Bride’s Mother-in-Law Insists on Bringing Frozen Lasagnas to Rehearsal Dinner

While much of the focus of your wedding planning likely revolves around your big day, there’s another important event that deserves your attention: your rehearsal dinner. Depending on you and your partner’s personal preferences, you may opt to host an intimate gathering that includes just a handful of family members, or you may decide to skip the traditional dinner altogether and hold a larger welcome party, bringing all of your guests together prior to your ceremony. Yet regardless of your vision for this pre-nuptial fête, you’ve likely booked a venue, hired a caterer, and selected your décor for such an occasion. However, one bride encountered an unexpected hurdle after doing just that. Instead of expressing her excitement over the planned festivities, the bride’s mother-in-law insisted on making frozen lasagnas for the dinner, much to the dismay of the soon-to-be newlyweds. 

In a post on Reddit’s “Wedding” subreddit, the bride detailed her frustration over the woman’s proposal. “My fiancé and I want to cater our rehearsal dinner with a local restaurant, and it isn’t too expensive,” she wrote. “My thought process is that it’s easy, good food, and no one involved in the actual rehearsal is in charge of making food for it. The caterers can just show up and bring the food, and it’s a done deal. My parents, MIL, SIL, and BIL all offered to pay before any formal plan was made for the food.” However, recently, her fiancé’s family insisted on making frozen lasagnas and salad to bring to the rehearsal dinner. Yet this isn’t something the bride or groom wants. The original poster detailed a number of concerns she has with this plan, including the food not being ready in time and not staying warm. 

“With all that being said, my MIL is pissed that we don’t want them to make food for the rehearsal and is pushing my fiancé and I away because of it,” the OP wrote. “She is upset we ‘aren’t involving her (or my SIL)’ in anything. The reason being I don’t need unsolicited advice or opinions on things they didn’t offer to pay for (flowers, whatever else). To be frank, I haven’t really involved my own mom or family for the same reason.” Even though the bride and groom don’t want to submit to such a plan, they’re stuck on what to do. “At this rate my fiancé and I just want to eat the cost of catering the rehearsal dinner because we are over the drama,” she added.

While the bride may have been unsure on how to proceed, her fellow Redditors quickly provided a number of different suggestions on how to handle her mother-in-law. “Do it your way,” one commenter wrote. “Tell them thanks but no thanks. Perhaps they can bring the wine/beer or make decorations for the rehearsal dinner?” Others also pushed the OP to find an alternative role for her partner’s eager family members. “I would tell them you appreciate the thought and put them on a task later,” one person wrote. “Maybe to find pretty centerpieces or a florist or something. Tell them you already paid the deposit for the caterer, and you’re excited for them to come. It’s likely they’re not angry, and they just want to be a part of their son and future daughter’s big day.”