12 Great Tips for
Your Wedding Rehearsal Dinner
The Rehearsal
Dinner is a great time to meet everyone, relax
and begin your wedding celebration. The groom's
parents usually host the dinner but this is
no longer a strict rule. Sometimes the bride
and groom will host the dinner or it can be
hosted together by several people.
Your rehearsal
dinner should have a different style and menu
than your wedding. For instance, if your wedding
is a formal sit-down dinner, then plan a rehearsal
dinner that is more casual. And, if you are
serving chicken or beef for the wedding, then
try Italian food for the rehearsal dinner.
Many brides
and grooms are having lots of fun with the rehearsal
dinner by incorporating a particular theme such
as a Mexican Fiesta, a Western Barbecue, a Hawaiian
Luau. Think about a nautical theme and chartering
a boat and having a dinner buffet on board!
You can plan a clam bake at a restaurant or
on a beach. Or, a fun picnic at a park or in
your backyard.
A formal
sit down dinner at a restaurant is always a
great option. Some restaurants have private
rooms which are great for a larger size party.
If you have a private room - ask the restaurant
to set up a table of hors d'oeuvres. Plan the
first hour of the rehearsal dinner as a cocktail
"hour" where your guests can walk
around and mingle with each other before dinner.
It’s
not required that you send out invitations for
your rehearsal dinner, but if you have time
- it’s a good idea. The invitation will
tell people exactly where and when the rehearsal
will be held (sometimes it's not always held
at the church or ceremony location) and where
and when the dinner will take place. You should
include directions to the restaurant if people
are unfamiliar with the area.
If you do
send out invitations, they should ALWAYS be
less formal than your wedding invitation.
You should
invite all those who will take part in the wedding
ceremony to the rehearsal dinner. Spouses or
dates of all adult attendants should be invited.
Parents and grandparents of the bride and groom
should be invited.
It is not
necessary to invite the musicians or soloist
unless they are close friends or family. If
you're having small children in the wedding,
the parents of the children should be invited,
but many times the children will not attend
the dinner in order to get to bed early.
You can always
invite other family members who are not part
of the ceremony and out-of-town guests to join
your rehearsal dinner. It's always nice to have
more time to spend with your family and out-of
town guests that you may not see very often.
You should
make sure that everyone is introduced to each
other, either through formal introductions ("going
around the table") or informally by "mixing
and mingling".
Here’s
a nice idea: Once everyone is seated, the bride
or groom introduces everyone and says something
personal about each one. Such as:
"Sarah
Smith, is my maid of honor, we’ve been
best friends since first grade and I never would
have been able to put together this wedding
without all of her help. In fact, she helped
me make ALL the favors for the wedding."
A nice gesture
is to thank your parents and future parents-in-law
and propose a toast at the rehearsal dinner
to say "thank you" for all their love,
support and help for a wonderful wedding!
If you haven't
already -- this is the time to give your gifts
to the attendants and thank them for being in
the wedding.
Many rehearsal
dinners are showing home movies or video clips
of when the bride or groom were very young.
Some take baby pictures and enlarge them and
display them throughout the rehearsal dinner.
These all make for a good "ice breaker"
and certainly add a lot of fun to the evening.
You could
also think about having the Groom’s Cake
at the rehearsal dinner. It's a nice surprise
and who can resist a deep, double chocolate
fudge cake? Many are getting creative with the
groom’s cake and making it in various
shapes and styles to match the groom’s
personality or a particular interest or hobby.
The rehearsal
dinner is a good time to go over any last minute
details with your family and wedding party –
just in case someone doesn’t know where
and when they are suppose to meet the next morning.
Don’t
drink a lot of alcohol at the rehearsal dinner
and go home EARLY. You want to make sure you
get lots of rest to look your best on your wedding
day!
Most of all
relax, enjoy and get to bed early!
Read
more about Rehearsal Dinners
