How to Host a Wedding Rehearsal Dinner in Your Home

Instead of renting a separate facility for your wedding rehearsal dinner, many couples are opting to host the dinner and evening festivities in a private home. Not only does holding the dinner in your home save money on rental facilities, but also it is a more intimate setting that promotes feelings of family between all those involved in the dinner.

Who Should NOT Have a Wedding Rehearsal Dinner in a Home

Hosting a rehearsal dinner in your home is not for everybody, so first, let's look at a few reasons to not hold your rehearsal dinner in your home. The most obvious is that you need to have your desired number of guests all fit comfortably in your home. If you have a small bridal party and not many relatives and other people to invite, an average sized home should be able to fit everybody. If, however, you plan to have 40 or more guests at your rehearsal dinner, you will need a very large home to accommodate everybody.

In addition, if you are not concerned about costs and would rather have one less thing to organize, holding your rehearsal dinner at a restaurant or another facility that takes care of decorations, setup, and cleanup duties would probably be a better choice for you. This will allow everybody involved to be more relaxed and to just sit back and enjoy the evening.

Setting Up for a Wedding Rehearsal Dinner in Your Home

At your wedding rehearsal dinner, you will want both places to eat and places to relax. One of the main difficulties is making sure there is enough space for everybody to sit down and eat dinner, so you should count up all your chairs and tables, and contact friends to borrow folding chairs and tables if you are coming up short. If the tables are being set up in the middle of the casual seating area, consider moving them out of the way after the meal is over so guests have more room to mingle and relax. Or, if you prefer, you can just have an informally seated dinner with people seated on couches, or even at patio furniture, picnic tables, or on the grass in the backyard if the weather is nice.

Food for a Wedding Rehearsal Dinner in Your Home

There are two main options for where to get food for a wedding rehearsal dinner in your home. The first, and simpler, is to have a restaurant cater it. Many restaurants offer take-out for large group events, and you can order pretty much anything off the menu in many of those cases. Another alternative with ordering from a restaurant is a more formal catering situation when they actually bring and set up the food for you.

Then of course, if you would prefer to save some money and have some people attending who can cook in large quantity, you can always make your own food for a wedding rehearsal dinner. Have one person in charge of the menu and organizing everything, preferably somebody who is not a member of the bride or groom's family. It is possible to cook in the home in which the dinner is being held, but probably ideal if the food is prepared elsewhere and just brought over for a quick warm-up in the hosting home's oven. That way the kitchen can be clean, and the oven won't have heated up the whole house by being on all day.

Final Tips for a Wedding Rehearsal Dinner in Your Home

The most important thing in all of this is to plan ahead on all the details of holding the dinner so there are no surprises on the big day. For example, not only do you need tables for all the guests, but you also need at least one large table (or a buffet-style countertop) from which to serve all of the food and drinks. If possible, it is a good idea to set up all of the tables and decorations the previous day so there is time to figure out another plan if things aren't working. Finally, the most important part is to enjoy the dinner and celebrate the bride and groom, regardless of what goes wrong.