Wedding day is almost here and you or your wedding party and family may have some questions like how do I do a wedding rehearsal?

Do all weddings have a rehearsal?

What should I wear to my wedding rehearsal?

Are wedding rehearsal necessary?

When is a wedding rehearsal?

How long does a wedding rehearsal last?

Where does the wedding rehearsal take place?

We know you and your wedding party maybe wondering so we’ve compiled a few of our most frequently asked questions to help you through so you’ll know exactly how to do a wedding rehearsal!

Why do I need to do this?

We know you and your wedding party maybe wondering so we’ve compiled a few of our most frequently asked questions to help you through!

Your wedding rehearsal is more than just staring lovingly into your partners eyes and practicing your “I dos”! Your wedding rehearsal is also our way to meet your family and wedding party and make sure they know who the go to point person is for the next day! We want your family members to feel comfort in knowing who we are and why we are there so that if they need anything the next day they can pick us out of the crowd. We are also covering some really important pieces of information regarding your ceremony and will be able to answer any last minute questions anyone has about timing or logistics.

Who would be at my rehearsal?

Anyone who is involved in your ceremony should be in attendance. That means, if they are walking down
the aisle, presenting a reading or song or are the parent to a ring bearer or flower girl, it’s necessary for them to be in attendance! Your professional officiant doesn’t necessarily need to be at the rehearsal as we should have their script and contact information beforehand. If your officiant happens to be a family friend that has never done this before we definitely need them there for rehearsal and ask that they arrive a bit earlier before the other guests so we can confirm some details!

Who Else Should be at the wedding rehearsal?

The other VIPs that should be selected beforehand and notified are the “family wranglers”. This is usually 1 family member from you and your partners families designated to hold family members at the ceremony site after ceremony has concluded and as guests are heading to cocktail hour. These 2 people are responsible for reminding family members to stay at the ceremony site for any remaining extended family photos. If you have planned to get all of your family photos done pre-ceremony with your photographer you can disregard this!

What do we do during rehearsal?

After your guests have arrived and hugged and congratulated you we are going to do a quick role call to make sure we have everyone that we need on site! (This is where your wedding party contact page in the “notes” section of Aisleplanner is especially needed to be accurate!) After we do our role call we will explain the process.

How We Begin

Typically we will begin with everyone lined up at the front of your ceremony where they will be standing
while you exchange “I dos” and get married the next day. This helps them know exactly where to stand, how to stand, what to do with their hands, get familiar with the spacing with the person in front of them and ensure the two people closest to you and your partner know their roles (holding rings, bouquets, fluffing dresses etc.) After everyone is lined up perfectly we will also put your family that is in attendance in a standing row where they will be seated the next day so they know which seat to go to whether they are entering with guests or walking down the aisle.

Recessional

Afterwards we will start our first “recessional” where you and your partner kiss, everyone cheers and you
pretend that you just got married! Yay! You will recess and your wedding party and family will follow you
back about 25 yards or to the back of the ceremony area. Now we are going to line everyone up in the order that they are walking down the aisle, usually starting with family, then onto the wedding party and so on and so forth. This is of course completely customized based on your own specific ceremony order and preference.

Processional & Recessional Order

We will send everyone down the aisle exactly how they will be sent down the next day. This gives everyone the opportunity to understand the terrain, pace and spacing. They will return to the places where we lined them up at the start and we will go over a few key tips (don’t lock your knees, make sure you smile! etc) We will not recite your entire ceremony script, we save all the special stuff for the big day! But we will run through some basics like who has the rings, when they will be handing them to the officiant and how to hand them off so they aren’t dropped on the floorsending everyone into a panic!

Q&A Time

After we have concluded we will answer any questions anyone has and if wehave access and you want to show your guests the reception intros we can show them the basics and then send you off to your rehearsal dinner and your last night as an engaged couple! Woohoo!

What should I bring?

If your venue allows you to drop off decor items the day before, bring all of those things 30 minutes in
advance (this is usually discussed at your final walkthrough!) We will help you load those into a secure
location!

Final Payments and Gratuities

You will also want to bring any final vendor payments and gratuities. Your final totals should be
updated in Aisleplanner after your walkthrough and RSVP date. Your gratuity guide in the notes section of Aisleplanner will also help you figure out totals! Please make sure you bring payments and gratuities labeled clearly in sealed envelopes before your rehearsal and give them to us then so we can keep them safe (we will not leave these at your venue). We will hand them out at the end of your wedding the next day so vendors don’t have to interrupt your special moments to ask for their final payment!

Important Docs and Items

If you haven’t already given your officiant your marriage license you can also give that to us and we will give it to your officiant the next day before ceremony. Do not bring your wedding day attire, jewelry, heirloom items or valuables! These items should stay safe at home or in your hotel room with you until the next day. If you have gifts you are giving to your wedding party or family members, those are usually given out at rehearsal dinner or the following morning during getting ready. We usually recommend you take these directly to your dinner or hold onto them for your early start in the morning.

Who is Responsible for Items?

Also, please make sure you put us directly in touch with whoever is taking home your decor items, gifts/cards etc. on wedding day. We will confirm their vehicle type and when they will hand their keys off to us or pull their vehicle up at the end of the night for loading!

Where should I do my rehearsal?

Ideally, we are conducting your rehearsal at your ceremony site around the same time as your actual
ceremony. This gives everyone an accurate idea of the room size or terrain as well as lighting or sun glare so they can be prepared. For a variety of different reasons however, this might not work out and that’s okay! Location is more important than timing but if we can’t get either we can make it work!

What If My Venue isn’t available?

The most important things are that you have the bulk of your wedding party and immediate family (again, see the who section above). If we cannot access your ceremony venue, all we need is a nice quiet, private place where we have enough room to mimic your ceremony space and ideally a safe place to walk to and from for practice. This might end up being a spacious area before your rehearsal dinner, the courtyard at your hotel or anywhere else we can have some privacy and quiet to practice!

When should I arrive or tell people to arrive?

How long does it take?

We usually allot 1 full hour to your wedding rehearsal. If this happens to be on a friday afternoon where
rush hour traffic is a bit heavy we might allot closer to an hour and fifteen minutes. Please keep in mind,
your rehearsal guests will most likely filter in over time. This is the only time we actually tell you it’s okay to tell guests to arrive a bit early! For example, if your rehearsal is at 5pm on a Friday, tell your group 4:30pm. The first 30 minutes is usually spent with hellos, introductions, hugs and pictures anyway. If you are getting married at a venue like a winery or brewery, your guests also have the opportunity to use the restroom and grab a drink before we begin!

Dropping Off Items

If your venue allows you to drop off items the day before, we ask that you arrive 30 minutes prior to your
rehearsal start time so we can help you unload your decor items, take any final payments that are due to
vendors, gratuity envelopes and confirm any last minute changes.

How is it going to go?

Swimmingly!! Please make sure that you notify your wedding party, family members and anyone doing
readings, kiddos walking down the aisle etc. so that they know they have a role and what they will be doing.

Remember to also notify your VIPs and anyone who is responsible for taking home items in their vehicle
before we get to the rehearsal day so they don’t think your wedding planners are trying to commit grand
theft auto!

Most importantly, enjoy!! This is a fun prelude to an even more fun wedding day. This is a great time to
shake out the nerves, be fully present with your loved ones and get ready for the #bestdayever

If you’re still wondering about your wedding rehearsal or you want to hire a pro to run the show, drop us a line so we can take all the guess-work out of the process for you!

Also as a bonus, here are a few of our favorite rehearsal dinner looks from RTR!

All photos: Kir2Ben