How to Plan a Rehearsal Dinner

Video Transcript

"So you're planning the rehearsal dinner, and you're not quite sure where to start because you've never planned one before. Hi, I'm Jessica Meiczinger, and I'm going to talk about how to plan a rehearsal dinner for an upcoming wedding. First of all, usually it's the groom's parent's responsibility to plan the rehearsal dinner for the wedding. You want to take into consideration the guest list. Figure out who you want to invite to the rehearsal dinner. Typically it's the bridal party, the bride's parents, immediate family. But other times if you're having a destination wedding or you have a lot of people coming in from out of town, you invite those people to the rehearsal dinner as well. Second of all, you want to pick a location and typically if you're having the wedding at the hotel, I would go ahead and have the rehearsal dinner in the same location or somewhere nearby so people don't have to travel too far to get to the rehearsal dinner spot. If you're looking to do something fun, you could do something casual poolside. You could have a bar-b-que. You could do something out on the beach. If you want something to be an ice breaker and get people mingling and talking and having a good time, do something fun like go bowling or go sailing or a dinner cruise, just kind of a nice ice breaker to start off the wedding weekend. Also you want to take into consideration if you're doing a theme, plan your menu around that. If you're doing like a Mexican Fiesta, go ahead and do you know Mexican theme dinner items or appetizers. If you're doing something poolside, maybe do a Caribbean theme menu or seafood, especially if you're getting married in Florida or along the coast. Another idea for the food is that you don't want it to overshadow the wedding reception's menu. So you don't if you're doing a plated dinner for the wedding reception, do something different for the rehearsal dinner whether it be a different entree or maybe doing a buffet, having something a little less casual. Also things to consider when you're doing a rehearsal dinner, you don't necessarily have to have a full bar. You can just offer a cash bar to your guest or you can just do it keep it simple with some nice coffees and teas and beer and wine and and call it a day. So those are just some ideas on how to plan your rehearsal dinner for your upcoming wedding. Again I'm Jessica Meiczinger and happy planning."