Rehearsal Dinner dress code?

Just like weddings, it depends on the venue and the formality of the event. We had ours at a pizza place and dressed pretty casually. Some are more formal and call for cocktail attire.

It will depend! Ours was a bit more formal so everyone wore almost cocktail attire. Chinos, dress shirts, dresses etc. I didn’t wear anything specific, I picked out a pretty dress to my knee. Guests should be able to judge what to wear based on the rehearsal dinner venue.

Ours wasn't very formal so i didn't indicate a dress code especially because people were coming straight from work anyway

Agree it depends on venue, formality, even weather. Daughter's rehearsal was at the country club type venue and the dinner was in the private room at a large brewery restaurant chain. She planned to be slightly overdressed for the dinner venue by wearing a knee length white lace dress, but it was literally POURING all week and the day of the rehearsal was the worst. She ended up wearing skinny jeans and a pullover sweater that's a really flattering color on her. Two BM's who were in from out of state wore long (more casual) dresses, because that's what they planned/packed when they flew out, so not many options. As MOB, I switched from a dressy black pantsuit to nice jeans and a blazer over a lace blouse. Nearly all the other guests (around 40, because it was also a welcome dinner for OOT guests) dressed appropriately warm and casual given the weather....

Ours was at our venue (a vineyard) and was catered by the vineyard's staff, so it was semi-formal. I wore a white lace cocktail dress, and my bridesmaids also went the cocktail dress route. The men wore dress pants, button down shirts, and ties.

It really depends on the formality of your rehearsal dinner.

Agree with others. It depends on the event. Rehearsal dinners can be anywhere from casual to formal. Ours was at our country club venue in a private space off the restaurant. I wore a knee-length white lace dress. Pretty much everyone was dressed in cocktail attire. We had the bridal party plus out of town guests and immediate family.

It's typically very casual. Most that I have been to were tshirt and jeans with pizza or similar foods. There is no reason to make it fancy when the wedding day itself is the formal event.

There is no "typically," "generally," etc. here because so many people do so many different things for rehearsal dinners. You need to look at the venue and time of day to determine formality.

Most of the one's I've been to were at restaurants and everyone was wearing cocktail attire. The bride wore white. Ours will probably be in a backyard and so we'll not casual attire on our wedding website.

We had our rehearsal at a BBQ place so the dress code was very casual, jeans and t-shirt. I think it all depends on your venue.

When I was the bride I wore a short, white summer dress. I didn't care what anyone else wore and didn't put out any dress code requests. Some people came dressed up and some came in jeans and a t-shirt. Personally, for rehearsal dinners I think it's sweet when the bride wears a simple white dress.

We are planning to be casual dress for our Wedding Rehearsal. We are going out to eat later.
Lucretia

My ILs hosted our rehearsal dinner at their apartment. It was August, hot as heck, and they don't have a/c (very old building). So, ours was "nice casual" - and DH handled it by emailing people. In other words, super casual, very chill, and a nice day to just "set" everything and be ready to go.

I dressed up a wee bit, but as the bride, I figured I was allowed to be a little extra! It was still a sleeveless dress, though! (It was not white at all. I don't really wear a lot of white, because I'm very pale.)

Depends on the formality of the dinner! Ours was at a restaurant. I wore a maxi dress. I told our guests to just dress how they would to any fancy dinner on a Saturday night. Like, no jeans, shorts, tshirts, etc, but definitely don’t need a suit or cocktail dress or anything. I believe most of the men wore button downs or polos and nice slacks, and the women mostly wore sundresses.

I agree with PP. The attire would depend on the venue. There's no need for it to be fancy if that's not what you particularly want. You can do something super simple like beer and pizza in your backyard. Or you can go super fancy with a really upscale venue. Totally up to you.


I'd recommend picking a venue first then select the appropriate attire based on the venue.