Rehearsal Dinner

[allisonswonderland]

Hello-
I was wondering if any of you had rehearsal dinners and what you did. I know that you can go to a dinner show or priority seating ata restaurant, but my fiancee's mother (who will be paying for that) wants everyone attending the wedding to come to the rehearsal which will be 65 or so people. I wanted something a bit more upscale, but what about bbq on the beach or something? What have you all done?[/COLOR]

 

[JonetteA]

It sounds like you and I had the same issue. We decided to do Fulton's Crab House. We are expecting around 78 people if everyone comes. The venue has a deck and windows on three sides. This is NOT through Disney as Fulton's is privately owned. I am not sure what the rental/deposit is, but if you PM me your address, I think I have the various menus at home. They were really quite reasonable.

Jonette

 

[twojo21]

my mil is hosting a small rehearsal dinner at whispering canyon cafe at the wilderness lodge for 13 - our parents & wedding party on saturday followed by a hayride at ft wilderness.

the next night sunday we are hosting a large welcome dinner for our 65 guests at the rainforest cafe at downtown disney in a private party room.

 

[Equidae]

We had a RD for about 20 at Artist Pointe at the Wilderness Lodge. We sat at a roman table and it was perfect. I'm sure they could accomadate larger groups and use more tables though. It was wonderful -- and upscale too, since you said you wanted that.

 

[Janet2k]

I was wondering if any of you had rehearsal dinners and what you did.

In Walt Disney World, you can have something elaborate or something simple. It all depends upon what your heart desires.

If you want to host a private event, Disney is capable of just about anything under the moon. I held a private dinner party at the Grand Floridian last year: click here for photos. It was wonderful and my guests had a lovely evening (I wrote about it in great detail in one of my trip reports).

On the night before my vow renewal last Fall, I chose to have a dessert party at the Grand Floridian: click here for photos. Disney did another superb job with my event. They added all sorts of little touches to our event that made it very personal. It was a beautiful evening that set the perfect tone for the magical night that followed (our vow renewal).

I have read of many other couples who have held their rehearsal/welcome parties at the Luau, the Hoop-Dee-Doo, Mickey's Backyard Barbeque, 'Ohana's, Whispering Canyon, Narcoossee's, Citricos, Flying Fish, Boma's, Jiko's, California Grill, Les Chefs de France, Nine Dragons, Brown Derby, and so on. Disney has some incredible restaurants with the most scrumptious food. In my humble opinion, you can't go wrong with any of them. Consider contacting a few restaurants to see what can be done for a party of your size. They'll tell you what the ground rules are and what sort of dinner party may or may not be possible.

 

[Laurafoster]

It is possible to do something on the beach by the Y+B Club- i saw someone haing a party there this year! no sure if it was a BBQ but the had food+drink. and you can see the fireworks from there too.

 

[cjb71870]

Was married at Disney last year. We took all the geusts to a private area around the lagoon to see Illuminations and had and open bar. It was a surprise. And, everyone said it was the highlight of the weekend.

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

Hey!

We were thinking a family style meal at Alfredo's in Italy. For your group, a family style dinner might work really well. There is an alcove at the front of the restaurant that might work well...

We decided to forgo the traditional dinner and add some Disney Magic. We're doing a private viewing of Wishes from the marina at the Grand Floridian with a dessert party. We weren't able to secure an area to see IllumiNations during the holiday season for some reason. We're just as happy with this but want to tweak it just a litle bit. We're serving the groom's cake at that point and have the Carrie Flagler dessert station with fondue, etc. To keep costs down, we're serving just soda, coffee, hot cocoa, tea, ice tea, and water. It's for 36 people- about half of your party- PM me if you wanted an estimate of the cost.

 

[Janet2k]

It is possible to do something on the beach by the Y+B Club...

Yes. My family attended a private event there a few years ago. There were buffet stations set up, a fully stocked bar, large round tables that seated 8 or 10 people each, a balloon artist, a magician, organized games on the beach for the children, a steel drum band, a DJ, and Mickey & Minnie for photos that were printed right there on the spot. The party was held as the sun set and lasted into the evening. It was wonderful and my family had a ball.

 

[WeddingMaid]

Ohana at the Polynesian is great!

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

We just switched to the Napa Room at the California Grill. Our inclement weather back-up had us relaly nervous after we started looking at it.

PM me if you want the list of menu options, prices, and minimum expenditures for each of the rooms. I will get back to you early next week- will be in rlando for the weekend taking care of this last minute stuff.

 

[okapi]

Cost is always an issue and there are a zillion great places. Here are the 2 we did:
1. Private area around the lagoon, incl. Illuminations.
(AWESOME!)
2. Private room at Contemporary Resort's California Grill overlooking the MK. time it right and you'll be able to watch fireworks from above along with the awesome view. (Acutually this was our dinner that evening, but we'd considered it for Rehersal).
(GRAND!)

 

[Chrissie-riel]

Just like Janet2K, I was fortunate enough to attend the "same" party. Mine was a rehearsal dinner for about 100 ppl at the Grand Floridian. Fabulous buffet dinner, plentiful bar, kiddy activity table, balloon artist, Jimmy Buffet type one-man live entertainment. It was held out by the GF pool and beach. Truly amazing time!! Oh and they gave everyone Mickey ears embroidered with each person's name for party favors - the pictures were so fun!!