Rehearsal Dinner - Wedding Advice – Here Comes the Blog

How To Throw The Best Rehearsal Dinner Party

August 18th, 2011 | Author: Sarah

By the time the night before your wedding arrives, you’re going to be overcome with joy and excitement. Your rehearsal dinner should help spread that bubbling happiness to the wedding party. Here are some ways you can ensure it’s a hit.

Schedule the rehearsal for a decent time. Don’t make it too late. Remember, your guests have to get up in the morning for your wedding and so do you. A good time to have the rehearsal is 5:00 pm. You’ll be having drinks and dinner by 6:00 and everyone will still have time to go to their hotel room or home to relax.
Keep it short. The idea of the rehearsal is to get everyone on the same page about where they fit in to the ceremony. You only have to do a quick run-through with the officiant. Don’t get bogged down with minute details. And relax if the flower girl is not listening or the best man looks distracted. Everyone will rise to the occasion on the big day.
Your job is to make it through the rehearsal calmly. Wear something that you can move around in and still look lovely in. Don’t wear a tight fitting outfit that’s going to make you cranky. A loose flowing skirt or pantsuit is ideal. You want your guests to see you relaxed, not flustered.
Plan to have the rehearsal dinner at a location close to the church or site of the ceremony if it’s outdoors. You don’t want to ask guests who have just driven from out of town to get in their cars and drive another hour to the dinner. Keep it local.
Go with a tried and true favorite restaurant for the dinner. This is not the time to try the new fish fry that just opened or the honky tonk bar that you think might be fun. Go with a venue that you’ve eaten at and liked the service. That way there are no surprises.
See if you can reserve a whole room for your party. Most restaurants have the ability to close off an area for a bigger party. That way, everyone sits together and feels included.
Keep the menu choices to a minimum. If you want everyone’s food to come out of the kitchen at the same time, offer only three entrees. It will be easier for guests to decide and simpler for the kitchen staff.
Have an open bar if you like, but remember it is costly. If you’ve got the budget to spare, it’s a nice touch. You might just offer wine at the table and beer as a choice. It’s up to you. Make sure you provide designated drivers and children with cranberry juice, sodas, and ice water.
Keep the evening short and sweet. Finish off with a nice pastry for everyone for dessert. By the time dessert is over, most guests just want to get home and rest up, especially the older relatives. Don’t make them feel obligated to stay up with your old college pals into the wee hours. Let everyone know it’s ok to leave whenever they’d like.
This is the time to give out your bridal party gifts if you are going to give them. Make sure you're prepared and not throwing this together at the last minute! You don't need the extra stress the night before the wedding. If you want to just give gift baskets or something simple, that's okay!
Be generous with your time at the dinner. You may be thinking that you only have a few hours before you’ve got to make sure everything goes off without a hitch, but everyone else wants to talk to the bride and groom. Give everyone a few quality minutes of your time. Sit down and talk with everyone. This may be the only time you have privately to talk to them as the wedding day is often a happy blur of dancing and eating and drinking. And you want everyone to feel welcomed and important. Extend yourself especially to the other side of the family if you don’t know them. After all, some people may have driven a long way to meet you.