Rehearsal… Lunch???

Rehearsal… Lunch???

February 1st, 2010 @ 1:34 pm by Mrs. Buttons
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So, pretty much any and all weddings I’ve seen/heard of featured a rehearsal, followed by a meal. Seriously, with my penchant for perfectionism, a rehearsal for the ceremony is absolutely essential. Practice makes perfect!

However, there is one little snafu with the plan.

Since Mr. Buttons and I are getting married on a Sunday, our rehearsal would (typically) take place on Saturday night. But, another bride is getting married at our venue that evening. Insert conundrum… here.

Hmmm OK, so what are the options, then? If we want a nighttime rehearsal at the venue, we’d have to hold it on Friday night. Well, sadly, that just won’t do for us, seeing as our guests/family/etc. might not be arriving until that evening. I wouldn’t want to be tied up with the rehearsal and miss welcoming them to our wedding weekend!

We also considered holding the rehearsal on Saturday evening, but at a different location. Potential? Yes. Cost? Not a fan! Most likely, we’d have to shell out extra money to rent out a space for the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner… it would be a very big party (around 60 people), and probably not easy on the checkbook! Scratch that…

That brings us to Saturday morning. The venue WILL allow us to hold our rehearsal during the morning/early afternoon, before they start setting up for the wedding that evening. Whew… I’m breathing a sigh of relief here! However, that does present us with a somewhat “different” time schedule of events.

OneWed.com

Rehearsal LUNCH, anyone?

As it stands, we’re going to hold a late morning rehearsal at Carlouel with the bridal party and immediate family. Now, what we are trying to decide between is having a lunch directly after our rehearsal, or to hold a dinner later in the evening.

So, of course… I made a list of pros and cons for each scenario.

Lunch:

Pro - directly after rehearsal (aka convenient), it could be more casual, I would have a good amount of time afterwards to get ready for the following day
Con - guests would maybe have to give up beach time to attend, holiday weekend at Clearwater Beach = VERY busy at lunch spots, what would our guests do for the rest of the day/evening (would we have to plan/help to plan something for nighttime)?

Dinner:

Pro - it is more “traditional,” allows our guests to have time at the beach during the day (unless they are in the bridal party/attending the actual rehearsal), gives our guests something to do for the evening, I get to wear two cute outfits that day (haha… had to throw that in)
Con - time lag between rehearsal and rehearsal dinner (Mr. Buttons’ parents live 30 minutes away; would he and his family drive in to Clearwater 2 times that day?), potentially more expensive since it is dinner (and guests may consume more alcohol in comparison to lunch)

Personally, I am on team “rehearsal dinner” at the moment… it might be selfishness on my part, but I feel like I might go slightly insane if I have most of the afternoon and evening before the wedding day without an event scheduled. However, I’m sure I will have a to-do list a mile long that day…

Have you been to a wedding/did you have a wedding that held a rehearsal dinner at a different time than “normal”? What did/do you think about it? Would you be on team “lunch” or “dinner”?

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39 Responses to “Rehearsal… Lunch???”

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Member

Gilneas (message) 1,393 posts, Bumble bee

When my best friend got married, her rehearsal was at about 2pm (it got delayed till 3pm because my car, with me and two bridesmaids, got in major traffic delays). Her dinner was at 7pm. So there was some time to go and change and relax before the dinner. Most (if not all) of her guests were OOT who were staying overnight, so they just went back to their hotel rooms until the dinner.

2/1/10 @ 1:39 pm (reply)

Member

kamiie (message) 114 posts, Blushing bee

Ha! I’m in the same boat…Having a Sunday evening wedding with no possiblity of a Saturday dinner…so we are having a Saturday reheasal with a lunch immediately after, and I can’t wait! This leaves me to have a free evening before the wedding which like you, I am sure there will be some last minute things I want to do, OR it leaves me to have a quasi 2nd bachelorette party. Plus it leaves my mostly OOT guests to explore the city on their own and do what they want I’m super excited about a lunch instead of dinner

2/1/10 @ 1:43 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Mouse (message) 5,844 posts, Bee Keeper

I think either choice would be fine! If it were me, I’d see what restaurants were available that day and then decide whether a dinner or lunch would be more appropriate. I think if you have a rehearsal lunch, people can fend for themselves in the evening. Although, a dinner might feel more celebratory, i.e. more drinking. Tough call.

2/1/10 @ 1:45 pm (reply)

Guest

trisha

TEAM LUNCH!!! I’m on the same boat with a Sunday wedding, and I think it’s great. I’m looking forward to relaxing with my fiance the night before the big day! Plus I want to make sure I get my beauty sleep:)

2/1/10 @ 1:51 pm (reply)

Member

caszos (message) 3,884 posts, Honey bee

Could you come up with a beach or other fun type of optional activity for guests between the morning rehearsal and the evening dinner? I also agree with Mrs. Mouse and try to identify the potential restaurants and then make your decision based on their availability and budget.

2/1/10 @ 1:52 pm (reply)

Member

UCLAMeghan (message) 118 posts, Blushing bee

Woah - I’m totally in your boat. I’m getting married on Sunday and there’s another event (a concert) at our venue on Saturday night. So we’re having the rehearsal in the AM on Friday and then a rehearsal lunch. Friday night my friends and family have decided to do the Bachelor/ette parties and then we’ll have Saturday to recover and enjoy the area/do last minute wedding stuff!

2/1/10 @ 1:53 pm (reply)

Member

mander411 (message) 735 posts, Busy bee

I love the idea of a lunch! You can relax more that evening and I think it would make for a really nice comfortable get-together.

2/1/10 @ 2:03 pm (reply)

Member

TexicanMexican (message) 104 posts, Blushing bee

don’t worry too much about planning events for all your guests - they’re adults, they’ll figure out stuff to do! there have been a series of posts on http://www.apracticalwedding.com/ about this subject, and they’re good at putting things in perspective.

the day before my wedding was spent running around, doing errands and going a bit crazy. the benefit of having the lunch is that it’s right after the rehearsal (less time for people to wander off) and it gives you a good stretch of time to get things done.

whichever option you choose, it will work out! your guests will be happy and it’s going to be a wonderful day!

2/1/10 @ 2:10 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Buttons (message) 5,046 posts, Bee Keeper

@kamiie: I’m glad you are excited about your plans! Having time that night to hang out would probably be very nice!

@Mrs. Mouse: I know, its a toss up right?

@caszos: Well, if we do a dinner then our guests will be able to do as they please during the day (go to the beach, etc)…so that is a good thing! Rehearsal will only involve BP and my parents and grandparents/his parents I think!

@UCLAMeghan: That sounds like a fun idea to go out that night

2/1/10 @ 2:12 pm (reply)

10.

Guest

misolee

the lunch sounds like a great idea! for many of my friends wedding (and mine) we had the traditional friday night wedding rehearsal and it was ok but very hectic. reherasal, dinner, followed by last minute stuff, etc. when I got married, I didn’t get to sleep until 2am that night bc of last minute things, plane delays, etc etc. having the afternoon off just to hang out with out of towners, friends, family might be a great option!

2/1/10 @ 2:18 pm (reply)

11.

Member

Miss Root (message) 1,014 posts, Bumble bee

I am in the exact same situation; we are most likely having a rehersal “brunch” which makes me happy because I am a girl who loves her bloody marys and mimosas! We are planning on having the afternoon for the girls to go have a spa day and do last minute wedding errands and the boys are going to go off and do something manly like golf. We are then going to have evening cocktails planned at a local bar so that everyone can reconvene after they do their own thing for dinner (several of our bridal party actually has other wedding that they are in/attending that night so we won’t even see them). We’re going to suggest local restaurants for dinner for our guests but leave it up to them to figure out.

2/1/10 @ 2:19 pm (reply)

12.

Member

alvina (message) 807 posts, Busy bee

My wedding is Sunday night and rehearsal will be on Saturday morning followed by a rehearsal lunch! I didn’t really think twice about it. Other than the fact that we can do something just as nice, with some sunshine, and it would just benefit us by being cheaper.

2/1/10 @ 2:21 pm (reply)

13.

Member

Miss Cashmere (message) 41 posts, Newbee

Our wedding ceremony is at 11 AM on Saturday morning, thus no partying is allowed the night previous as I must get up around 6 to get ready. So, we came to the conclusion that our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner are going to be early in the day too: the rehearsal is at noon and dinner is at 3. This gives us plenty of time to eat lots of crawfish and drink lots of beer and talk to everyone before it gets too late. Plus we got a beautiful place in the park for cheap this way! Early is a great way to go!

2/1/10 @ 2:26 pm (reply)

14.

Bee

Miss Pug (message) 3,753 posts, Honey bee

tough choice, but i don’t think you can go wrong with either one. there are pros and cons to each, so go with what feels better to you!

2/1/10 @ 2:34 pm (reply)

15.

Bee

Miss Hot Wings (message) 2,213 posts, Buzzing bee

I’m joining Team Lunch. I really like with the rehearsal “meal” follows the rehearsal itself. It creates nice flow and continuity. And if people want to do something later that night, they have that option still. But of course, both options will work and be perfect!

2/1/10 @ 2:41 pm (reply)

16.

Bee

Miss Giraffe (message) 4,216 posts, Honey bee

I think either one would be nice. With the lunch, you could relax all afternoon. You and the maids could all go for massages :)!

2/1/10 @ 2:46 pm (reply)

17.

Member

Ms. Library (message) 1,250 posts, Bumble bee

I vote lunch! It would right after your rehearsal, which means that you would be able to get stuff done AND be able to smoothly go from one rehearsal event to another. Plus, it may be cheaper! And really, who is going to be afraid to drink at lunch?

2/1/10 @ 2:58 pm (reply)

18.

Member

lemondrop (message) 1,193 posts, Bumble bee

We had similar scheduling conflicts. There is a wedding at our venue on Friday night and our officiant has another wedding too, so we are having an afternoon rehearsal on Friday. Then we will set people loose until our 6pm rehearsal dinner at a restaurant nearby. Nice thing is our wedding party can scope out the zoo (our venue) after the rehearsal if they want to do it then.

A lunch is a great idea though!! I like the less expense and more casual atmosphere. The bigger this wedding gets, the more I desperately want causual elements!

2/1/10 @ 3:09 pm (reply)

19.

Bee

Miss Buttons (message) 5,046 posts, Bee Keeper

@Miss Root: Nice plan! That sounds like it will work out well!

@Miss Cashmere: Nice! That makes sense to get to bed early - 6am will come way too fast!

@ColorCoated: That would be nice! I wish…

2/1/10 @ 3:34 pm (reply)

20.

Member

Erisque (message) 246 posts, Helper bee

We had to have our rehearsal Friday morning, so we had a rehearsal lunch right afterward. It worked out well for us - it was a lot cheaper and was nowhere near as fancy (which we wanted; we’re a laid-back couple) and then we had plenty of time afterwards to get our nails done and have a relaxing spa evening.

2/1/10 @ 3:35 pm (reply)

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