Rehearsal dinner, Is it important?

It's kind of a thank you meal for the BP and close family i.e your parents and his. Its not necessary but a nice gesture.

Oh, I see. We do not have a bridal party. We have three kids though. We also don't have the money to pay for anything at this time. FH had back surgery during the summer and was not allowed to return to his job. Now it's a waiting game for us on how everything will turn out job wise. That workers comp is not very helpful at all.

We aren't having one. My theory is we can walk in a straight line pretty easily... our ceremony is straight forward.. no readings or anything like that... we're good.

It's mostly as a thank you for those closest to you for being in your lives and participating in the wedding. it is also a special time for the families to bond and get to know each other. the wedding day / night is a zoo - and many of these guests will not have much time to socialize.... ours was really special and i'm so glad we did it. even though our wedding was small (50 guests), we simply did NOT have time to spend with everyone during the actual wedding & reception. i was really glad we had the rehearsal dinner time together.

A rehearsal dinner is a nice way to kind of thank your wedding party for coming special to "rehearse" and to spend time with them in more of a intimate setting before the wedding itself. It can be as casual or as formal as you want. It can also be just visiting and hanging out or include a short "program". For example, thank yous from you and your FH, giving the wedding party their gifts, people sharing a few memories of you.

It doesn't have to be extravagant, it could be as simple as ordering pizza and having a get-together at the house.

Maybe I will do it. give an excuse to test how they will react to me nursing in public. ;-)

If you have a lot of out of towners you should consider it. What are they going to do the evening before the party in a place they might not be familiar with....

IMO, it is very important to at least have a walk through of your ceremony. Sometimes, if you aren't familiar with the progression it is very helpful. Even if you just walk up, in order and back twice, it will assist with any nerves on the wedding day. As far as the rehearsal dinner, it could be hosted at your home or your parents home. It could be finger sandwiches and punch. No need to do something fancy. I agree that it's a great opportunity for those who don't know each other to meet; it makes it slightly less awkward on your wedding day. We are having our "dinner" at an ice cream parlor! :-)

If you aren't having a BP it's probably not necessary. But I think if I am asking my BP to get together the evening before the wedding, it's nice to serve them dinner. And if it means they have to leave earlier, maybe take off more work and stay in a hotel room longer, I think it's rude not to offer something for them, even if it's ordering pizza. Then also, if you have OOT guests, it's nice to be able to invite them along and spend a little time with them, too.

We're not having one. Walk down the pathway from the General Store to the Chapel, meet Brother Rubin at the steps. We are having brunch...ish? today, mostly so my family can meet his. Keepin' it simple!!!

I've been deciding on this too... we are also on a budget and having a very simple ceremony... i am thinking we will do a quick rehearsal and serve bbq or pizza.

We would have maybe 20 people to feed.. so trying to keep it low cost

Most of my couples don't even do a rehearsal anymore (we do a quick walk through the day of....) So many of the venues by me are booking Friday nights that there isn't even an option for a rehearsal, and seriously, it's walking and standing. Anyone can do that, and kids? You know, what they do today is no predictor of what they will do tomorrow.

You make up an order of procession, make sure that everyone who needs it has it (music, banquet director or friend who will send you up the aisle) talk to your officiant who should let everyone who has a key role what to do (like the person who has the rings, the person who is walking you down the aisle) and just enjoy it.

That being said, if you've got a bunch of people coming in from out of town, order some pizzas, let them BYOB and relax.

We're having rehearsal at my church the night before, with readings and all. It'll be held at a Catholic Church most of my BP are non-catholic so I see it as way for them to get comfortable with their environment as well. My priest specifically told me not to waste money on Rehearsal dinner so were have pizza, sandwiches, cookies in the churches basement right after. that's when we'll hand out the gifts and everything. FH and I are footing the bill for everything so far.

We decided to have our rehearsal dinner in our backyard. We're turning it into a BBQ. We have a large party, so we'll go over the order of events and practice a few times - mostly for the kids. This will be the time for speeches because I don't want to take up too much time on speeches at the wedding. Oh and we are having it the weekend before our wedding. Have something simple at your house and enjoy yourself!

I really hate parties. The wedding is for FH. It's what he wants. I have social anxiety so this will be interesting. I have panic attacks thinking about it.

We are having a renewal and our bridal party is all siblings and our nephew....so rehearsal will just be siblings,, our nephew, parents and grandparents and maybe the closest aunts/uncles if they want to come and watch. Dinner is going to be casual...maybe a restaurant and have our parents pitch in a little, or ordering some pizzas or BBQ at our place. Super casual, just a chance for immediate family to have dinner and spend time together before the craziness of the next day.