The Rehearsal Dinner Ideas?

my sisters husband's family did a luau theme rehearsal dinner for them and it was awesome. They got engaged in Jamaica so it was a great theme. Lei necklaces and they bought the food from caterer and set it up themselves.

When is the wedding? Where will the dinner be? Those will help!

ETA and...what are the happy couple's tastes? Where did the bride grow up (or where do they live now)? Does their wedding have a theme?

The first thing I'd do is hire a caterer. You will spend more than if you buy food and prepare it yourself - but it will be so much easier. (and way less expensive than a restaurant) And in the long run, you'll probably spend about the same amount of money because the caterer will bring plates, napkins, do all the clean up, etc. Cooking food for 100 people will take you days. And it's impossible to have that many meals ready and warm at the same time unless you have real catering equipment. So you'd have to do something less fancy like sandwiches or spaghetti.

The biggest reason to hire a caterer is that you want to enjoy the rehersal dinner and be a good host. If you are cooking and serving everything, you won't have any time to talk to people. You'll be running to and from the kitchen. Trust me, I've tried it - done two parties where we served 50 - 75 people. It was horrible. The third party we hired a caterer and wow - ten million times easier. I actually enjoyed the party. And the food was way better. I probably spent an extra $100.

Sammies!!! ... hear me out:

The theme being Cafe in the Park (indoors). String cafe lights (white circle xmas lights) across the ceiling. Tables with white cloths. Bonus points for wrought iron type chairs. Espresso. Chilled white wine, fume blanc off the top of my head. Hot chocolate. Sparkling lemonade. Bakied Brie. Warm olives (trust me, warm green olives), and warmed almonds. 3 & 5 tier conical serving trays for the buffet (reminicient of croquembouche). HIRE white dishes and glassware (these usually include washing as part of the service), and silver chafing dishes. If it DOES snow, take advantage of that and put snow under/ over the fresh fruit. Creates a 'wonderland' effect. If not, edible gold pixie dust (found in any baking store worth it's salt) over the fruit creates the same vibe. (don't do both, or you end up with dirty looking fruit). Little menus printed for each table (use your printer!) in cursive script which describes each buffet item. CHALKBOARD tiles with the name of each on the buffet tables. French lavender and sage in little bouquets.

- Ham & Swiss / Croque Monsieur
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/croque_monsieur_ham_...

- Baguette : Bistro Beef
Baguette, garlic mayo, spinach, roasted red pepper, roast beef, purple onion

- Focaccia : Caprese
Foccaccia, pesto, fresh mozzarella, tomato w/ pepperman (brings out tomato flavor), fresh basil

- Pear & Bleu Cheese Croissants (sounds sweet, but is savory)
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Salad: Either a Frisée Salad (classic french country salad) like this one sans egg http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/health/nutrition/05reci...
, or Spring Miner's Canlis Salad http://www.canlis.com/food/recipes-lettuce.aspx, or a toasted pecan and dried cherry spinach salad.

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Soups:

CHEAT BIG TIME HERE... Get boxed soup (trader joes is my go to). Butternut squash, Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato (shred some fresh basil over the top). Just keep warm in the silver tourines, and have the little white baking dishes (small) to be served into. Just don't let anyone see the boxes!

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Fresh Fruit
(Not need for a lot, here... and stick with simple classics. Grapes, whole apples, blueberries)

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Sweets:
- pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants)
- petit fours
- mini cheese cakes

For this whole menu, for 100 people, NOT including alcohol... I'd expect to spend between $300-$500.

One of the most important things is the BREAD. Do not skimp or cheat here. Ideally, put in a very large order in with a local artisan bakery (for the massive discount) to be picked up the day before. Assume each person will eat 2 sammies (4 if you make them small). The sammies are the only thing that has to be made 'day of'. You'll need a production line, but it's very simple. The only ones that need cooking are the bleu cheese/pear tart croissants, but those are then served cold... and the Croque Monsieurs, but they can be assembled and then placed under a broiler on baking sheets, and kept warm in a chafing dish.

Here are my suggestions:

Do a play off of their honeymoon destination(s)
crepes are fun and easy - you can do a crepe bar where everyone can fix up their own, as well as banggers n mash or other English Pub foods

Do Bride and Groom's Favorite Family Meals
So if they grew up eating and LOVING
Spagetti and Meatballs, Mac n Cheese, or other special family recepies then make those and have it be a walk down memory lane with pictures of them growning up everywhere and use family "stuff" as your decorations. So that wall clock at grandma's she loved - bring that or the photo of him and dad at the baseball game etc.

First, hire a caterer. It's not as expensive as you think and you will NOT want to be responsible for food for this number of people in the days before your child's wedding!

We did a Southern style BBQ (my hometown food) with a big white tent and a beer/wine/soda bar. We had about 100 peole and it was a blast! We hired a caterer, but did not have wait staff. It wasn't "burgers and dogs", but we did have pulled pork, grilled chicken, blackened mahi and varied side dishes. It was delicious and lots of fun!

You could do Italian which would be super easy too. You could do red and white checkered tablecloths, white paper goods, white "twinkly lights" in the tent and potted plants wrapped in burlap and tied with raffia.

I love a "fall theme" as well... chilli, cornbread, the toppings, maybe smoked sausages with roasted root veggies... the fall colors would be great decorations and you could use potted mums on the tables!

Jaycee, we had our rehearsal dinner at Ruby's too! : )

Momofmany, I highly recommend getting it catered. Trying to cook yourself for that many people is going to be crazy, especially if you aren't going to BBQ and plan to do it mostly inside. Many local caterers will work with you on your budget and come up with a menu that works for you.

If expense really is a concern, do you have to invite out of town family? Most of my cousins don't live here and we have been invited to the rehearsal dinners for some of them, but not all. It just isn't always feasible. If you cut it down to 30-40, you might be able to do it at a restaurant and save yourself a lot of stress.

My mom did the post-wedding brunch at her house. She got it catered, so she didn't have to worry about the food. The caterers also provided tables, chairs, linens, etc. Made her life so much easier and she actually got to enjoy the party. She definitely did it on a budget.

For some hors d'oeuvres you might do some Tuxedo Strawberries. They are totally awesome if you can get the strawberries.

I have never used anything but the strawberries that come in the clear plastic tubs from Walmart. The recipe calls for long stemmed ones but they are just too expensive.

I have done these so many times I could do them in my sleep. You melt the white chocolate and dip a slight portion of one side of the strawberry. Then when that is cooled you melt the chocolate and dip first one side/angle of the strawberry then the other side. This creates a deep V. This is the front of the tuxedo jacket You put some tiny dots and draw on a bow tie. They are so good that you'll need to buy extra strawberries to make up for the ones you eat while making them...

I am going to put several links but the gist is that you can do this yourself. It is so easy once you get started.

This is where I first saw the recipe:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Tuxedo-Strawberries

Step by step pictures:

http://candy.about.com/od/valentinesdaycandy/ss/tuxedo_be...

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chocolate_dipped_str...

Just keep looking for interesting ideas that are classy and elegant. This may suite the venue and be a total hit with the future family.

My parents have done two rehearsal dinners. One, they mad a boatload (and I mean a BOATLOAD) of spaghetti and meatballs with ceaser salad. I think they fed about 75 people. SO MUCH SPAGHETTI. My poor parents were a wreck, cooking, running food out, sweating, stressed!
The second one they got a caterer for. SO GREAT! We just had the dinner at a park and the caterer came, set up, fed everyone, cleaned up and left. Sweet.
If you have the money to do it, I seriously suggest getting a caterer. Much less stress. For the first one my parents didn't even get to SEE the guests.
Just something to think about.
L.

don't over think it. Ask the couple what they want it is in honor of them. Let it be about them. for our rehearsal dinner we went to Ruby's diner. Not a super fancy place but it was us. Also for our wedding food everyone laughs when we tell them but we did a nacho bar. It was awesome. We bought for 50 extra people and we didn't have anything left over. Everyone loved it. and then after people laugh about it they realize what a great idea it was because everyone could choose what they wanted and the food was amazing. I think doing a buffet set up is the way to go for sure. YOu can do a pasta bar, taco bar, fondue stuff. if you keep the fixings separate people can control what they like. And then do a display of mini desserts for the finale!

I would do italian. Pasta is cheap and feeds an army. Make big trays of baked mosticolli some with meat and some without. Garlic bread or fresh italian bread and butter a big salad and some appetizers and your set. bonus thing is that you can do the pasta ahead of time so it just gets thrown in to warm up while your at the rehersal.

Question: What are they serving at the wedding reception?
What time is the rehearsal?
What time is the wedding?
Are many of your guests staying at the same hotel and if so does the hotel have ball rooms that would accomodate a large group for dinner? If that is the case, the hotel may be willing to give you some big cost breaks for the rehearsal dinner.

I do have some ideas.

I would do some kind of a buffet or station type meal so that the guests are up and talking to each other and getting to know each other before the wedding day. We did an upscale ice cream bar for dessert for an event and everyone really enjoyed it and began to ask each other - what did you put on yours (ice cream) You could do that with other kinds of desserts too. I would suggest you do some of it yourself and get some of it catered so you also get to enjoy the event. I have served a catered dinner from Macaroni Grill and added wine (from Costco), a large fruit tray display and my own dessert and it came out great. Call and check some prices- if they are just dropping off the meal in disposable serving dishes (or dishes you have to return), it was a reasonable cost.

A local grocery store in my area caters and their food is wonderful and reasonably priced. Any time I have a large event I get the main courses catered and do the deserts and sides myself. I choose things that I can make ahead of time to keep cooking before the event at a minimum.

For my daughter Communion party we hired a caterer. They did all the setup. We put all the food on my kitchen island and people served them self buffet style. We also ordered a fruit, vegetable and cookie tray from the food store in addition to a cake.
If it was me, I would just make sure I had good food that everyone liked. (I really did not care for the food when i went to England:). Additionally, you said there would be a lot of kids and many are picky eaters. If you want to do a theme do it with the decorations. Have fun!

Sliced tenderloin n Homemade rolls with horseradish sauce, big beautiful salad, Roasted potatoes and asparagus.

For dessert, bar cookies, Brownies, lemon bars, butter cake squares.
Wine, Tea, coffee and water.

At my wedding 8 years ago we had Fazoli's (fast) italian restaurant "cater" a dinner a few nights before the wedding. It was not the reheasal dinner and we only had about 30 people who had arrived early in the week for the wedding, but it was so super easy and no stress! I'm not sure if Fazoli's is still in business but it might be worth checking. I'm sure there would be other italian restaurants that could supply the food at a more reasonable cost than hiring a caterer. Even a mexican restaurant that could do several taco and burrito bars would be yummy and fun, and I would imagine relatively inexpensive compared to a full service caterer. Good luck!