Rehearsal Dinner Etiquette

Weddings aren't simple. There are rules and procedures at every turn. Planning a wedding is often a full time affair.

One of the elements of a good wedding is the rehearsal dinner, with its own set of rehearsal dinner etiquette. 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 groom's parents get the task of running the rehearsal dinner. They plan it and organize. For couples who prefer to host the dinner themselves as a thanks to the families and wedding guests, make sure to explain the reasoning to the grooms parents so as not to insult them. If the groom's parents insist, let them do it. Why start a fight because you want to do more work?

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 puts more pressure on people. 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.

It's a must to invite the immediate relatives of both the bride and groom. Also invite the whole bridal party and any other close friends or family of the soon to be married. Make sure to invite the priest or minister or person who administers the vows. 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?

Dinner begins with a time for people to talk and mingle. Make it a relaxing situation. Don't make the dinner too far out of line with the overall wedding budget. An extravagant wedding gets a extravagant rehearsal dinner. By the same token a budget wedding should have too fancy of a rehearsal dinnerA less expensive wedding warrants a less expensive rehearsal dinner. Plan for an early end so people can rest before the next busy day.

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. Save other toasts for the reception.

A good wedding can be better with a smooth rehearsal dinner. Don't ignore rehearsal dinner etiquette.