Rehearsal/Welcome Dinner Invites?

[amyh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by host hi amy, a boat cruise can be your welcome event...some have done dinner cruises as their event...the only thing to remember is for every big group event you have to arrange transportation and that can get expensive. ps. love the avatar!

Thanks! it took me way too long to figure it out. But i did it!

[gkashmira]

I think a cruise is wonderful! I suggested it to my parents as well as the alternative... turns out THEY don't like boats that much!

[Sarah]

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Originally Posted by amyhmartin I noticed a lot of you did or are doing welcome dinners. Is it rude not to? I though we would instead host a party boat cruise? I'm not sure yet.

It's nice to put a face with the name, Amy. Cute avatar!
I don't think you're "required" to do anything at a DW, which is the beauty of it all. I think alot of us have decided to do something special for our guests because of their expense of coming all the way to Mexico for us. I think a party boat cruise would be awesome!

[jajaworski]

Hello everybody, I am new to this site. I have a question for all of you. We are having our wedding at AI (everyone coming is on AI plan) To have a private rehearsal dinner it is an additional $15/ head which isnt bad I know. But heres the thing we are alredy shelling out about $7000 for our wedding between everything. Its not like were on a total budget so should we have a private something or should we just have everyone meet at one of the restaurants? I have been struggling with this for months any suggesstions? also if we have a "private" dinner should I get my inlaws to foot the bill? then should my parents foot the bill for a "private" morning after breakfast? We are paying for everything else ourselves. Any sugesstions at all would be great!

 

Jill

[Sarah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jajaworski Hello everybody, I am new to this site. I have a question for all of you. We are having our wedding at AI (everyone coming is on AI plan) To have a private rehearsal dinner it is an additional $15/ head which isnt bad I know. But heres the thing we are alredy shelling out about $7000 for our wedding between everything. Its not like were on a total budget so should we have a private something or should we just have everyone meet at one of the restaurants? I have been struggling with this for months any suggesstions? also if we have a "private" dinner should I get my inlaws to foot the bill? then should my parents foot the bill for a "private" morning after breakfast? We are paying for everything else ourselves. Any sugesstions at all would be great! Jill

How many guests do you have? If you have a smaller number (like, less than 50), and it's less than $1000 it seems like a pretty big bang for your buck. If you're already paying for everything yourself, you could definitely ask the parents to chip in. If they were paying for a RD here in the US, it would cost way more than that. The way that I feel about it is that people are spending so much money to come to my wedding that I want to provide a few nice "extras". I think the welcome/rehearsal dinner fits the bill.
Another idea, have your in-laws pay for the RD, have your parents do a spa day or something like that for your bridesmaids the following morning, or a post-wedding brunch. Just some ideas...

[JENGONDA9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amyhmartin I noticed a lot of you did or are doing welcome dinners. Is it rude not to? I though we would instead host a party boat cruise? I'm not sure yet.

Hey Amy-
I love the boat cruise idea too. We also have a group of party animals for our wedding. We looked at that and the bonfire with margaritas, tequila tastings and a couple other cocktail events and eventually figured out that it would cost us just as much as having dinner for everyone. It seems that most cocktail events are charged per person per hour and for just 2 hours it could be $30 pp. So we went with dinner just to give our guests more for the money.

[JENGONDA9]

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Originally Posted by gkashmira How did you guys get the word out for your rehearsal/welcome dinners? Did you include a card in the invitation? Did you send out a separate invite? Did you send a letter to all those who responded yes letting them know about it? I want to get going on my invites but since I haven't decided 100% about the details (when, where, who, what, how...) I am hesitating having them printed. I know if we were doing a normal RD with just family and the wedding party then there would be separate invites... but since everyone who's invited to the wedding how do I word it? I'm thinking I might wait until I know who's coming... but what if it's too late by then?

HI Kash-
We set up our invite as a greeting card that invited people on the whole trip instead of just to the wedding ceremony. It provided a link to our website where they could make travel arrangements and RSVP to the two events.
Good luck figuring this out...how to do invites was the hardest part of the planning for us!

[gkashmira]

Great idea ladies!

 

I need to figure it out soon!

 

The problem I'm having it that the RSVP function on my website is weird and people need to have their individual "code" to respond... which I didn't realize or send out earlier. I need to somehow incorporate this into the invite or the response card... Maybe adding a line on the response card?

 

Ahhhhhh!

 

I also haven't definitely locked down the RD sight. I'm torn between Casa Natalia or Baja Cantina... two VERY different places. Casa Natalia can do a full dinner with wine for 50 people for $5K (with tax and service chanrges included). Baja Cantina can do a taco bar and open domestic bar for 50 peeple for about $4K... so what would people rather have? I have no idea. The food at Casa Natalia will be WAY better but then the bar is limited and the atmosphere is a lot more formal. At Baja Cantina it'll be more of a bonfire on the beach with taco buffet and could be fun but also is sort of similiar to what we're doing for the Reception... jeesh!

 

Either way I'll also need a bus for guest to go to/from the venue...

 

Ahhhhhh! I just wish I didnt' have to decide this all now. But if I want to include it in the invite then I need to. So maybe that'll be my decision. Procrastination. yes, I think I vote procrastination.

[TammyWright]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jajaworski Hello everybody, I am new to this site. I have a question for all of you. We are having our wedding at AI (everyone coming is on AI plan) To have a private rehearsal dinner it is an additional $15/ head which isnt bad I know. But heres the thing we are alredy shelling out about $7000 for our wedding between everything. Its not like were on a total budget so should we have a private something or should we just have everyone meet at one of the restaurants? I have been struggling with this for months any suggesstions? also if we have a "private" dinner should I get my inlaws to foot the bill? then should my parents foot the bill for a "private" morning after breakfast? We are paying for everything else ourselves. Any sugesstions at all would be great! Jill

i know this is gonna hurt but you should def. do private if it is only $15 per person! this is your wedding and the welcome dinner will make the week so much more memorable. my DH says "you'll forget the money before you forget the memory of the event"

[Jackie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by host i know this is gonna hurt but you should def. do private if it is only $15 per person! this is your wedding and the welcome dinner will make the week so much more memorable. my DH says "you'll forget the money before you forget the memory of the event"

I agree with Tammy, think about it as how much you are saveing over a wedding at home. $15 per person is nothing in comparison. In regards to asking your parents to help out. I personally couldnt do this seeing as though I am allready asking people to spend there money to travel to Mexico for my wedding in the first place. Is it tradition for the parents of the engaged couple to pay for certain parts of their childrens wedding? Yes. But is it tradition for an engaged couple to ask their parents and guests to travel to another country for their wedding? NO. I guess I just feel it is one of the few sacrifices you give up when hosting youre wedding in another country. Just my opinion though. Hey if they offer to pay for something then by all means go for it.