Wedding Blog

I am in a dilemma! My FI’s parents have offered to pay for the rehearsal dinner. However, since we booked the venue, we aren’t going to be able to have a rehearsal the night before as planned, which actually works out for me, because my FI and I really need financial help with the reception. SO, we have asked my FI’s parents if they would pay for the reception dinner instead of a rehearsal dinner (since there is no rehearsal). I have explained to my FI’s parents that we aren’t even asking our wedding party to come into town until the day of the wedding (so they can save money on hotels), plus they want to have the dinner in the city, and I will be at my parents’ house 2 hours away with my family doing all the centerpieces for the wedding. So it would be very inconvenient to drive in just for a dinner, with no rehearsal.

The real problem is that my FI’s parents don’t seem to be going for it. They want to keep the rehearsal dinner because they think that they have to feed ALL of their out of town guests (I thought that only the people in the rehearsal went to the dinner, but they seem to think otherwise). But the real reason they don’t want to pay for the reception dinner is because they feel that traditionally, the bride’s family should pay for it. When I spoke with my FI’s mom, she just kept saying, “she has never heard of this situation (grooms family paying for reception dinner) and that the wedding is the bride’s family’s day.” My FI’s parents know that my parents haven’t been able to contribute much, and I’m not asking for them to do both. In fact, I’ve been doing research to ensure them that they won’t spend a dime more then what they were planning on spending for the rehearsal dinner, but that it would be the exact same dollar amount. Also, I have told my FI’s mom that I would love to work with her on this, and basically will serve whatever kind of food they want. Her response was,”she’s never heard of this before.”

What more can I say? Anyone have any advice on how to handle this situation?

AnnieAAA

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