Rehearsal Dinner - Include OOT Guests?

We are actually having a rehearsal lunch (venue has a wedding the day before mine so we have to have the rehearsal early) with just the BP and their significant others, then my mom is going to host a welcome party that night for any out of town guests or family that would like to come.

Whichever you prefer, honestly. You are not required to invite OOT guests, we did not, as this would've been basically another wedding. What we did was let people know they were welcome to stop by for a drink (my in-laws hosted and wanted some of their OOT friends to stop by) after dinner.

For dinner, we only had our immediate families, wedding party and significant others, and anyone else included in the ceremony that wasn't part of the previous 2 groupings.

We are having our rehearsal and RD the Thursday before our Saturday wedding, and my FIL's are hosting and only wanted BP and readers (I got my grandparents invited as well, had to!). I felt bad because I have family flying in from GA and would've liked to include them. So, my dad offered to get all of them together on Friday so we can see them and they feel welcome. If he didn't offer, we were going to bring pizza and beer to their hotel Friday and catch up!

I think it is okay not to include OOTs, but I think it is nice to try and spend some time with them outside the wedding day while they are there, especially if they travel far for ya!

My dad says it's proper etiquette to invite OOT guest also but 90% of our wedding guest were from OOT. We just invited the wedding party and family because of that. I live in a tourist town so a lot of my family ended up declining the rehearsal dinner because they wanted to other explore.

No. The rehearsal is for people who are actively involved in the wedding ceremony (plus siblings and parents). Its intentions are for everyone to be on the same page and rehearse the wedding.

If you want to do something for OOT guest then do rehearsal at lunch and have a dinner for them or do a brunch the next day. But you are not required to do anything for your OOT guest

@Emily, I really like that option. Since about 75% of our guests will be from out of town, I didn't want their first time seeing us to be at the wedding. I thought it would be kind of cool to welcome them and catch up with them before wedding day madness hits. We are in the process of contacting hotels for room blocks so I will inquire about the meeting space!

Thanks everyone for your input!

My Dad also insists that OOT guests should be invited to the rehearsal dinner. I vehemently disagree. I have been to many out-of-town weddings and have never been invited to the rehearsal dinner, nor would I expect to be! The purpose is to feed the people who just rehearsed, as a thank you for being a part of the day...in my opinion. I do think it is nice, however, to do something like a PP is doing, and say "come have a drink at x bar with us if you're in town on Friday night!" but again, I don't think there is any expectation for the bride and groom or their parents to pay for said drinks.

It is frustrating that weddings are turning into a weekend thing -- the expectation to invite OOT guests to rehearsal dinner, and then host some kind of brunch/get together on Sunday, too? It's getting insane.

I'm cranky. Is it Monday?!

We are having the rehearsal dinner with wedding party and then doing a bonfire on the beach as a welcome. I like the lunch Rehearsal and WD.

FH's family is all coming in from out of town, and if they were coming in for a wedding or just a visit - it is expected that the local family hosts the guests. FMIL & FFIL are planning and hosting dinner the night before our wedding, and it will have his entire family invited. It's not actually near our rehearsal time (as we only have MOH/BM in the wedding party, so our rehearsal will be earlier in the day and very short).

If we invited all of our OOT guests, that would be my entire family and most of the wedding.. so no, we aren't.

Parents, Siblings, Grand parents, and BP is who is invited

My FH's parents generously offered to pay for the rehearsal dinner, so I'm leaving it up to them whether they want to include out-of-town guests. I hadn't planned to, but if FMIL wants to invite her sisters, it's fine with me!

You only have to invite the people who were required to be at the actual rehearsal (and their dates). We had a small rehearsal dinner and a large welcome cocktail party for all guests (local and OOT) immediately following. Most of our guests were from OOT and we wanted to welcome them, so we did both. The dinner was at a fairly inexpensive restaurant, so it didn't break the bank.

I was wondering about this too.. but I don't think inviting OOT is an option for me. Ive moved to Florida so 85% of my guestlist is from back home in NJ. I would essentially be inviting everyone to the rehearsal so it became a no. Lol

Hahaha @soontobedames...I'm right there with you.

I think it's your preference and what you can afford. We are inviting bridal party and their dates and parents. We did not want to have 2 wedding receptions, It just seemed silly to us to invite oot guest to rehearsal when they aren't rehearsing.