When Is Groom's Cake Served

Wedding Rehearsal Dinner Guide 2022: More Than Only A Dinner

2021-01-29 fourteen:38 14:38

Jan 29, 2021
Rehearsal Dinner
by Chris Easter

Rehearsal dinner planning is often the largest responsibleness for the groom and his family in the wedding process. This upshot, which immediately follows the wedding rehearsal, is an opportunity to laurels the bride and groom 1 final time before they accept their vows. Information technology besides gives the couple a risk to thank their families and the hymeneals party for their support and for being a function of the hymeneals. While the reception will be the biggest party of the weekend, in that location's no reason the rehearsal dinner tin can't hold its own.

We know that about men don't have all-encompassing consequence or party planning feel (information technology would be scary if you did). Balance assured, though, throwing a memorable rehearsal dinner shouldn't be difficult for y'all and your family. Chances are you've been to at least one rehearsal dinner in the past and can describe from that experience. Your parents may fifty-fifty want to contain some aspects of their rehearsal dinner (location, carte du jour, photos) into yours.

What is a Rehearsal Dinner?
What Happens at a Rehearsal Dinner?
How Much Should You Spend on a Rehearsal Dinner?
Who Pays For Rehearsal Dinner?
Who Gets Invited to the Rehearsal Dinner?
What is the Etiquette for Rehearsal Dinner Invitations?
Where to Have a Rehearsal Dinner?
What Do Y'all Serve at a Rehearsal Dinner?
Cash Bar or Open up Bar for the Rehearsal Dinner?
What Drinks Should Be Served at the Rehearsal Dinner?
Hosting a Rehearsal Dinner Ideas
Rehearsal Dinner Timeline

What is a Rehearsal Dinner?

A rehearsal dinner is a dinner (surprise) where the bride and groom and anybody involved in the wedding run through the game plan for the next day so that everything can become off without a hitch. You'll go over who'due south walking downwardly the aisle, who'due south standing where, and who's saying what. Just because it's practice doesn't mean yous shouldn't have fun. This is a gamble for your hymeneals party to party before the party.

Traditionally held the nighttime before the wedding, the dinner is a way to kick off your nuptials weekend with the people who mean the most to yous.

What Happens at a Rehearsal Dinner?

Rehearsal dinners provide a casual, less stressful surroundings for the wedding party to get excited for the large twenty-four hour period. The rehearsal dinner is a time to celebrate a marriage with more immediate friends and family unit. This also gives the party a chance to get to know each other better and relieve pre-wedding nervousness.

Dinner

There are few things in the world that bring people together more nutrient. Expert friends, good family, and proficient food is the perfect recipe for creating a fun, loving environment.

Gifts

Gift-giving is also a prominent role of the rehearsal dinner. Giving out gifts to the parents and wedding party during the rehearsal dinner provides a pocket-size environs where gifts and give thanks yous tin be exchanged more than intimately. This allows for more time to be spent discussing and opening gifts; making the experience overall more than meaningful.

Toasts

Along with this, toasts are also a bang-up way to express gratitude to the wedding political party, the bride & groom, and the parents. A smaller crowd also helps to create a space for more personal speeches to be given. As an added bonus, scheduling speeches for the rehearsal dinner can assistance cut down on the number of speeches during the nuptials reception.

Dessert

At a traditional rehearsal dinner, the groom's block normally concludes the dinner. Of course, not every rehearsal dinner has to have a groom's cake. Other treats tin can exist served, but every expert dinner should cease with a yummy dessert.

How Much Should Y'all Spend On a Rehearsal Dinner?

Traditionally, the groom and/or his family is financially responsible for all of the rehearsal dinner planning. Simply if they're unable to do so, information technology's perfectly acceptable for some other family unit member or friend of the groom's family unit to take charge of it. This event doesn't need to be a ritzy, black-tie thing. While some couples like to stage a more formal affair, others prefer to just invite the wedding ceremony party to their dwelling house for a backyard charcoal-broil.

Whatever the case may be, there are some basic pieces of information that whatever groom-to-exist should know when it comes to the rehearsal dinner.

Who Pays for Rehearsal Dinner?

Wedding customs are irresolute. Traditionally, the groom and his family are in charge of planning and paying for the rehearsal dinner. With more modern practices, here are some common options for who pays for the rehearsal dinner:

A combination of both families
The bride and groom themselves
Whoever offers!

Analyzing the wedding budget and determining what is fair/agreed upon by everyone involved is the all-time way to approach the bill. Another skilful style to determine who should pay for the rehearsal dinner is by breaking downwards how much everybody has spent. Along with this, asking the person/group who has spent the least on the whole wedding tin be a good way to approach who pays for the rehearsal dinner.

Who Gets Invited to the Rehearsal Dinner?

Traditionally, the rehearsal dinner guest list consists of the nuptials party, firsthand family, and anyone else who took part in the rehearsal. Even so, it's non uncommon to invite whatever out-of-town guests who have traveled in for the wedding. This is another way to give thanks them for making the trip to be a part of the large day.

What is the Etiquette For Rehearsal Dinner Invitations?

Unlike the wedding ceremony, you have a chance to exist a little more than casual and artistic when it comes to your rehearsal dinner planning and invitation style. If y'all're on a tight upkeep, due east-vites are a complimentary alternative to the traditional invitation. Remember to wait to transport out the invites until the wedding invitations have already gone out from the bride's family.

Where to Have a Rehearsal Dinner

When choosing a venue, the most important thing to recollect is headcount. Y'all'll need to know if y'all have enough room for everyone. It's a safety bet that most, if not all, of your wedding party will exist attending the rehearsal. Therefore, it should be easy to get a solid idea of the rehearsal dinner size. Ideally, the location of the venue volition be relatively close to the church then there won't exist a long delay in getting there after the rehearsal. Common venues include banquet halls, land clubs, restaurants, church building halls, golf game courses, hotel outcome space, and homes. Realistically, anywhere with a suite or private room should be suitable.

TMR Recommendation: Get creative. If you and your helpmate-to-exist enjoy watching your favorite squad together, run into if their stadium has any private suites that are available for rent.

What Practise You Serve at a Rehearsal Dinner?

Unless y'all're holding the rehearsal dinner at a eatery with menu options, yous'll need to make up one's mind on a caterer and a menu. The main thing to remember is to make certain that you don't duplicate the wedding reception menu.

While grooms aren't typically expected to make too many of the culinary decisions associated with weddings, y'all may be asked for your input or to attend ane of the all-time parts of wedding planning: the food tasting. We highly recommend adjusting your schedule to attend this astonishing event that centers on costless food samples of all the nutrient choices available for your wedding ceremony reception. Considering the groom and his family are normally in charge of the rehearsal dinner, y'all might fifty-fifty want to gear up a similar tasting with your venue or caterer.

It's important to retrieve nigh non just what kind of foods you and your fiancée like, but what your guests will savor as well. Some options to consider:

Will vegetarian options be necessary?
Do whatsoever of your guests (especially family or shut friends) have whatever special diets or food allergies that restrict the types of foods they tin eat?
How many children will exist attending? Remember, kids don't always take the same taste buds as adults.

This is also a great opportunity to remember exterior of the box when it comes to selecting dissimilar foods for the reception and rehearsal dinner. Generally, if you lot hear the words "burrito bar" or "ice cream cart," yous might think of a fast-nutrient restaurant or an amusement park. Merely when done tastefully, both of these options can be a great addition to your wedding plans.

Some other unique food ideas that will accept your guests buzzing for months:

Take milk and your favorite cookies available for anybody towards the end of the event. The same goes for milkshakes.
Hot wings and/or pizza are always sure to keep your best human and groomsmen happy.
Consider using one of your parents' or the bride's parents' secret family recipes. Information technology could be for something equally simple as the dessert or equally large as the main course.
Set up a processed bar, so guests tin fill upward a bag of sweet treats to take home with them.
If you want to continue the dance floor lively until the end of the nighttime, stock the bar with free energy drinks and accept them distributed to the crowd as they begin to expect sluggish.

TMR Recommendation: This is some other modest function of the wedding ceremony day or rehearsal dinner where you tin can actually make a statement. Anytime you can break from the norm, people volition appreciate your inventiveness and personal touch. Even if you focus on something pocket-sized, such equally a unique dessert selection, your guests will remember it long later on the festivities are over.

A great way for the groom to become involved is to program the rehearsal dinner bar. Designing the carte du jour and stocking the drinks tin can exist a lot of fun and will assistance save money in the long run. Although some venues won't allow you lot to bring your own liquor, almost will at least let you have some say in what will be served. Other venues volition leave the bar entirely up to you to either cater or fix yourself.

The first thing to remember is that a rehearsal dinner bar is much different than what will exist at the reception. Something to consider is the size of your guest list and the unlike types of guests you'll be hosting. Yous'll want to make sure you have something for everyone without blowing your budget.

The Bar

First things start. Some families don't beverage and adopt not to accept booze served. Exist conscious of this as you plan. Also check with the venue to see what rules it may take, such as assuasive just beer and wine, beer or wine, and liquor, whether you can provide the alcohol, if there'south a bully fee for wine, etc. In one case you lot have light-green lights from both families and the venue, it'due south time to become down to business.

Need gifts for grooms who honey a good drink? Check out The Man Registry's collection of personalized home and bar gifts – glassware, bottle openers, coasters, pub signs, and much more!

Store Dwelling & Bar Gifts

Cash Bar or Open Bar For the Rehearsal Dinner?

Talk it over and decide if y'all'll be offering a cash or open rehearsal dinner bar. This will assistance you set a budget for alcohol. Adjacent determine how many guests at that place will exist, figure three drinks per person and estimate the average price per drink. Then set your budget and stick to it. Another popular pick is to provide drinks until a certain fourth dimension in the evening where the bar switches to a cash bar. If your venue will be providing the booze, check to see what blazon of packages information technology offers — gold (well drinks and bones beer), silver (premium beer, liquor, and wine options), platinum (top-shelf alcohol, wine, and local brews).

What Drinks Should Be Served at the Rehearsal Dinner?

Beer and wine are probably the easiest choices to offer. A good wine list normally consists of a common white wine such as a chardonnay or pinot grigio, which most people are familiar with and relish. For red wines, a cabernet sauvignon or a merlot are good options. Another option is a white zinfandel, which complements a wide multifariousness of food. For beer, decide if you'll be serving beer on tap or by the bottle. If you'll be having a keg or two, a light beer is a bang-up cost-effective option. You could also consider offering a practiced local beer or a smaller keg of premium beer or microbrew.

Liquor can be a bit trickier with and then many options available. A expert rule of thumb is to choose more pop liquors such as vodka, bourbon, rum or gin. If you lot have a favorite drink, such as a martini, it's overnice to include it every bit an option for you to enjoy along with your guests. Going with a signature cocktail as opposed to an open up bar is one of the best ways to reduce your budget (especially if your friends drink like mine). A fun and increasingly pop concept is to opt for 2 cocktail selections, one selected by the bride and another by the groom. This way, you can accept the all-time of both worlds.

For the guys, here are a few personal favorites to consider as y'all begin your quest to get your hymeneals guests sufficiently drunk and satisfied:

Vesper (James Bond) Martini

Feeling similar an extra stealthy groom? The Vesper is famous for existence James Bail'due south drink of pick.

Ingredients – 3oz. Gordon'southward gin, 1oz. vodka, 1/ii oz. Lillet Blanc

Preparation – In the words of Bond himself, shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin piece of lemon peel.

Manhattan (Whiskey Martini)

It doesn't get whatsoever more than manly than the Manhattan. If yous've never had 1, you lot'd be doing yourself a huge favor ordering ane the next time you lot're out on the town.

Ingredients – 3/4 oz. sweet vermouth, ii 1/two oz. whiskey (pref. bourbon), 1 dash Angostura bitters, 1 maraschino cherry-red, 1 twist orange skin

Preparation – Mix the vermouth, whiskey, and bitters with three ice cubes in a mixing glass. Gently stir the drink. Place the cherry in a chilled cocktail glass and strain the whiskey mixture over the cherry. Rub the cut border of the orangish peel over the rim of the glass and twist it over the drink to release the juice.

Rusty Nail

Trust united states of america, it's not as bad as the name implies. And did nosotros mention, its main ingredient is scotch?

Ingredients – 1 ane/2 oz. Scotch whisky, 1/2 oz. Drambuie Scotch whisky, 1 lemon pare twist

Training – Mix the Scotch and Drambuie together over water ice and stir. Use the lemon twist to garnish the drinking glass.

Tom Collins

If you're having a summertime rehearsal dinner and want a archetype beverage that's perfect for a hot 24-hour interval, look no further than our old friend Mr. Tom Collins.

Ingredients – 1¼ oz. Tanqueray gin, ane oz lemon juice or lime juice, 1 tsp sweet and sour mix, 1 splash club soda, ane maraschino crimson, 1 orange piece

Preparation – In a shaker, mix the Tanqeray, juice, and sweet/sour mix over ice. Shake well and then strain into a Collins drinking glass that's pre-filled with ice. From in that location, add the social club soda and garnish with the orange slice and ruby.

Sidecar

Some other classic cocktail that fits in great at rehearsal dinners. It'south origins are French, France is romantic, you do the math…

Ingredients – 3/4oz. Cointreau, 3/4oz. brandy, 3/4oz. lemon juice

Preparation – Make full a mixing drinking glass with ice and add in all 3 ingredients. Shake heartily and pour into a cocktail glass. For added taste, wet the rim of the glass and coat with a sparse layer of sugar.

It'due south also wise to decide alee of time if you'll allow shots, which can easily get expensive and may fifty-fifty lead to some guests getting a little crazier than you might desire on the night before the wedding. Remember, guests at the rehearsal dinner often range from frat brothers to your grandmother. Consider what's advisable.

TMR Recommendation: Because the rehearsal dinner bar can exist a major part of the event, it's helpful to make it as diversified as possible. While it'south tough (non to mention very expensive) to accept every potable possible, yous can please almost everyone by putting a little thought into it beforehand. Offering some well-known names in liquor along with adept beer and wine choices will help you create a nighttime to recall.

Pictured: Dwelling State Sometime Fashioned Drinking Jars (Gear up of four)

Hosting a Rehearsal Dinner Ideas

During your rehearsal dinner planning time, consider making information technology memorable by making it more only a dinner.

Many couples utilize the rehearsal dinner as a time to nowadays their wedding political party gifts to the wedding party and parents. It's always nice to personally thank each attendant again for being role of your wedding weekend.
The rehearsal dinner is also a neat fourth dimension for toasts. Often, couples will make up one's mind to become the toasts out of the style at the rehearsal dinner and so they won't distract from dancing time at the reception.
If there are plans to put together a photo montage of the couple, the rehearsal dinner can be the perfect time to evidence information technology.

Rehearsal Dinner Timeline

How will you remember everything without losing your mind? This checklist offers a helpful timeline for what should exist done and when.

nine-12 MONTHS OUT

Locate and secure a venue. Determine what the eolith amount is and when the final residual will exist due.
If you'll be using a caterer, volume ane as soon as possible (caterers are ofttimes booked up to a year in advance).
Go a list of menu options from the venue or caterer. It's also helpful to ask for a list of the venue'southward and catering company's policies. d
Carefully review your vendors' contracts and brand sure everything fits your needs before signing on the dotted line.

v-half dozen MONTHS OUT

Decide on the specifics (card options, open or greenbacks bar, etc.) and attempt out the dissimilar types of they offer.
Begin preparing the guest list. For a pocket-size upshot, you lot may decide to invite only the wedding ceremony party. For a larger matter, you'll too want to consider inviting any out-of-town guests and extended family members or life-long friends.
Begin compiling the addresses of all invited guests.
Select and order invitations.

1-2 MONTHS OUT

Address and send out invitations.
Begin keeping a detailed record of responses.
Choose whatever special linens, flower arrangements or decorations you'll be using at the venue.

i WEEK OUT

Notify the caterer of your final headcount.
Too, inform them of whatever pocket-size children who will be attention (their meals are typically provided free of charge).
If y'all'll be using an assigned seating nautical chart, draw information technology up.
Purchase proper noun cards to place at tables for assigned seating.

DAY OF

Visit the venue during the day to make sure everything is properly set up.
Relax and relish the nighttime!
After the event, make certain that whatever personal belongings are removed from the venue If required, clean the surface area (or recruit family members to help).
Pay any outstanding balances to the caterer or venue.

TMR Recommendation: Sit down a week or then before the wedding and put together a listing of things you'd similar to say almost each of the people you'll be toasting in your speech. You tin can either create an outline to piece of work from or blazon up the entire oral communication and impress it out. Information technology's always a practiced idea to exercise your toast at least a couple of times beforehand, particularly if you plan on having a couple of drinks before the toast. Most chiefly, relax and enjoy yourself – yous'll be not bad.

For more rehearsal dinner ideas and inspiration, bank check our Pinterest lath which we update frequently.