The eve of your wedding should be a memorable time spent in the company of those
you love at a place you enjoy. Making your
rehearsal dinner exceptional while keeping
it relaxed requires choosing a location,
theme and time that will keep you cool and
collected. It just takes a little coordination
with the dinner hosts and the location staff
to ensure a calm and carefree evening of
celebrating.
THE BASICS
Start the planning with a determination of
the basic elements of your event. When is
your rehearsal? Schedule this with your
Officiant before planning anything; if they
have two or three weddings on a Saturday,
you may find them booked for Friday night
and will need to schedule for Thursday.
Next, talk to the parents of the Groom to
find out their feelings regarding hosting a
dinner. Traditionally, the Groom’s parents
will throw the rehearsal dinner because the
wedding is thrown by the parents of the
Bride, but with today’s couples getting married later in life and often paying for and
throwing their own wedding, all rules are
off. If they would like to host, find out what
role they would like you to play in the planning. If they do not wish to host, decide if
you will host, or whether there is another
family member who might like to step up.
Before exploring options for the dinner
itself, determine the guest list. There are
two schools of thought, and which you
choose is dependent upon the number of
people traveling from far and your budget.
The most conservative option is to invite
everyone in the ceremony, their spouses or
significant others, the parents of any children in the ceremony and the Officiant.
Children, whether they are in the ceremony
or are children of the attendants in the
ceremony are optional. If you can accommodate a bigger party, it is considered good
form to include guests that have arrived
from out of town to attend the wedding
as well.
Whether celebrated with lovely linens and
fine wines, or piñatas and margaritas, your
rehearsal dinner need not adhere to strict
rules of tradition, so have fun!
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
Check with the restaurant management
about entertainment and hire a chamber
quartet for elegant background music. Or,
if your tastes run a bit more eclectic, hire a
team of strolling musicians for an Italian
family-style dinner or mariachi players for
South-of-the-Border flair. Plan accordingly
for plenty of conversation time – these are
people who have gathered especially for
you, so it is essential not to drown out the
banter. Also, have your wedding photographer drop by for an hour or so, or recruit a
camera-buff family member to record the
event. This is a night you will want to
remember.
TEARS WILL FALL
Wedding rehearsals and rehearsal dinners
are always emotional events, thus, be prepared to shed a few tears. Toasts will
abound, so be prepared to say a few words
of gratitude to the hosts, and your fiancé
may wish to be prepared to give a final toast
that wraps things up and lets everyone
know that the evening is drawing to a close.
Be sure to plan an early getaway – you have
a very BIG day tomorrow! Y
SHOW OFF YOUR STYLE
This is an opportunity to infuse some
whimsy into your wedding event. Mark the
occasion with a beach-themed New England
clambake decorated with sand candles, seashells and toy sea creatures. Or, how about
a Hawaiian luau with slack-key guitar music,
tropical drinks and colorful leis? Many restaurants, particularly those at elegant hotels,
have a courtyard or garden patio, which can
be reserved especially for your party.
