Thursday Rehearsal

I'm having a Thursday Rehearsal and dinner. Whoever can be there will be there. It shouldn't be that hard to walk down the aisle and follow the person ahead of you or follow instructions. Most of my guest are OOT also. Three out of my 5 BM's won't be there. However my family and FH's family will be there so dinner won't be small anyway.

This is super common for Catholic weddings. Honestly, the wedding is not hard for the bridal party. They literally just walk down an aisle and stand there. Find someone to stand in for them at the rehearsal who can explain what they need to do (I was planning to have some of the bridal party SO's stand in for the people who weren't going to make it).

At the end of the day, you can't require out of town bridal party members to miss 2 days of work so that they can be at an hour long rehearsal on Thursday night.

I'm having a thursday rehearsal too! Whoever can be there will be there, our rd will be thurs night with just bp and then we will meet up with oot people friday, or the day after the wedding to make sure we get time in with them!

Eta: the Bp is mostly taking off work friday and is happy to (we did not ask them to, I think they were planning on it even if the rehearsal was friday just to enjoy the day) esp because they know so early. And just think how nice it will be to have tht extra time on Friday!

I'm going to echo what PPs have already said. I am having a Thursday rehearsal. Whoever can make it, great. If not, the other BP members can fill them in the day of. No big deal.

I find most rehearsals pointless honestly.

I had a Thursday rehearsal as well for a saturday wedding and exactly half of our BP was from OOT. We made the decision pretty early on though and contacted everyone (even the in-towners) to see how many conflicts we'd end up with if we went with Thursday. Every one of them made it to the rehearsal and only one BM had to skip the dinner due to a conflict with one of her kids and athletics...it was no big deal. Actually worked out better because said BM has 5 kids (DH's nieces and nephews) so none of them came to the dinner making that 6 fewer meals we had to pay for

We are having a a Thursday night rehearsal.

Do the rehearsal for your piece of mind and to cover any questions and logistics. A visual of the space is great for those unfamiliar with a church or the set up. Absolutely have your MOH and Best man go over the plan with the BP who missed so all are up to speed so everyone is clear on what to do.

I have two stories for you:

I was not able to attend a rehearsal dinner when I was a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding, it was very easy to figure out what to do, so no worries there

My FH was in a wedding that was on a Friday night, 4 hours away from home and the rehearsal was on Thursday, he skipped work Thursday and Friday, had to pay for two nights a hotel and I had to ride up solo. We missed his paycheck both those days and I think it was very unnecessary for him to be there.

I don't think you'll need a 'fill-in' but just know where you want the missing person. It will still be successful and beautiful!

I would ask the BP and everyone who needs to be there and see how they feel. We considered it at one point but it wasn't what worked with the venue we picked. To me we only had a small number of people coming for the rehearsal and they all either lived here or around 1.5 hours away. IMO while it wasn't ideal if someone asked me to do that I would do it and gladly. I would just stay an extra day or drive in twice if I didn't want to stay longer. So long as the rehearsal is late enough most people could even come as soon as they got off work and then leave after if need be.

Logistics should be in place way before the rehearsal; that is not the time to be figuring out who is walking with who, or anything else. If there is someone competent at the ceremony venue, they 'll line you up and send you down the aisle.

If everyone is truly that far away from the venue, I wouldn't even consider making them drive four hours to literally walk up the aisle and stand.

If your wedding is in a church, it should be pretty straight forward. Rehearsals aren't entirely necessary unless there's some different or quirky aspect of your venue, IMO.

You should just be able to fill the girls in on what to do. They probably already know what to do anyway.

We are having a Thursday rehearsal for a Friday wedding, entire BP and guest list is OOT. It sounds like you will be ok unless you are at an unusual venue or plan on a unique addition to the ceremony.

Mine is on a Thursday too!

Our bridal party all has to be in on Thursday so the guys can pick up their tuxes anyway. It hasn't been a problem as we just let people know in advance.

We're having a Thursday rehearsal for our Friday wedding though I don't think it's necessary (FH insists we need one). Unless you have a specific need for a rehearsal (or a FH who insists lol) you can skip the rehearsal and dinner all together.