Suggestions for Your Rehearsal Dinner and Brunch

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THE ROMANTICS

BLOWOUT
A dinner cruise on the World Yacht (Pier 81, Hudson River; 212-630-8158) offers 180-degree views of our glittering island, as well as an outdoor deck and piano. To save your guests the hassle of getting to the West Side, World Yacht can arrange for transportation.
Brunch: Watch gondolas glide across the lake at the Boathouse at Central Park (72nd St. and Park Drive North; 212-517-2233).

HIGH
You don't have to marry at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church to host a dinner in the divine Café St. Bart's (109 E. 50th St.; 212-888-2664). During warm weather, umbrella-topped tables on the garden terrace overlook Park Avenue. In cooler months, guests can dine on dishes like grilled prawns with creamy potatoes, baby spinach, and crisp pancetta in the dark-paneled, softly lit dining room with an antique bar ($60 per person). Cheese fondue at Artisanal (2 Park Ave.; 212-725-8585) is fun for both your great-aunt and your 6-year-old niece.

MEDIUM
Satisfy your guests' appetites while they take in the Manhattan skyline: hold a champagne-and-caviar cocktail hour at the River Café (1 Water St.; 718-522-5200). This floating barge's private Terrace Room can accommodate 30 to 100 guests, and Chef Brad Steelman's menu includes buffalo steak tartare and crisp duck breast with fennel-poached figs. For dessert, try the chocolate marquise: a cake topped with a Brooklyn Bridge-shaped chocolate.
Brunch: Savor café au lait and crêpes in the garden at Gavroche (212 W. 14th St.; 212-647-8553).

LOW
Tucked in the backyard of Frankies 457 Spuntino (457 Court St., Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn; 718-403-0033) is a lovely carriage house where up to 40 guests can enjoy a prix fixe dinner (starts at $30) of cavatelli with sausage and sage butter, or pork braciola. In nice weather, open the huge French doors and expand the party into the garden, which is strung with tiny lightbulbs (from $1,000).
Brunch: Nothing's sweeter than iced chocolates at the Cacao Bar/Tea Salon at MarieBelle New York (484 Broome St.; 212-925-6999). online.