Rehearsal Dinner Location—help!!

Is there no parking for the first location? That will deter some people from going there, even with Lyft/Uber. Also, don’t feel like you have to go with some place fancy because that is what social media does. Is your favorite local restaurant an option? Wherever you regularly go for date night? Keep looking for a place you can afford that has both parking and a room that can be closed off. If you speak with the restaurant manager, they may be able to block off an area for you and keep the overall noise level to a minimum. You won’t know what your options are until you speak with restaurant managers.

I don't think either place sounds like the fit. I would pick a different place that has a private room with plenty of parking.

As someone who lives in an urban area, I feel like you shouldn't change your plans just because of parking. A ton of great restaurants in my city have zero parking. Ubers are a magical thing. Anyone have valet parking?

Definitely pick the one with the private room! Free parking being limited should not deter you. People pay to park in garages all the time and ubers/lyft exist for a reason. We got married in a major city and my rehearsal/welcome dinner location had extremely limited parking. This didn't deter anyone from coming. And as PP mentioned, in lots of urban areas, some of the best restaurants don't have parking whatsoever. This is just a fact of life. If you were to pick a restaurant in the middle of the suburbs without easy parking, then that would be a different story, but this is expected in the city.

I would have to agree that the first location sounds fine. Parking is always a potential problem. If you have elderly guests attending, consider dropping them off at the door and then going to find a spot. Taking an Uber from a hotel to a restaurant would be super convenient

I would look for another venue that has plenty of free parking and a private room. That would be more convenient for everyone and your guests won't have to incur additional costs for parking/Uber.

We had our Welcome dinner in the heart of downtown. The parking garage was a block away, and everyone going knew it in advance (it was on the welcome dinner invitation) We even had to contend with half the city streets blocked off for Cinco d' Mayo! (totally unexpected - you can imagine my nerves when we drove in that evening) Every person invited made it with NO complaints. So, go with your first venue and give your guests some credit for being adult enough to deal with the parking issues.