Your wedding rehearsal is, as the name suggests, the time for you and everyone else who will play a role in your wedding ceremony to practice your roles together in advance.
So, while it’s not as serious as your wedding itself, it’s still a fairly big deal, and you want to do it right.
And we hope this little guide we wrote about how to plan a wedding rehearsal dinner will help you with that.
It’s not too complicated, and you don’t need to stress a whole lot.
Just follow these 10 steps and try not to cut any corners. 🙂
Lay The Groundwork
1. Decide Who’s In Charge
In other words, who’s hosting this thing?
Is it you, the couple, or is it your parents?
And if it’s your parents, then which of your parents is it?
Perhaps you’re hosting it, but your parents have promised to help to some degree.
Whatever the case, it’s vital to get this agreed on first because it will influence how you…
2. Write Down Your Budget
Depending on who is hosting the event, your budget may be one thing, or it may be another.
But whatever the amount, it’s critical to figure it out and write it down before you start actually planning anything.
And for goodness’ sake, do not sign any paperwork or agree to any payment for anything before you’ve finalized your budget.
3. Determine Who to Invite
Once you know how much money you can afford to spend, you can then calculate how much you can afford to spend on each guest.
Maybe you can afford to host 100 guests for ‘x’ amount of money.
Or you might decide that it’s better to cut the amount budgeted per guest in half so you can host twice as many people.
Whichever way you want to divide things up, remember that, while not everyone you invite will likely show up, you shouldn’t invite anyone you can’t afford to host if they show up.
Pro Tip: If you want to give favors to your guests, be sure to include the cost of that in your budget.
4. Select Your Venue
Now that you know how many guests you can afford to feed and host, you can start shopping for a venue to host them all in.
Be sure to confirm that any venues you’re considering have capacity and facilities for the number of guests you’re inviting.
Again, it’s likely that some of the people you invite won’t show up, but don’t invite anyone you can’t host if they show up.
5. Craft The Menu
This is where most of your per-person guest budget is going to go.
After all, this is a guide about how to plan a wedding rehearsal dinner.
Can’t very well have dinner without food, can you?
However, you need to be careful with this one because not all restaurants and caterers are created equal.
Remember to check reviews, ask for recommendations from people who’ve hired caterers before, and ask candidate caterers as many open-ended questions as possible.
And whether you’ll be reserving at a restaurant or hiring a caterer, clarify and confirm the costs to ensure that you don’t go over budget.
Pro Tip: Any restaurant or catering service worth paying for can tell you where they source their ingredients from, so you don’t end up eating a bunch of highly processed chemical slop.
Dial In The Details
6. Confirm The Date & Time
This goes along with securing your venue, but keep in mind that not everyone attending is going through this planning process with you.
They don’t have all the information that you do.
So, be sure to get that information, make it specific, and write it down because it’s going to be on your invitations.
And if it’s not clearly specified on your invitations, everyone will ask you about it separately in a ton of different messages, emails, and phone calls that will drive you insane.
7. Finalize The Schedule of Events
We know we’re telling you how to plan a wedding rehearsal dinner, but don’t forget that a rehearsal dinner typically isn’t only dinner.
You’re all there to rehearse for the wedding, for one thing.
But you may also want to add in an extra activity or event for fun, like a cocktail hour before food is served or speeches.
And speaking of speeches, …
8. The Ancient Custom of Our Ancestors
Toasting and offering toasts have been a tradition at events like weddings since, well, pretty much forever.
More specifically, it’s been a thing for at least as long as complex human cultures have existed, following the agricultural revolution.
So, this is something that you and/or someone else present is probably going to want to do.
And given that, it’s wise to make some time for it in the schedule.
Worst case, if no one does it, you can just roll that time into the next thing on the schedule.
9. Throw In An Activity or Game
You’re all there for a specific reason, but you can also have some fun with it.
It’s not the wedding yet, so you don’t need to take it as seriously.
Why not schedule an hour or so for something that’s just meant to be fun?
It could be a board game, a trivia contest, or anything else, but the point is to get everyone laughing and relaxed.
If nothing else, this could help everyone loosen up and be less nervous about whatever role in the ceremony they’re rehearsing for.
10. Send Out Your Invitations
Now that you’ve got all the fundamentals and details worked out, it’s time to officially invite the people on your guest list.
Depending on where they are and your own budget, you may choose to do this either electronically or by physical mail.
However, we’d tend to recommend both because people often like to keep the physical invitations as mementos, but a physical invitation without an electronic counterpart might get lost.
So, it’s usually good to send both a physical invitation and an email.
Pro Tip: Personalize your invitations to each recipient.
No Sweat
That’s it.
You did it.
Well, if you’ve dutifully followed these 10 steps for how to plan a wedding rehearsal dinner, then you did it.
If not, then just go back, read them again, and do them.
And remember—your rehearsal isn’t your wedding ceremony.
It’s ok to experiment with different things and forget your lines.
That’s kind of the whole point.
Have fun with it.
