Wedding Trends That Take The Cake

Vegas-themed Rehearsal Dinner Invites (click photo)

Where are you having your wedding rehearsal dinner? How about a trendy (fun) location your friends and family will love!

Your big day is FINALLY approaching and now it’s time to plan your wedding rehearsal dinner (don’t forget to order your Rehearsal Dinner Wedding Invitations!). For this fun get-together with friends and family, there are a plethora of options and venues to choose from. You could be traditional, but why not have a little fun? Try these trendy activity ideas to get the party started!

Make it a barbecue. Hamburgers, hotdogs, sausages and salads make a great, inexpensive meal–and may be perfect for your rehearsal dinner. Throw up a volleyball net for a little fun and games for your guests too. Or how about getting out the bocce balls or bags and hosting a tournament? Award your winner(s) with a small “trophy” from your local dollar store.

Twist and shout. Love to dance? How about hosting a 50s theme party? Rent a juke box, crank up the music and host a dance competition! For desert? Hire a “soda jerk” to make shakes and sodas in souvenir glasses for your guests.

Strike their fancy. If you have fun-loving friends and family, you may want to take them bowling. There’s nothing like a bit of competition among future family members to get everyone acquainted. You may want to have everyone draw numbers, too, to pick which team they’re on. That way your guests will be forced to mingle and make new friends. Food can be the standard bowling alley fair. Check with the alley to see if they’ll provide a pin of your own for all of your guests to sign as a souvenir.

Check their intelligence. Want to know how smart your family is–or how about his? A fun way to find out is with a trivia challenge. Whether you hold the event at your home, a hall or restaurant, you can pit your guests against one another for fun and prizes. Again, you can randomly split your guests into groups or play in three groups–your family, his family and a “friends” group–to see who’s the smartest.

Hold ‘em. The cards, that is. For a great time, and lots of camaraderie among guests, host a trendy casino night. Your guests will love playing against the odds–and each other. Let your bridal party act as dealers for the card games or hire a dealer. Consider, too, hosting bingo games and offering raffle prizes. As a souvenir for your guests, have poker chips embossed with your names and your wedding date.

Take them out to the ball game. Get the party started by planning your rehearsal dinner at your local baseball field. Many parks offer group discounts, and there’s plenty of fun for everyone. After all, who doesn’t love a ballpark hotdog and a bag of peanuts? For gifts to your guests, give personalized baseball caps or plastic beer mugs as souvenirs. For keepsakes of your own: have all of your guests sign a game ball and see if the park will post a congratulatory message on the scoreboard for you and your soon-to-be spouse during the seventh inning stretch.

Make it tee-time. If you and your fiancé love to golf, why not share you passion for the links with your guests? Host your rehearsal dinner at a country club or golf course, and let everyone perfect his or her swing at the driving range. Instead of dinner, you may want to hold a “cocktail hour” and offer light snacks or hors d’oeuvres. For gifts to your guests, think about personalized tees or golf balls with your names and wedding date on them.

Make a food budget. This will help narrow your options for the cuisine. Once you decide on the total dollar amount you’d like to spend on food, divide that number by the number of guests you’re expecting. This will give you the dollar amount per person/per plate to shoot for when making your food choices.

Choose traditional meal service. Today’s caterers are acutely aware of the aversion to food that appears to be mass-produced, so your goal should be to have food that looks freshly made and individually prepared. Make sure to communicate this clearly to the caterer.

Make sure that the service is not rushed. You don’t want your guests to feel rushed while eating their food.

Offer a buffet. If you’re planning a buffet, the most important question to ask when you’re discussing the menu is whether you will be charged per person or by the plate. “Per plate” means that you will pay each time a person is served, so a per person charge will be more affordable.

Consider food stations. If you want first-rate food, but you’re concerned that it will be cost prohibitive, consider food stations. Doing this will allow you to forgo most of the wait staff you would require for traditional meal service, so there should be a significant cost savings in labor.

Food stations can vary from the traditional to the more eclectic. Feel free to be creative with your food choices, but keep in mind that creativity can sometimes be expensive.

To keep the cost down, ask for a price breakdown per menu item based on the number of guests you expect.

Ask your guests. Consider inserting a short survey in your wedding invitation announcements asking your guests to choose their favorites from a dozen food stations. This will serve two purposes. First, it will dictate which foods you choose for the stations, and second, it will help tally the favorites, so you can help your caterer determine food quantities for the various stations.

Invitations (click on photo)

Pick a couple of your own favorites. Make sure you include foods that you love. Enjoying your wedding day is a priority, and it will help to make your menu more personal.

Make it brunch, lunch or dessert. Consider hosting your reception earlier in the day. Lunch menus are equally satisfying but cheaper than dinner options. You could even consider a brunch or even a dessert reception.

Do it yourself. If you’re on a tight budget, consider a do-it-yourself wedding reception. Order several meat and cheese trays from a deli or supermarket–or make your own.

Make it a potluck. Potluck receptions used to be the norm, but now they’re considered the retro chic way to celebrate the coming together of a couple. Just ask your guests to bring food instead of a gift. Many guests will be pleased–even relieved–to have this choice. Find out ahead of time what everyone plans to bring, so you’ll be sure to have enough food–and enough variety.

Go ethnic. Many ethnic foods are less expensive than the standard fare of beef or chicken. Also, serving ethnic cuisine gives you an instant theme to build your reception around.

Cook it outside. If your reception will be held outside, consider firing up the grill for barbecue or cooking pork and hosting the ultimate pig roast.

Drink, and eat sweets. Rather than have a meal at the reception, why not have a champagne and cake or dessert reception? Check out this list of Top 10 Inexpensive Champagnes and Sparkling Wines.

Looking for some good wedding menu ideas? Check out menu ideas from Naperville Catering Company, Chef by Request.

Lisa Bakewell