Breakfast, lunch, dinner and restaurants
You can seat your guests similarly to how they’ll be seated at your reception: Immediate family members and wedding party members near you, and then the rest of the guests seated with people they know.
The head table can be just for the two of you, if you like. Or you can add your maid of honor and best man, or include the entire wedding party . Traditionally the bride sits at the groom’s right, with the maid of honor on his left and the best man on the bride’s right.
Place the bride and groom at a table near the center of the room. The maid of honor and best man along with their dates can sit at the bridal table as well. Reserve two tables near the bride and groom for the the bride and groom’s parents, and fill the tables with their close friends and family members.
Your dinner must include: all members of the wedding party (and their spouses or dates); parents of flower girls or ring bearers in the wedding, if the little ones are invited; all parents, stepparents and grandparents of the bride and groom , plus siblings who are not in the wedding party (and their spouses or
A rehearsal dinner is rather an intimate event when you have the most important people in your life around for a pre-wedding celebration. Just to appreciate their presence, involvement and show them how much they mean to your couple you should think over giving some favors .
The bride and groom should provide the rehearsal dinner guest list; but the mother should send out the invitations. It is important to thank everyone for their participation and emotional support of their son and his soon-to-be bride. The speech should be short, and directed mostly to the bride and groom .
The average cost of a rehearsal dinner is $1,330 —about one-thirtieth of the price of the wedding. While some in-laws foot the bill, more couples are paying for it themselves.
about 30 to 45 minutes
Out-of-Town Guests For guests that are traveling for your big day, it’s a nice token to extend a rehearsal dinner invitation . They ‘re taking on the expense of time and money to celebrate you , so including them in your pre-wedding celebrations is often customary.
Host a relaxed outdoor dinner with all of your cookout favorites on the menu, like burgers, hot dogs and mac and cheese. Upgrade traditional BBQ dishes and serve a gourmet version. Think: pulled-pork sliders and caprese salad kabobs. Have it in a backyard, at a local BBQ joint or even a nearby public park.
Parents of the groom who want to give a special wedding gift to their son and his bride should give the gift to the couple together either at the rehearsal dinner, the morning of the ceremony, or in the few days leading up the ceremony.
Both the groom’s parents traditionally organize (and pay for) the rehearsal dinner . This can range in size from a small occasion for members of the wedding party only to a grand soiree (never to outdo the wedding, of course) that includes half or more of the wedding guests.
Here’s who you might want to invite. You may also want to invite both of your extended families, including grandparents, aunts and uncles , and close cousins, since the rehearsal dinner is a good opportunity for your families to get to know each other.
Traditionally , the groom and the groom’s family pay for the honeymoon , but in this day and age the traditional rules don’t apply. I often see the parents of both the bride and the groom paying for the wedding and allowing the couple the freedom to organize and pay for their honeymoon together.
While you definitely can wear white to your rehearsal dinner, you don’t have to. According to Sabatino, light blues and pinks are always popular with brides-to-be. However, you can also really make a statement and go for a bold pattern. Larson added, “Another fun route is think about your color palette.