Tell me about your ceremony rehearsal!

Did you have a rehearsal? If so, did you have it at your venue or a different location?

Yes, we had a rehearsal. It took place at the venue. I don't think it would make much sense to have it at a different location because a different location isn't going to have the same space as your venue. Following the rehearsal, we had dinner at a local restaurant where we rented a private room.

Who led your rehearsal? Your officiant? A day-of coordinator?

Our rehearsal was led by our officiant and the venue coordinator. This was the first time they had met so there were a few things they felt should be done differently, but they worked it out.

How much did you actually rehearse? Just the processional/recessional/where to stand? The entire ceremony?

We rehearsed a mini version of the ceremony, but not the entire ceremony.

I am having my rehearsal at the same place the day before. Our officiant is one of the groomsmen and this is his first time officiating so we are going to let our coordinator lead us through. It shouldn’t take long but we are allotting an hour just in case to walk though who comes in from where, where would everyone stand, music for walking down the aisle etc

We are having a rehearsal the night before at our venue, but our officiant will not be there. It is and extra $185 for her to be there for the rehearsal, so we are doing a phone rehearsal with her earlier in the day then an actual walk-through with the bridesmaids and such at the venue.

I worked as a venue coordinator for years.


Typically recommend having the rehearsal at the venue itself. That way you do know exact placements and stuff.
If your venue has someone more hands on they’ll often take a little lead so you know how people have done ceremonies previously. Especially if the officiant is not a professional.
I would always start everyone in the positions they would be in during the ceremony, the officiant would walk roughly through what the ceremony would entail (welcome, readings, vows, pronouncement) and then everyone would practice recessional (going back up aisle) and then we would practice the processional a few times.
Highly recommend making sure everyone walks a little slowly. Day of people tend to be nervous and walk really fast!

View Quoted Comment

Ours was precisely like this

We had our rehearsal at our venue the night before! Our officiant came and led it, it was actually apart of the package! We did a quick run though of the order, when to walk, how to stand & then did a run though with music for timing! We also went through the ceremony is a general sense of “I’ll say something like this then you’ll do this etc”