5Reasons To Have a Rehearsal Dinner
Wedding rehearsals and rehearsal dinners used to be the norm. Couples gathered with their wedding parties at the ceremony location and do a dry-run of the wedding one or two days before the ‘I do’, often following that up with a rehearsal dinner. These days, some couples choose to forego the dinner, either due to scheduling conflicts or budget, but we have five reasons why this rehearsal event in the wedding experience shouldn’t be one to be missed.
- Your wedding party will have the opportunity to get to know one another before the big day.
There is a strong chance that your wedding party is made of your nearest and dearest friends, some of which do not know one another. The rehearsal acts as a soft ice breaker to bring not only the wedding party together, but the families as well.
- Everyone in the wedding party will understand how the ceremony is going to go and what their part will be.
Running through the rehearsal will allow you to catch potential issues before the wedding. Also, if there are younger children in your wedding party, you’ll get a good idea about how they may act the following day and can devise a plan to get them down the aisle without too many tears or tantrums.
- Any questions your wedding party has can be addressed at the rehearsal or the rehearsal dinner.
Every big event will have a few announcements. The rehearsal and dinner are great time to draw your family and friends’ attention to important times or locations that they will have to be at. For example, if you are taking family formal portraits after the ceremony you will want to tell your extended family members, like aunts and uncles, where they have to be and at what time. If you have an itinerary for the day that includes where and when the wedding party is getting married, the time everyone needs to be at the ceremony, and what time photographs are taking place – this is a great time to distribute that.
- It gives family and friends the opportunity to mingle.
The rehearsal dinner isn’t limited to those in the wedding party and families of the couple. This is a great opportunity to welcome out-of-town guests that you want to spend time with as well. Rehearsal dinners are especially helpful if your families live in different places and don’t ever see each other.
- It’s a great time to hand everything off.
There will be escort cards, guest books, and various odds and ends, as well as any décor that you are bringing for your ceremony and reception that will need to handed off to the on-site coordinator. This allows everything to be handled in advance of the wedding day and more focus can be spent on the task at hand: getting married!
