What You Need To Know About Rehearsal Dinners
If you are in the middle of the wedding planning process, you have probably begun to think about your rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner is the dinner that happens after your ceremony rehearsal and allows loved ones to get together and celebrate the couple, while also allowing the couple to celebrate family and friends who have been a part of their journeys. Planning another event BEFORE the big day may seem stressful, so we are here to help provide some tips and answer frequently asked questions about the rehearsal dinner.
Why Rehearsal Dinners Are Important
There are several reasons why a rehearsal dinner can be an important piece of the wedding celebration. First of all, it is a way of saying “thank you” to your close family, out of town guests traveling in, and your wedding party who have helped make your day possible. It also provides an opportunity for individuals who may not be giving a speech on the wedding day to share with a smaller group. Finally, it provides one last opportunity for the couple to see each other before their wedding day and to share one last meal together as fiance’s.
What To Think About When Planning Your Rehearsal Dinner
If you are dreading planning yet another event, you are not alone. While planning a rehearsal dinner can seem tedious, it can be easy with a few simple tips. First of all, if you are not looking forward to planning your rehearsal dinner, this would be a great event to pass the planning over to someone who wants to be helpful and involved in the planning process. If you are the one planning a rehearsal dinner, the first item on the agenda is determining a guest list. This typically is made up of everyone who attends the ceremony rehearsal such as family in the processional, officiant, and wedding party, and can sometimes include invitations to out of town guests who are traveling far for the wedding (this is not applicable if having a destination wedding). Once your guest list for the rehearsal dinner is determined, the next step is determining the budget for your rehearsal dinner. Finally, you will need to find a restaurant or venue to host at that fits the number of guests that you are anticipating. We would recommend choosing a venue that is only a short distance away from your wedding venue, and a short distance away from any hotels that your guests may have room blocks at. Once this is complete, you can add an additional invitation for the rehearsal dinner in with the invitations of those who you would like to attend, and then add an option for those invited guests on your wedding website to RSVP.
What To Do At The Rehearsal Dinner
There are three things that should be done at the rehearsal dinner: enjoy time with guests, eat, and speeches! Because this time is primarily for spending time with guests (you will have a busy wedding day), we recommend that the first hour be spent going from table to table and interacting with your guests. Try to make an effort to speak to everyone at least once, even if it is just for two minutes at a time. Secondly, a rehearsal dinner means dinner. Your rehearsal dinner is a fun way to let your personality shine through an event, whether it be through the menu or the restaurant you host it at, and then enjoy the food that you are having! Rehearsal dinners are sometimes more casual than what is to come the next day, so feel free to have fun when deciding the menu, and then enjoy it! Finally, a rehearsal dinner is an excellent time to have speeches, especially for individuals that aren’t going to be giving a speech on your wedding day. If you were considering having an open mic on your wedding day, we recommend instead having an open mic for your rehearsal so it is a more intimate group (and will help with your wedding day timeline). If you don’t want to have an open mic, this would be an opportunity to ask additional family members, friends, or members of the wedding party to give a speech. In total, your rehearsal dinner should be about 2.5 hours long, between mingling, eating, and speeches. Make sure it doesn’t go too late into the night because you have a big day ahead of you!
Who To Invite To The Rehearsal Dinner
This feels like the age old question: who should be invited to the rehearsal dinner? While there are not hard and fast rules, here are a few recommendations:
Everyone who was a part of the ceremony rehearsal (immediate family, wedding party, officiant)
Extended family
Out of town guests
Close friends who are not in the wedding party but who you want to have extra time with before your wedding day
At the end of the day however, it is your rehearsal dinner, so it is up to you who you want to invite.
The Difference Between a Rehearsal Dinner and Welcome Dinner
Recently, we have had more of our couples opting for welcome dinners as opposed to rehearsal dinners. The key difference between the two is the intention of who is invited: rehearsal dinners typically involve everyone who was a part of the ceremony rehearsal plus out of town guests. Rehearsal dinners tend to result in being more intimate affairs because of this. Meanwhile, a welcome dinner involves everyone who is invited to the wedding as a way to kick off the wedding weekend festivities.
