Getting Married? Tips To Have A Great Rehearsal Dinner For You And Your Guests
The rehearsal dinner is much more relaxed and flexible than the wedding. For this reason, you have many options for making your rehearsal dinner a great one. Below are tips on using a caterer and a restaurant for your dinner. No matter what you choose, you, your soon-to-be spouse, and your guests will have a great time.
Tips for Using a Caterer for Your Rehearsal Dinner
To make things easier on you, you can hire a caterer to provide the food for your rehearsal dinner. You can choose a caterer that stays onsite that will either serve the food themselves or bring servers if your rehearsal dinner is large. Other caterers will bring the food and then leave. They will return later to pick up their things.
Do your research before you hire a caterer. Set up meetings with each one, and ask them to bring samples of their food so you can taste it. Bring your soon-to-be spouse along with you to have their opinion on the food. Ask the caterer if they have catered weddings before, and if so, how many. The caterer should be licensed to sell alcohol if you are having this at your wedding.
Some caterers can help you with other things, such as using specialty lighting and choosing a theme for your wedding. If you do not have a venue selected yet, they can tell you of the best ones in your area.
Tips for Having Rehearsal Dinner at a Restaurant
You can have your rehearsal dinner at a local restaurant. Choose one that you and your spouse often attend so you know you will like the food. Contact the restaurant owner well before your wedding to reserve an area large enough for the number of people you have. Ask the restaurant owner if you can come beforehand and decorate this area. You could put flowers and flameless candles on the tables, put a beautiful tablecloth over the table, and decorate in your wedding theme.
If you want to save money, you could choose to have people meet you at the restaurant for cocktail hour and serve cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. You should make it clear in your invites the type of rehearsal dinner you are hosting so they know what to expect.
If you have problems with choosing your venue and cannot decide on the type of rehearsal dinner you want, consider hiring a wedding planner to help you.