Non-traditional rehearsal dinner

No. If you make them come for a rehearsal you need to cover their dinner and drinks. If you dont want to pay skip the rehearsal

View Quoted Comment Agree with this. If you don’t have the budget to pay then skip the rehearsal.

View Quoted Comment Totally agree.

Nope, not okay. If you are asking people to come to a rehearsal, you should be hosting them afterwards. It doesn't have to be anything fancy (ie pizza and beer is fine) but it should be paid for by you.

The fact that you're feeding them the day of the wedding (which you should do regardless since you're taking up most of their day with getting ready) has absolutely nothing to do with the rehearsal dinner.

Skip the rehearsal, and then you can skip the RD.

I would just skip the rehearsal. Usually the rehearsal dinner is held as a thank you for attending the rehearsal and all they've done prior to the wedding. So I'd just skip a rehearsal. I was in a wedding in 2013 and it was super low budget, so after the rehearsal we all went to a local restaurant and paid for our own food. I was pretty annoyed since I was an out of state bridesmaid and the whole trip/dress/HAMU cost me over $600 already so I just went back to the hotel rather than stayed to eat the food so I could save money.

Also providing breakfast food the day of is expected if you want the wedding party there during meal hours.

No, it's not okay. The purpose of the rehearsal dinner is to thank your family and attendants for coming to the rehearsal. If you can't afford to host the meal, don't have a rehearsal.

Agree with has already been said. Plus, you should be providing food for your wedding party on the day of anyway so that is definitely not in place of the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner does not need to be expensive. Just get pizza, BBQ or sandwiches.

View Quoted Comment Thanks everyone! I guess because I've never been in a wedding i dont really know much about this. It all makes sense, its not a matter of money i just assumed it would be easier to let everyone decide if they want to come or not since its not on site.

No. The Rehersal dinner is usually given by the Grooms parents. It is given as a “Thank You” for the out-of-Town guests and the bridal party...
You cannot have the guests pay for their own meals.
You provide the meals/snacks for your parents and bridal party. That’s just how it is.

I thought a lot about the wedding dinner and always dreamed that it would be special. I never wanted a traditional classic dinner at a restaurant and that is why I decided that I would arrange a grill party with friends and relatives. Beautiful park, beloved friends and a lot of delicious food - exactly what always attracted me. My fiance supported this idea, and was delighted even more because now we can use https://bestairfryer.reviews/emeril/ the new grill that his parents gave us!