Rehersal Dinner - Ok to have guests pay for themselves?

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

You host. You pay.

Never. Be a proper host and pay, even if all you can afford is pizza!

Nope.

NO! The rehearsal dinner is hosted and whoever is hosting pays for all attendants.

I'm sorry but "guests" do not pay for themselves...that goes against the definition of the word.

Nope, don't have a rehearsal if you cant afford to pay for a meal. Pizza and beer? Hot wings and Salad? There are a lot of cheaper options for rehearsal dinners. You can even cook something yourself and have it at your own home. It doesn't need to be fancy but you have to host it properly!

I can't say I know for sure, but I know if I were invited to a rehearsal dinner and had to pay, I'd certainly be shocked.

Putting myself in your shoes, I think I'd rather have an "ice cream social" or something instead. Something that is affordable on my own rather than asking guests to pick up their own tabs.

Yes, it is tacky. No, do not do this. You host, you pay. Best wishes.

You're hosting the rehearsal dinner, so you foot the bill. It's really rude to ask your wedding party to foot the bill for their own meals.

It doesn't need to be fancy - hell, a lot of folk just do pizza. Or cook something in bulk like stew/soup/BBQ.

1 - That would be super rude.

2 - The place where you;'re holding it probably won't even allow it. No restaurant is going to take a party of 20 and put together 10 checks.

Is it ok to have the rehearsal and then everyone parts ways?

If you have a rehearsal you need to host a dinner.

The dinner is a thank you to your party for being in the wedding. Have a rehearsal dinner.

Lauren, yes to your last question.

PK - a good restaurant will do that no problem, unless their software is shit. I frequently have people try to tell me they "can't split a check" when they're using say, Aloha software, and I can see the damn screen. I then walk them through how to do it, they get pissy, but I don't care, I know it takes legit 3 seconds to split a check (in that software, anyway).

Unrelated rant...

If you have a rehearsal, then you have to host a rehearsal dinner. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. It can be pizza or BBQ or something casual.

Nope. You host you pay.

I don think you have to have a dinner, and I don't and never have seen it as a thank you to the bridal party?

Ditto what Jacklyn and Star said. You make people attend rehearsal - you feed them.

If this is such an issue, just DON'T have a rehearsal.

ETA - I have always seen it as a thank you to the bridal party/parents (if they've paid/contributed/helped). This is when (typically) you would give them their gifts and thank them. But it doesn't have to be at a restaurant/fancy - you can do a casual BBQ/order in pizza/etc. Or you can skip the rehearsal altogether. But I think it would be rude to make people come rehearse (presumably after work on the Thursday or Friday before the wedding so around dinner time) and then tell them to peace out.

As I've always understood, the dinner is the thanks for their time spent for the rehearsal. Especially if it's going to take a while/is combined with helping decorate or another activity.