Rehersal Dinner

Just curious what your thoughts are on this one...

My fiance's mom would like all family and friends staying overnight the hotel to attend the rehersal dinner, while my parents feel the rehersal dinner should only be for the bridal party (and groom's party) and immediate family of the bride and the groom.

Me personally? I can see both sides. It's very nice to invite everyone, but I believe it may take away from the wedding itself if a whole lot of people are at the rehersal dinner.

This is actually the reason we had our RD two days before the wedding - we wanted to keep it to the bridal party without offending anyone or feeling like we left someone out.

The day before the wedding my sister made a bbq for OOT'ers and close family & friends.

This is a really tough one - virtually al of our guests are from OOT - but they will not be invited. This is really distressing my grandmother who fears people will be upset and expect they will be invited becasue it is a 'destination' wedding.

How many OOT guests are there? If there are 5 or 6, I would say invite them, anymore than 10, and thats a whole lot more $$.

I went to a wedding once where the rehearsal dinner was 75 people, and the wedding was 85! It was like having 2 weddings.

Just immediate fam and close friends will be coming to ours (and thats 35!) I will be setting up a huge amount of info in rooms of places to eat (most will have cars) and encouraging people to get together with each other and go out that night.

We'll see who is offended...there is bound to be someone!!

Holy Moly!!! If I invited all of our OOT guests, it would end up being a second reception.....we're all OOT with the exception of a few people from my step-father's side of the family who live in Ronkonkoma.

I'm doing a pseudo-destination wedding to LI from Rockland County!!! If I invited all OOT'ers, it'd be WAY too much. Only immediate family and bridal parties (with SO's) are coming to the rehearsal dinner.

Every rehearsal dinner I've been too has been immediate family and the bridal party...that's it. You can have drinks with the OOT guests later that night to let them feel welcome. JMO, of course.

being that FH is paying for most of the wedding and the entire rehersal dinner, we opted for just parents of the and the BP (with their spouses). the few OOTers are going to be visiting friends anyway, plus they understand.
jennifer

we're treating them to the wedding the next day, so were keeping it to just immediate family, and BP

but we are doing a breakfast the morning after,,, and inviting everyone in the hotel (this is much more within our budget)