Need Ideas for Rehearsal Dinner for 75-100 People. Help!

Tell her no! It's like having two weddings in a row!

Yikes. I wish I could help you.

Yea, that's crazy!! Tell her no! Maybe you can compromise on out of town family at the rehearsal dinner?

Holy cow! That is a lot to put on you. She can't Google restaurants that have private rooms and call around?

Maybe there is a compromise. A wedding I went to a few years ago, did the rehearsal dinner with just immediate family and the bridal party. But then after all the out of town guests were invited to join them at a local brew pub that the couple frequented.

Woah that's absoutely ridiculous. I would definietly tell her no. The rehearsal dinner is not for everyone.

Who would be paying for this?

Err... maybe a potluck? We are doing that with our family in place of a traditional rehearsal dinner and people will bring all kinds of dishes.

How big will your wedding be ? Usually it's just immediate family and bridal party . For out of town guests you can do a breakfast the following day of your wedding ..

That is ludicrous. The rehearsal dinner is for the people rehearsing and their s/o's; it's not the opportunity for the inlaws to throw a second wedding. And it doesn't matter who pays for it, it's inappropriate and in bad taste.

Have a rehearsal, if you must (most of my couples don't), invite those people to a nice small dinner at a restaurant somewhere, and tell you MIL that if she'd like to host a welcome reception after that, you'll hand over a couple of names of bars that would work or hook her up with the hotel banquet department who can work with her to provide drinks and snacks.

A rehearsal dinner, IMHO, is a time for the bridal party to have a casual evening together, which is virtually impossible with 100 guests.

Time to put your foot down.

Wow yeah no... I def always though the rehearsal is for immediate family and the bridal party.

FH and I are planning on having our rehearsal dinner at a local restaurant/brewery and then telling people they are welcome to stop by for drinks afterwards.

Look for places with private rooms that can accommodate a group that size. While that is a large size party and very generous of her, traditional etiquette DOES state to invite the bridal party and their SO's, immediate family AND out of town guests to the rehearsal dinner. I Googled some places in the area:

-Old CIty Hall Restaurant (Bay City)...it has group menus starting at $22/person

-Dockside (Bay City)

-The Texan (Saginaw)

-Bavarian Inn (Frankenmuth)

Holy cow. we're doing a non-hosted happy hour/rehearsal happy hour. After our mid day rehearsal, we're heading to our favorite bar/restaurant at 330. FH and I are buying a few rounds and eats for the wedding party. We're also inviting OOT guests, but they can come and go as they please and we're not paying. It gives us an additional chance to see them without it being formal. Not sure if something more along those lines might work better for you?

HAIL NAW. That's too many people. Rehearsal dinners are supposed to be special time for the people in the wedding. If she wants to feed all the OOT-ers, she can arrange something for them separately.

That said, I've been to the Bavarian Inn and it's pretty tasty. Plus Frankenmuth is just adorable.

That's ridiculous and IMO would take away from the actual wedding. Rehearsal dinners are for the bridal party only. I would second meeting everyone after somewhere to socialize.

My MIL did *exactly* what your FMIL is wanting to do. She was SOOOO excited about the wedding, overall, and really just wanted to invite the world to celebrate. (Which made the wedding guest-list conversations fun... but I digress.) Also, ~80% of our wedding guest were from out of town and "we can't have people travel all that way and not, at least, feed them a sandwich." It was, ultimately, not a battle I was willing to fight. So... I say: Roll with it.

We found a local restaurant with a large patio/party space and did a happy hour/light dinner buffet for ~75 people. Once the venue was identified (they really wanted our input on the venue), MIL/FIL did ALL the planning. Ultimately, it was a lot of fun.

I'm in a similar situation, we'll be having around the same number of out of town guests. We want to do something for them while keeping the rehearsal dinner for those who are rehearsing and our parents and siblings. So we decided to have a welcome "happy hour" after dinner for those who are in town, with just drinks. Could something like that work for you?

No. No no no no no no no. We had a rehearsal dinner of 45 people and I felt like that was SO overwhelming! Keep it to bridal party and immediate family ONLY.