How far away is your rehearsal dinner from the actual rehearsal ?

It is a bit odd but hey you do you, some people don't even do rehearsals and rehearsal dinners at all. I don't really think in the end it matters though whether it's before or after.
My rehearsal dinner restaurant is like five minutes away from my church where rehearsal is.

View Quoted Comment The venue isn’t close to much. There aren’t any restaurants that close. I have to do some more research. I wanted to do it at the venue on their patio but he quoted us $65pp. Way over budget.

I would maybe speak to a few key people in your bridal party to get their opinion. As someone who drives 40 miles to work each day, that is quite a drive (then again, it may be better when you are not fighting with Jersey traffic). So I would think it's far. However, ask your MOH, best man, etc and see what they say.

I agree with hannah. Ask a few people you are inviting what they think.
I personally have a 40 minute drive to and from work everyday, and it can be alot.
And for your guests, im assuming some might be out of towners or not from the area...that can be frustrating to drive 40 minutes to a place when you dont know the area

View Quoted Comment Would you be able to get party trays or something like that from the restaurant and just have a more informal rehearsal dinner after at the venue?

Dinner before is odd, but not so odd you shouldn’t do it. I would just be worried I’d be rushed so that we were late to the actual rehersal. Plus any drinking done at dinner might make me tipsy for the rehersal.
Our rehersal dinner was about 30 min from my church. Out of the way for everyone. But, it was so yummy (we all love eating there) so no one was bothered by it.

Ours are s 30 mi outed away we did ask.

We are having our rehearsal and dinner at two different locations too. Although dinner before is different. We are having rehearsal at our venue which is probably about 30-40min from where we are having dinner. Dinner is in the town where most of the wedding party lives. Our plan is to do a half hour or hour rehearsal and then go to dinner. Stop at our homes and grab the rest of our stuff we would need for the wedding and head back up to the hotel near the venue.

It's a little different, but hey if it works for you.

Our venue and rehearsal dinner will be 10 minutes apart.

Dinner before to me is the more odd and complicated part — and certainly changes the vibe of dinner (can’t really unwind with some wine and a nice meal if I have to then drive 40 min and rehearse), and I’m also wondering if people live nearer to the restaurant or to the venue (eat, drive 40 min to rehearse, then drive 5 min home is one thing....eat, drive 40 min to rehearse, drive 40 min back is a while different ballgame) — so I think what might be more important to consider than the distance between venue and restaurant is where people are headed immediately after rehearsing. Rehearsing itself is usually pretty quick and uninvolved so if it’s an hour and a half round trip for that, I wouldn’t be thrilled ...is there anything overly complicated about your specific venue ? If not, you could simply do a quick run down of events at the restaurant before dinner and skip the formal rehearsal at the event space ?

Do you have to practice at the actual venue?? Or is it something you could mock up at the restaurant or near the restaurant? In reality you don’t necessarily need to be at the venue to practice unless it’s very unique processional. Just a thought!

Just saw the pp made the same suggestion lol!

View Quoted Comment The cost to have the dinner at the venue was 65pp (not including tax and gratuity) . Way over budget. That would have been ideal.

So. When I ran the idea by my mother she said absolutely NOT. She thinks wedding planning has clouded my better judgement so she has decided that she and my dad will plan and host it. She agreed with most of the posters that it was beyond odd. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I'm (trying) to keep my wedding fun/low maintenance so we're allowed rehearsal the Friday before & set up starting at 4pm; I'm going to order pizza from a local place about 15 minutes away and we'll all eat and hang out while setting up for the wedding!

Who am I to judge? We aren't having a rehearsal, but the rehearsal dinner is at a diner! LMAO! My FMIL picked the place. It's a renovated diner that is now more of an "upscale" diner with a banquet hall on the second floor.

https://www.therandolphdiner.com/banquet-hall-morris-county-nj.html

When I told my best friend where we were having it, all she could say was, "You're having your rehearsal dinner at a diner?" I tried to tell her that it was an upscale diner and she said, "I don't care! You're having your rehearsal dinner at a diner!"

LOL! Completely nontraditional!

Ours is about 15 minutes apart

My rehearsal dinner is at our venue. So it’s convenient for everyone. It won’t be formal just buffet style with two entrees to choose from. Laid back rehearsal and after that have dinner. We will have some toasts and give our bridal party and parents our gifts to thank them. Sweet and simple.

In June 2017 I was a bridesmaid for a wedding and the rehearsal was 50 minutes away from where we were having lunch which was the “rehearsal dinner”. MISERABLE drive to do on my own. This is where I have to put my foot down and said no matter the price we will have it at the same place lol

For mine we are doing the Thursday before the wedding Saturday, so we won't have to rush around Friday. The restaurant we are going to is about 20 minutes away from the venue. It is only bridal party/officiant/parents/grandparents.

I don't think it is weird, I would just make sure everyone knows that it is about 40 minutes away!

View Quoted Comment I was suggesting the opposite
not to have dinner at the venue, but instead to just rehearse at the restaurant of your choosing, wherever you’ve decided to have the dinner. Sure you don’t get that exact and real-feel aisle walk, but you can cover a lot of the important bases. You wouldn’t be standing or waiting exactly as you would be day of, but you could communicate the general ideas and order and placement even from off-site .

For us, we didn’t do a proper rehearsal (most of the bridal party didn’t arrive in town until late the night before he wedding!), so instead we basically did a quick huddle right before the ceremony to cover who walks with who and who stands where — it’s possible to do a quick run through really in any open space , if you don’t want to go all the way to your venue!