Rehearsal dinners can be expensive. My friend, who got married last summer, had her dinner at a classy restaurant in town. Many of my friends and I were in the wedding party, and as we sat down to eat, a waiter came around to take our dinner orders. “What are we allowed to have?” my friend, John, asked. “Anything on the menu,” the waiter replied. Well, we all ordered steak . . . to start with.

After getting married myself recently, I look back on this and cringe. What my friends and I ordered that night probably amounted to a down payment on a house. We weren’t being malicious, just thoughtless. However, I’m seeing a wedding trend recently which is causing more and more pressure to make the wedding week extravagant. I’m so thankful for innovators like my cousin who are bringing wedding traditions to a more reasonable, creative level. My cousin had his rehearsal dinner at his house and used some very simple décor to make it elegant:

1. Tiki Torches-By the time the dinner started, it was quite dark out. However, the buffet table outside was highlighted by a perimeter of tiki torches. Fire has a way of being wildly majestic, and while doubling as enchanting décor, it also provided some very easy outdoor lighting.
2. Solar Lights-The pathway to the tent where we were eating was lined with color changing solar lights. Solar lighting is brilliant because they have their own power source, so you don’t have to find outlets or worry about people tripping over cords, and they’re so easy to place. They function practically as pathway lighting while doubling as a gorgeous light show.
3. Fire Pit-Instead of sheet cake, my cousin decided to have smores for dessert. He had built a pretty massive fire pit in the backyard, and had a bunch of pokers and food supplies on a table to make smores. It was absolutely a blast!

Getting creative like this not only saves you money, but it makes your rehearsal dinner a night to remember. Your wedding week will blur together in your memory (trust me), but having simple, fun moments like this will make it memorable.