding is on sunday and the open house is on saturday, we decided we wanted to do something else on friday night for the people who might come to town early. We are doing a "No-Host Kick-Off Dinner." Basically we just reserved part of a restaurant and the guests can come if they want to. I don't think it's at all tacky to call it that. Everything else during the weekend is so laid back. And this is the only thing that the guests have to pay their own way on. It's completely optional and we don't really expect too many people besides the immediate families and bridal party to come. However, we are leaving it open to everyone so I guess we'll have to wait and see. People who are in town are going to need to go out to eat, so why not give them the option to meet up with everyone else? I think it's going to work out great.

 

[Malibelle]

did Ohana supply the leis? or did you bring your own to pass out to everyone?
(this is where my welcome party is going be!)

No they didnt but I didn't ask. I ordered them from Oriental trading company along with little surfboard tins full of mints that placed on all the tables. I also made menu cards with the menu on one side and a thank you saying on the other. I know I posted it in my planning journal if you do a search on here. I will see if I can find my journal.

 

[autumnbride2B]

I was just down in Disney for a site tour and we also asked the question about good places to have a rehearsal dinner. My mother-in-law is trying to decide between 3 options:

Our first option is to have a relaxed beach party buffet outside on the beach of the Beach Club resort.

The second option is a buffet at Ariel's which looks really nice.

The third option is the Italian restaurant in Epcot and she would select a few of the entrees from the main menu for the guests to choose from.

I'm not sure which one she likes best but they all sound nice for anyone!

We had our welcome dinner at Ariel's. I chose a menu of caesar salad, garlic bread and rolls, and two pasta stations - penne pasta with sun dried tomato pesto and mushroom ravioli with marinara sauce. We also had a groom's cake. I was blown away by how gorgeous the buffet was. Definitely the nicest one I have ever been to. All the guests raved about it.

 

[Kelliex13]

Im kinda new at this...but what is a DDE?

 

[MistressOfAllEvil]

No they didnt but I didn't ask. I ordered them from Oriental trading company along with little surfboard tins full of mints that placed on all the tables. I also made menu cards with the menu on one side and a thank you saying on the other. I know I posted it in my planning journal if you do a search on here. I will see if I can find my journal.

Thanks Malibelle....

on a side note, did you work at disney?? cp or anything?

 

[KT27]

We had ours at Olive Garden! We had 35 and they gave us a section of the restaurant. We had a menu picked for the guests which included tea, soda, dessert.