Believe it or not, Moab is a destination for groups of all kinds - from mountain bikers and racing teams, to Elks and Moose conventions, to commercial filming troups. Restaurants and hotels have been known to book up early, especially between March and October.

We recommend that you choose your rehearsal dinner location up to 6 months in advance and book it. If you don't hear from the restaurant staff about a month in advance, make a note to contact them just to confirm. They will probably ask you for a more accurate headcount at that time, and they'll need to hear from you again a day or 2 before the event. Don't forget to include children, and specify their ages when you talk with the staff. Also specify any dietary needs such as diabetic, vegetarian, etc.

If you've ever done any sort of event planning, you know that the headcount changes even up to the day of the event! Just keep cool and give them the best number you can. Better to overestimate than underestimate. You don't want the restaurant to end up short-staffed, and your guests frustrated with slow service. I have found, in my own event planning experience (personal and professional) that you can subtract about 5-8% of your highest possible headcount at 30 days out, and that will give you a good number to work with. Someone's sure to flake out at the last minute, and someone else might even invite an uninvited guest (or pressure you to include extra guests). Sad but true. Sanity tip: It's just dinner. :) Keep your sense of humor! When you look back on your wedding day, you'll laugh about little things that went wrong. But the attitude you choose for your day will set the tone, and will stick with the memories that you and your fiance create.