Weddings can be complex. There are rules and procedures at every turn. Planning a wedding is often a full time affair. The rehearsal dinner is an important element of a wedding, and rehearsal dinner etiquette can be pretty complex. But if the rules are understood, there’s no reason for it to be anything but an enjoyable element of an overall enjoyable wedding experience.
The rehearsal dinner is often hosted by the groom’s parents. They plan it and organize. If the engaged insist on thanking the wedding party by hosting this themselves, they should make sure to explain it to the groom’s folks. If the groom’s parents insist, let them do it. Why not let people take on extra work when they insist?
Plan the dinner for the night prior to the wedding day. This ensures that all the guests and family are in town, available to attend. It’s very bad form to hold the rehearsal dinner too far in advance of the wedding. That makes it harder for people to attend. There’s no reason to make a wedding hard on anyone . The easier it is on the guests the better it will be for the bride and groom.
Make sure to invite the immediate relatives on both sides of the wedding. Also invite the whole bridal party and any other close friends or family of the soon to be married. The preacher or whoever officiates the wedding, offers the vows, should also be invited. Just like with the wedding be very careful with who is invited or not. Maybe uncle Albert is a little rude, but is it worth a lifetime of bad blood to exclude him?
Include a social time before the dinner so people can relax and talk. It’s important to consider the feelings of all the guests and to provide a pleasant atmosphere. Keep this dinner in line with the budget of the overall wedding. An extravagant wedding gets a extravagant rehearsal dinner. Make the dinner less involved when the wedding is simpler. Finally, make sure the dinner ends fairly early so people can be well rested for the next day’s festivities.
Toasts are generally made to everyone involved in making the wedding a success. This includes both the bride’s and groom’s parents, and anyone else who has helped. The toast comes after the main course. The best man and maid of honor toasts are appropriate at the reception, not during the rehearsal dinner.
Don’t ruin a nice wedding by stepping on toes at the rehearsal dinner. Keep rehearsal dinner etiquette in mind.
