Ceremony Rehearsal

I don't think its 100% necessary it's just to make sure who knows whose gonna walk first, where to stand etc. If your comfortable not doing it then just do dinner.

Some people skip it and it's fine. I did it for me because I felt like no one in our wedding party really knew how it worked and I didn't have a coordinator for ceremony. Also the layout of my venue is very confusing so it was good for them to be shown it beforehand.

We also have a small wedding party (6 in total), and we're aiming for a 15 minute or less ceremony. But we're still having a rehearsal. Our venue hours don't line up well with a rehearsal the night before, so we're going somewhere else before dinner to rehearse. And our officiant isn't going to be there (because it was an extra $150+ to have her show up) so she's going to send along a script and our coordinator is going to run through everything. I guess it's not necessary, but I'm definitely a planner and I want to make sure everyone knows what's going on - when and where to walk, how far apart to stand, etc., - and I also know I'll feel better having the real deal not be the first time.

I don’t think it’s necessary as long as everyone knows what to do and where to stand.

Unless you have a very large wedding party or complicated or unique elements to your ceremony, I say skip it. One less thing to stress about.

Just for a different perspective- My mom got married recently, and only had 6 people walking down, so she decided not to do a rehearsal, and it was pretty chaotic on the day of. Just coordinating when to walk down with the song changes, and where to stand before walking, and how fast to walk so the timing would work with the song. I’m choosing to do a rehearsal on Wednesday and my wedding is on a Friday.

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Are you also having a rehearsal dinner on Wednesday afterwards? If so, are you concerned about your wedding party's schedules conflicting with a weekday rehearsal?

View Quoted Comment I am having the rehearsal dinner after, about 7:30. I am a little bit concerned, but everything is in the evening and almost everyone has day jobs and will be off of work, and we let everyone know about a month in advance. There’s one couple in the bridal party that may not be able to show up, but they’ve been fairly absent for the whole wedding, so I’m not too surprised. We had to move it from Thursday to a Wednesday for my mom, but other than that people seem pretty okay with it- especially since my wedding is on a weekday already, they expected to be busy that week and are okay with it :-)

You don't have to do a rehearsal BUT when it comes to processions and the recessional it's always nice to be clear on what everyone should be doing. You don't want your bridesmaids to just power walk down the aisle because they didn't know any better.

Honestly, I would do a rehearsal on Thursday night. Make it a later rehearsal like 7pm or 7:30pm. Rehearsals usually only last about 30 minutes. You can ask if anyone would like to go out for a drink afterwards or you can tell your wedding party that you'll be providing a meal as a thank you on Saturday night.

Just make sure you communicate these plans with your wedding party. If most of them say they won't be able to go out afterwards on Thursday Night due to scheduling issues, then cancel the drinks afterwards. I'm assuming that most will be available Saturday night for a meal since usually people clear their schedules thinking they'll be busy the night before a wedding.

We didn’t rehearse, everything went smoothly. We went over walking order quickly immediately before the ceremony, then off we went. No issues.

If you don’t rehearse, which is fine, just make sure you communicate your intentions to everyone , especially if there’s something about song or speed of walking if it’s getting you concerned. All our bridal party walked out to the same song, so aside from order, there wasn’t even much to fuss about.

I agree with the comment above mine ! It’s important everyone is on the same page

I’m having a simple ceremony with a small bridal party but I still feel a need for a rehearsal. FH and his best man, both have never been to a wedding. So I want them to get a feel for it. Also, I’m going to be nervous about things going right; I think a rehearsal will help settle my nerves a bit. We’re then doing rehearsal dinner with all family/out of town guests invited.

Our wedding is also on Sunday with a small wedding party. All of wedding party has to fly in so we are having the rehearsal somewhere else on Saturday. We’re getting married in San Diego in the mountains so we used this opportunity to pick a restaurant at the beach to change up the scenery. Our officiant package included the rehearsal so she’ll be there too. Our ceremony is simple so we didn’t feel the need to rehearse but since our guests are all from across the country or over seas, we wanted another opportunity to hang out. My sister didn’t rehearse for her wedding and it went by smoothly. My cousin did rehearse but didn’t include the kids (flower girls, ring bearer) and the kids were lost. If you don’t want to rehearse just make sure you communicate your expectations somehow or briefly review it the morning of. It will all work out

I don’t think it’s totally necessary but I will be having one, our venue also only has them mon-Thursday so I chose Thursday at 5:30 trying my best to accommodate work schedules, and I’m having the dinner at the venue as well to make it easier.. we are just giving everyone plenty of notice so they are away of the date!