{"id":45141,"date":"2016-03-18T12:36:56","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T16:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.topweddingsites.com\/wedding-blog\/?p=45141"},"modified":"2017-08-06T12:39:05","modified_gmt":"2017-08-06T16:39:05","slug":"rehearsal-dinner-party-plan-want","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.topweddingsites.com\/wedding-blog\/wedding-planning\/rehearsal-dinner-party-plan-want","title":{"rendered":"The Rehearsal Dinner \u2014 It\u2019s Your Party (To Plan if You Want To)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the day before the big event. You\u2019ve got twenty-four hours (or less) to go. In a way, it\u2019s like the night before the end of a great political campaign. You\u2019re surrounded by most of the people you care for, and the rest are on their way. You\u2019ve given it your absolute all, and that\u2019s really all you can do.<\/p>\n

So do you want to spend the night before your wedding all amped up like a high school junior before the SAT? Or do you want to shrug your shoulders and spend this time eating, drinking and making merry with your wedding party and family?<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Most brides want the latter. The only hitch: the rehearsal dinner<\/a> comes at the end of a long, long list of things to organize \u2014 and pay for. The good news is, although the rehearsal dinner\u2019s a widely adopted custom, it\u2019s not required. And if you feel it\u2019s a burden, skip it. Go out for hot fudge sundaes with your girlfriends instead, or do whatever it takes to lighten your load.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, if your final crunch week hasn\u2019t been so bad, you might be looking forward to this chance to spend a cozy evening with the people who helped you pull off this wedding, letting them know how important they are to you. In that case, here are a few pointers for pulling together this small but meaningful party.<\/p>\n

The Nitty-Gritty Details<\/h2>\n

Of course, the rehearsal dinner isn\u2019t all play. There\u2019s some work involved too: namely, that little matter of the wedding rehearsal, which is usually held on-site at your ceremonial site. This is often the only chance at a group walk-through before the big day, so people are typically eager to do it. The dinner afterward can be held almost anywhere, from a restaurant or a country club to a party house or even someone\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

Over dinner, the couple typically takes a moment to thank the guests for their time and effort. And often, they follow up with more tangible tokens of thanks for members of the wedding party. Around this time, the bride and groom\u2019s parents will typically offer a toast to the couple. Other than these key elements, the rehearsal dinner is a pretty free-form affair without any special agenda. Leave the formality for your wedding day.<\/p>\n

Okay, but who pays for the rehearsal dinner? Like so many areas of wedding etiquette, this one\u2019s become a little murky. By tradition, parents of the groom are expected to foot the bill, but it\u2019s getting increasingly popular for the wedding couple to pay for the dinner themselves. For one thing, today\u2019s wedding couples are often a little older and a little better off, and they\u2019re used to making their own choices \u2014 which often means paying the tab.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, the rehearsal dinner is a small affair for parents, wedding party members and significant others, but it\u2019s yours, and you can invite anyone you want. It\u2019s common to invite out-of-town guests, for example. But if this seems a little overwhelming, try skipping the traditional dinner and holding a simple cocktail party with a cash bar instead, just to give everyone a chance to get together. Keep it simple: ask the venue to supply the hors d\u2019oeuvres.<\/p>\n

Your Day, Your Way<\/h2>\n

Fortunately for overstressed brides, there\u2019s nothing about the rehearsal dinner that\u2019s written in stone, including whether or not to even have one. So feel free to bend the rules when planning yours, and make it meet your needs.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re up for one, you\u2019ll probably find your rehearsal dinner offers a great chance for close friends to partake of your celebration in a satisfyingly intimate setting. And don\u2019t forget \u2014 unlike so many of those political campaigns, this is one event that\u2019s sure to end in triumph.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the day before the big event. You\u2019ve got twenty-four hours (or less) to go. In a way, it\u2019s like the night before the end of a great political campaign. You\u2019re surrounded by most of the people you care for, and the rest are on their way. You\u2019ve given it your absolute all, and that\u2019s really all you can do. So do you want to spend the night before your wedding all amped up like a high school junior before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":45144,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wedding-planning"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Rehearsal Dinner \u2014 It\u2019s Your Party (To Plan if You Want To) | Wedding Planning | TopWeddingSites.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.topweddingsites.com\/wedding-blog\/wedding-planning\/rehearsal-dinner-party-plan-want\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Rehearsal Dinner \u2014 It\u2019s Your Party (To Plan if You Want To) | Wedding Planning | TopWeddingSites.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s the day before the big event. 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