One special way to make your wedding stand out from the crowd is by choosing from unique rehearsal dinner ideas instead of staying super-traditional.

Your rehearsal dinner can be anything you want it to be. Feel free to stick with tradition, if you want to, or if you’re after inventive rehearsal dinner ideas, try one of the hip ones below:

1. Potluck Dinner

Perfect for budget brides, a potluck rehearsal dinner works well if most of your family lives in town and has kitchen access. Don’t get too worked up about controlling the rehearsal dinner menu; instead, encourage guests to bring a favorite childhood dish and then have fun sharing them together.

2. Slow Cooker Feast

These days, slow cookers can make everything from roasts to yummy, gooey desserts. Borrow several slow cookers from your buddies and then get cooking. Slow cooker recipes are easy because they’re so hands-off and can make large quantities, so your rehearsal dinner menu can be not only easy, but also filling and super yum. You can even bring the prepared dishes to your dinner right in their slow cookers so they stay warm throughout the party.

3. Bowling Bash

Just like the birthday parties when you were a kid, bowling parties can work really well for a rehersal dinner. They’re usually pretty budget friendly, appeal to people of all ages, and can accommodate a lot of people, which is great if you have a big family or a lot of out-of-towners coming to the wedding. Don’t worry if not everyone loves to bowl – they’ll still have a great time mingling and watching the action.

4. Picnic in the Park

Going to have nice weather on your wedding weekend? A picnic in the park can be a fun option to accommodate rehearsal meals of all sizes. Get it catered or bring the picnic fare yourself. Of course, this idea works best if you have the meal during the day (think “rehearsal lunch”), so either try to wrangle a rehearsal time that’s earlier in the day or just eat beforehand. Don’t forget the soccer ball and frisbee!

5. Weenie Roast

Rustic and romantic, an evening campfire can be a real treat for your rehearsal guests. Bring hot dogs and plenty of roasting sticks. For dessert? Marshmallows, of course! Or go gourmet with chocolate and graham crackers to make s’mores. Keep your guests warm with steaming apple cider or hot chocolate (perhaps with a swirl of Irish cream). Ask a crooner friend to bring his guitar for a fun campfire singalong.

6. Pool Party

Here’s a fabulous idea, especially if a lot of your guests are already staying at a hotel with a pool. Have some good, clean family fun before your big day and cut down on travel time and costs for your guests, too! Have your meal catered or just pick up some sandwich trays, as well as fruit and squares for dessert. For extra fun, choose a pool with hot tubs and a waterslide!

7. Backyard Fun

This is the perfect way to include a relative who wishes they were doing more to help out for your wedding: ask them to offer up their backyard for your rehearsal dinner. For your rehearsal dinner menu, have a big barbecue with shish kebabs or burgers with an ice cream sundae bar for dessert. If the weather is iffy, just move the party inside. Easy, casual, and lots of fun.

8. Go Go-Karting

Go-karting is an awesome way to blow off some steam before the big day, especially for the hubby-to-be! Lots of go-karting places offer party packages that are actually pretty reasonable. You may be able to cater it yourself, but often these places can get you pizza, nachos, etc. pretty inexpensively. Definitely not fancy, but go-karting brings out the smiles in everyone and works for a larger age range than, say, laser tag.

9. DIY Dinner Party

Keep it simple and host the dinner at home. For food, purchase all the fixings to make pizzas or tacos or fajitas. Then let people have fun putting together their dinner themselves! For entertainment, have some old photos albums out as well as a few home movies. It’s a super casual way to actually get some relaxation time in before the main event.

10. Board Game Night

Here’s another easy at-home idea: collect some fun board games and hold a tournament while everyone chows down on pizza and cookies. Easy! Choose games that work well for a wide age range, such as Clue, Scrabble, Pictionary, Cranium, Apples to Apples, etc. Board games are an especially great way to get people who may be meeting for the first time at your rehearsal mingling and having a good time.

Got some ideas of your own? Let’s hear ’em!