In the huge adventure of trying to program the great wedding, the rehearsal dinner can tend to get lost in the shuffle. Although it is definitely not on the scale of a wedding, there is nonetheless some planning that goes into developing an enjoyable rehearsal dinner for all concerned. Use these rehearsal dinner preparing ideas to make sure that your pre-wedding party goes off with no a hitch.
The very first step in planning your rehearsal dinner is to figure out who is going to pay for it and what they can afford. Back in the days when it was customary for the bride's parents to foot the bill for the entire wedding, the rehearsal dinner was often hosted by the groom's parents. While in various cases it is still the groom's parents who end up throwing the wedding eve dinner, it is no longer a given. For this reason, the bride and groom need to find out early on if the groom's parents program to host a rehearsal dinner, considering that it can longer be assumed.
Setting the date for a rehearsal dinner is probably the easiest component. It is virtually usually the night ahead of the wedding, following the rehearsal itself. The only question is one of timing. Ideally, the party should really start out fairly early, so that the bridal party can get to bed good and early to rest up for the large day. Based on how early you can get into your venue to practice, the meal to follow does not even have to be held at dinnertime. An afternoon barbeque or cookout makes a amazing post-rehearsal party, in particular if you have a big crowd to feed. The one factor to give some thought to is no matter if you will want to head straight from rehearsal to party, or if a couple of hours are necessary in among.
Then it is on to determining the style of the rehearsal dinner. There is no right or wrong way to do it, and a very formal wedding can surely be preceded by a incredibly informal wedding eve dinner. The only rule is that the rehearsal dinner should certainly not upstage the wedding reception. In some circumstances, it is crucial to restrain the parents of the groom, if their style of entertaining is a great deal more lavish than that of the bride's parents or whomever is paying for the wedding.
Rehearsal dinners need to encourage mingling. This is why parties such as family style service in a restaurant, a barbeque, a clam bake, or a picnic are so common. If you program to have a additional standard seated dinner, give consideration to beginning out with a brief cocktail period (30 - 45 minutes would be plenty), so that folks can wander around and chat before sitting in their seats. That will help the bride and groom's sides to get to know 1 yet another a small superior before the wedding reception. With the ice already broken, the reception tends to be a great deal more relaxed and lively.
The bride and groom will need to often plan to dress nicely, even if the party will be casual. Immediately after all, people will be taking a lot of pictures, and you would hate to appear back on your wedding scrapbooks in the years to come and regret wearing that tank top and those cut off shorts! The bride-to-be can dress considerably as she would for an afternoon bridal shower, in a fairly dress and a piece of her wedding jewelry. (If her wedding jewelry is too fancy for the style of the dinner, pearl earrings and a silver bracelet often look very good.) As for the groom-to-be, a button down shirt and a neatly pressed pair of khakis would be the minimum, and if the location is dressier, a jacket and tie should really be added. The bride and groom will usually be the center of attention at their rehearsal dinner, so they need to appear the portion.
