Rehearsal Dinners

Many rehearsal dinners are very simple pizza and sodas/beer.


Not doing a wedding party dance but have seen them as a guest, and most chose to not participate (either single or their spouses were not in the wedding party)

We originally planned to do Dave & Busters for the rehearsal for our big wedding in March, but now that Covid is a thing we probably will have to change that!

When I was a bridesmaid for my cousin they did a wedding party dance. She didn’t tell us about it before hand and I remember it being awkward. This is the only time I’ve ever seen this done.
We were married before covid, but we rented a Private room at one of our favorite restaurants. It was on the fancier side and served family style. I’ve seen it done as casually as potluck or pizza though. So whatever fits your vision and budget.

When we were planning a big wedding (with 250 people -- including 7 bridesmaids and 7 groomsmen), our rehearsal dinner was going to be at BB King's -- good music and food. Now that we changed course to a minimony with 20 people and no wedding party, we're not having a rehearsal dinner, but rather a welcome meet and greet at the hotel restaurant where we'll provide appetizers and drinks.

We are doing a wedding party dance but for us it works out perfectly because all of the girls in my party are in relationships with the guys in FHs. We got super lucky. It should be fine as long as the parties are made aware and have had a chance to meet prior to the wedding, assuming they don't all know each other already. As for rehearsal dinner, I'm right there with you. I'm leaning towards a nice little cookout or something of that nature.

We are renting a room with a private bar in a historic restaurant for our rehearsal dinner. We won’t be doing a dance or any sort of activities during the dinner. We will be hosting an activity after the dinner however.

We have a local restaurant that serves like bar/comfort food...chicken wings, chicken pot pie, mac and cheese, that sort of thing. They also rent out rooms and do catering, so we are going to rent a room out and have it catered. We plan on doing our speeches to our bridal party and gifts then!

For our rehearsal dinner we are going simple with pizza and some sides at a restaurant near our venue. I don't want anything extravagant, I'm going for a more laid back kind of vibe.

My FH and I decided to opt out of a rehearsal dinner.

No rehearsal dinner here. Two main reasons. 1. A lot of our bridal party is coming from upstate/ out of state and will be arriving all different times. We are just having food and drinks at the hotel for people to come and go as they please. 2. I have to be super early for hair and makeup for my 11 am ceremony and I didn’t want to be stuck at a dinner where I will probably not be eating a ton (think of the bloat!). I’d rather just have the night to chill

We ended up renting a building on the same property as the wedding itself and will have food catered in for the rehearsal dinner. Doing it this way made me feel better with not know what restrictions we might have due to COVID. No wedding party dance for us though, we have some shy people and I feel it would catch them off guard. Hope that helps!

We opted out of a rehearsal dinner —my husband and I will have a private rehearsal with our day of coordinator because we aren’t having a bridal party. Instead of a rehearsal dinner, we are hoping to do a s’mores making party on the beach!

Due to COVID, our original indoor rehearsal dinner couldn’t happen. To my surprise and on a hope and a prayer- we called an exclusive club that has an outdoor area and they welcomed us (typically have to be a member but they made an exception for us as outdoor options were limited). We ate dinner under a tent overlooking the water. We hired a steel drum soloist who was affordable and incredible!! It really chilled me out to enjoy that the night before. We had a total of 40 guests (give you a visual idea of size from the photos). We opted out of the wedding party dance due to COVID (social distancing concerns). Hope this helps!! ❤️

Our plan so far is to have BBQ - FH has an old military colleague who has a BBQ business. It’s basically a food truck with the smokers and grills behind it, we plan to get trays and bring it somewhere. Not sure where - maybe rent the small community center in town? It’s REALLY GOOD BBQ.

We're going all out with an open bar and 3-course meal at a fancy restaurant near our hotel block for the rehearsal dinner. We're having a black tie wedding so figured we'd have the rehearsal dinner to match it. COVID permitting, of course. Our wedding was postponed from November 2020 to November 2021.

View Quoted Comment

Sounds.. good! I was questioning our insanity to host our rehearsal dinner at the Marriott hotel where we have the room block because it was a bit pricey. However, we can also practice our wedding dances!!

View Quoted Comment

Very Nice! Thank you it does help and we are moving forward with our rehearsal dinner at the hotel

View Quoted Comment

Thanks so much, good to know!

View Quoted Comment

Congratulation! and Great!

Thank you, I now don't feel like I am over doing it by having by the rehearsal dinner at the full service

Marriott where I have the room block! Our scheduled date is 7/24!!

View Quoted Comment

Casual is fine, but potluck is inappropriate. The rehearsal dinner is to thank the people attending the rehearsal (and their SOs) for taking time out of their schedule to do so; it should be a hosted event.