How to Plan a Perfect Wedding Rehearsal Dinner

While not an absolute necessity, a wedding rehearsal dinner is a nice way to say thank you to family and friends for all of their support and help in making your wedding the memorable event it will surely be. It can be anything from a cozy, informal gathering to an extravagant affair. It’s really up to you.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Select a location for the dinner. It doesn’t have to be the most upscale restaurant in town, and most certainly can be your parents’ backyard or your in-law’s dining room.
2. Decide on who will pay for the dinner. Whether you dine out or in, someone has to pay for the food. The bride’s parents traditionally cover the wedding itself, so it has become customary for the groom’s parents to cover the rehearsal dinner, but that doesn’t have to be the case.
3. Enlist someone to plan the dinner for you. You’ll be busy enough taking care of last minute details for yourselves. The future mother-in-law slips nicely (and traditionally) into this role, and it will give her a fairly important role to play in her son’s special day.
4. Make out your guest list. The list should consist of the bridesmaids and groomsmen, parents of the bride and groom, and any other friends/family members involved with the ceremony.
5. Send out the invitations. It’s a safe and smart bet to send them out a couple of weeks after your wedding invitations have been sent, and at least two to four weeks prior to the rehearsal dinner itself.
6. Prepare your toasts. The rehearsal dinner is an opportunity for the bride and groom to give thanks to the people closest to them. Prepare toasts to be delivered in their honor.
7. Enjoy your dinner!

Tips & Warnings

• You don’t have to delegate the planning of your rehearsal dinner to someone else. If you feel that strongly about being in charge of this event and you don’t feel like it would overwhelm you, then plan away!
• You aren’t restricted by some archaic law to only invite the wedding party to your rehearsal dinner. You may choose to invite out-of-town guests or anyone else that you want, for that matter. It’s your rehearsal dinner, after all.
• You may want to add ice-breaker games or other laid-back activities to your evening if you know that many of your guests won’t be all that familiar with one another. This will set a warm and playful atmosphere on which to start your night.
• DON’T plan an allnighter. Start your evening early enough to allow for the more social members on your guest list to get their socializing out of the way in plenty of time for everyone to be well-rested and ready to go in the morning.

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