Can someone please school me on the rehearsal dinner

Yep, I would love to know this too!!

Usually the parents host a dinner, but if not then I guess you do, we arent having a cake at mine, just good food, family, and friends...its more like a get together dinner after the rehearsal for us, because I have lots of family coming in from out of town. Usually you do toasts and well wishes, I dont now about gifts though.

Ooohh so there's no "rehearsal" as such?

We are just doing dinner and drinks. No toasts, no cake. It's supposed to be a nice, relaxing time before the big day.

You might want to actually have a rehearsal, lol....though not many of my couples do. Give gifts, do toasts, relax and enjoy. It's whatever you want it to be. I don't think you need a cake unless you want one; one of my couples had their grooms cake at the rehearsal dinner.

Rehearse the wedding? =) Seriously, I think it could be done a few times - especially if there are children involved.

Thanking everyone involved in your day.

Have fun - let your families meet if they haven't yet.

This is the time when the bride and groom say their thank yous to the all the family and friends for helping and they hand out the MOH and Bridemaids, parents, and groomsmen gifts..It should be a nice relaxing time for everyone to kick back and take a couple hour break from running around like mad men and women

I am thinking i might have the groom's cake here if he wants one.. he didnt even know he could have one.. of course that means he isnt getting his bday cake

I am interested in this - Watchlist-add!

The rehearsal dinner started as a meal after the rehearsal, to thank the wedding party for being there. It sometimes fulfills that function today, if there is a rehearsal. However, it also may be a general welcome dinner for OOT guests who arrive the night before.

We didn't have a rehearsal. (Most Jewish weddings don't.) However, we had a dinner the night before, because our guests were all OOT and were all staying in one big house. We just ordered in a bunch of pizzas, and had a relaxed dinner before the more formal festivities the next day.

We are having a cake. Usually a catered meaal is served with dessert and for me a cake is the easiest thing to do. We are ordering it from our 2nd choice baker since we can't get our wedding cake from them due to venue limitations. It is just going to be a round cake that feeds 40 people. No ornate decorations or toppers.

At my sister's we had a short rehearsal before the dinner w/ the officiant at the ceremony site, just to make sure everyone knew where to walk/stand/etc. I think this is a GREAT idea. As for the rehearsal dinner, I think whatever you want is fine! My FH and I will probably pay for ours, so it will be more casual than my sister's. You can go for a fix-priced thing at one of your favorite restaurants or maybe a friend can host it (goodness knows your GM/BM have probably done enough hosting).

I think it's traditional for those ppl who aren't giving toasts at the wedding to give toasts at the rehearsal dinner. You can also give your bridal party gifts out at this time, although some people prefer that to be done privately.

After we rehearse at the venue, we are going to a nice sports bar and have a pizza bar dinner. Invited are the wedding party and all of our OOT guests. I am also surprising FH with his grooms cake here. The thing I am most excited about are the games we will be playing. They are some get to know the couple games. If you PM me I am happy to send you our RH "itinerary" in a pdf document.

I was going to nix the rehearsal dinner because we cannot afford a more"traditional" one. But if it is informal, I can!

Would it be okay to make dinner for everyone? Or is that tacky?

I hope more newlyweds comment on this post!

We are going to rehearse and then go to a restaurant. All of my guests will be invited because we are having a DW.

However, you would normally invite your close family and bridal party or anyone that you specifically want to be there.

@Bert's girl-It would certainly be ok to make dinner for everyone. Or you could make it a potluck! I think that would be fun.

After the rehearsal were all gonna go back to the FIL's for a huge fish fry. We wanted to have a low key dinner so everyone can relax and have fun before the the big day. Its probably just gonna be the wedding party and possibly the grandparents that will be invited to come.

Are we supposed to "present " the gifts ? that seems awkward and weird ..

We are having a informal rehersal dinner at a sports bar down the street from the chapel. This will be hosted one hour after rehersal begins and they only people attending will be wedding attendents and out of town guests. We wanted something very laid back because that matches our personality more than our formal wedding. The sports bar acutally has a private room. We will be ordering pizza's and salads. Everyone is responsable for their own alcohol. We will be presenting gifts to our wedding party and spending time with out of town guests.

I've seen Rehersal dinner's held all sorts of ways. Formal 4 course meals and as informal as White Castle. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just do what fits your budget.

I have seen ones with pizza from Costco, and i have seen one where the brides family does a home made pasta bake and everything was low key.. then another one of my friends had her church cater it and they did formal announcements and had each bridesmaid/groomsmen come up one by one. then everyone was able to give toasts to the bride and groom.. both familys were invited and there was about 40 people.. both were fun and amazing!

Thanks everyone. Yes we are having a rehearsal at the church. I love the Whitecastle idea but ours would have to be Whataburger since that is the first place we ever ate together. I was also thinking Olive Garden since that was our first real dinner together. We will be paying our own so we'll probably decide after we figure out exactly who is coming in from OOT and how much we can spend after paying all of the wedding stuff.

Keep the ideas coming!

Ester, if you are going to do a run through of the wedding, then it would be nice to have a rehearsal food event prior or after the run through. you can use this time to thank your wedding party (if you haven't done this already) and your family and talk about how you are excited to have them share in this day, etc., etc., etc..

your "event" can be during any meal; most people will do a dinner, but we are doing a lunch because we found the prices are more affordable. i haven't heard of the wedding party getting gifts during this time (the fh & i are giving gifts during our bachelor/ette parties), but you would give your parents their gifts.

in all honesty, this event whatever you want it to be; your wedding party will love it nonetheless