How to Choose a Date and Time for a Wedding Rehearsal Dinner

Wedding rehearsal dinners are the official kick-off of the wedding weekend. Taking the time to schedule them appropriately means starting off on the right foot with your guests.

Instructions

1. Generally, when planning the rehearsal dinner, one starts with the time of the rehearsal.

2. Give yourself 1 hour for the rehearsal. This amount of time may sound unnecessarily long, but it is much better to have an extra 15 minutes to visit with the wedding party than to start off the weekend behind schedule.

3. Determine how long it will take to drive from the ceremony site to the location of the rehearsal dinner.

4. Add 5 to 15 minutes to that time depending on traffic conditions in the area and the distance to the rehearsal dinner.

5. Usually the date for the rehearsal dinner is the same as the date of the rehearsal. However, scheduling conflicts do occur. If the ceremony site is unavailable the night before the wedding, you may need to have the rehearsal earlier in the week and then have the dinner the night before the wedding.

6. If the rehearsal dinner location is unavailable the night before the wedding, schedule the rehearsal dinner at a time earlier in the week. Do try to wait until your out of town guests are in the area so that they can attend the dinner as well.