Ok, well maybe we're partly to blame for having difficult criteria. We wanted a spot that was unique to the LA area, which ruled out easy choices such as Maggiano's or Bucca di Beppo. We definitely wanted a private room, since we're anticipating 30-45 guests and wanted space to be together and not worry about noise. We wanted it to be relatively close to the hotel, so our guests wouldn't have to navigate the nightmare roads of LA too far to find us. Lastly, we wanted to keep the cost to a very reasonable number, while still providing dinner and drinks to our out-of-town guests. However, finding a space that accommodated all that criteria was starting to feel like a pipe dream after months of seeking the perfect location!
We looked seriously at a couple of options:
Miceli's is an adorable oldschool pizza/pasta restaurant within walking distance of the hotel, with ambiance like crazy, including chianti bottles dangling from the ceiling. Since we heart pizza like its life-blood, and they have a basement room, it seemed a perfect choice. Unfortunately, their $30+ per person pizza/pasta buffet didn't include drinks and that was decidedly not perfect.
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The Alcove Cafe is a dreamy little spot in our neighborhood, which just opened a bungalow in back for private events. Even though it seemed possibly a bit small for our needs, we loved the idea of getting our guests into our neighborhood and the food at Alcove is really tasty. This was nipped in the bud once I got a price quote from them, though.
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The Lucky Strike Lanes seemed like a crazy fun idea. C'mon, who doesn't love bowling? With a location literally around the corner from the hotel, it couldn't be more convenient, and we thought perhaps a small plates menu with a couple of pizzas might actually be doable. Again, cost prohibitive, as Lucky Strike has all sorts of mind-boggling additional fees for private events.
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And finally, the winner:
Casita del Campo is a hacienda-kitsch style mexican restaurant in our neighborhood, but still pretty close and easy to reach from the hotel. Mexican is our second-favorite food genre, and having had a fiesta-style engagement party (which I promise to post about soon), it feels perfect to come full-circle and do the rehearsal up right with some margaritas and melty cheese!
While we'd heard great things about it and always thought it looked adorable from the outside, we hadn't eaten there yet or sampled their margaritas (crucial), so we organized a clandestine recon trip and invited Amanda and her hubs to scope it out.
We had a great time! The decor inside is right up our alley - folksy, kitschy and colorful! Our drinks were muy tasty, the chips and salsa were terrifico, and our big ole burritos were absolutely delicioso. The prices were pretty reasonable, but our bank accounts still seemed concerned, so we made an executive decision. We'll have some popular appetizers - some guacamole, maybe a few quesadillas or nachos, and then give our guests a choice of 3 burrito flavors (chicken, beef or vegetarian) with the option of adding sauce and cheese (yes, please!) over top. That's right, we're only serving burrito-based entrees. I prefer to call it burrito-solo to make it sound fancy.
I know that there may be some dietary concerns or restrictions for certain guests which, of course, we'll acccommodate. It's simply the best way to keep costs down while still providing a delicious, sit-down dinner with free drinks. I hope the celebratory atmosphere helps any nay-sayers in the group shrug off their concerns and kick back for a good time, regardless of their previous relationship with burritos.
To have secured a private room in an adorable, delicious and exclusively Los Angelesian restaurant that also shows off our adorable neighborhood and features margaritas on a Saturday night at these prices is a dream come true! I'm so glad we spent so much time on this, but I'm even more relieved to have the time I used to spend agonizing over the rehearsal dinner free to focus on other wedding details now!
Where are you having your rehearsal dinner?
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9 comments:
I never realized you were in Los Angeles as well!! (Granted it says it right there in your profile). I bet the Alcove was so expensive (A diet coke there is $5). I've never been to Castia! I'll have to try it out!
You got an award on my blog!
I thought the rehearsal dinner was included when you booked your ceremony at the Bungalow Club. Although, it's always tough to pass up good Mexican food!
i've been reading your blog for a while and never realized you live in los feliz/silverlake which is so very close to where i live in atwater village! i don't comment here enough, so i just wanted to say hello, neighbor!
also, our rehearsal dinner will be in our next door neighbors' back yard! it's a big yard (for l.a.) and it was the only way we could afford to invite all of our wedding party and out of town guests, provide everyone with food and drinks, and have a fun theme involved!
oh my gosh, it sounds perfect!!! how exciting!
That's just perfect! I would count myself a damn lucky guest to be treated to all of that... You're going to have a blast!
We don't really do rehearsal dinners in SA, but we did tell everyone who was around to meet us at the hotel the night before. Any dinner / drinks was at their own expense though. We had a group of around 20, a mix of family, overseas guests and most of the bridal party. Fun but very well behaved!
Oh, I hearts the Alcove. It's it my favorite place for breakfast, even though it breaks my bank.
Our apartment complex has a BBQ/patio area which probably will fit everyone for the rehearsal dinner of maybe 20-25 people. So we'll just go to Costco and buy stuff for cheap to feed everyone. There's just no way we could afford to buy rehearsal dinner and pay for the rest of the wedding.
As I flipped from Weddingbee over to the blogs I follow I finally just saw a connection and realized you are one of the Weddingbee bloggers! :)
I love Casita del Campo!
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