Ideally, every wedding should be preceded by a rehearsal because it gives everyone involved a chance to practice their lines and get comfortable with their particular role in the ceremony.
However, most people are so busy thinking about the wedding ceremony itself that they often don’t give much thought to rehearsal dinner ideas until the last minute.
That’s why we’ve written this article to help you out with that.
1. Special Gifts
If they’re at your rehearsal, then they’re probably playing a vital role in your wedding ceremony.
So why not give them a special gift?
You don’t need to break the bank on it, but it can be nice to give each participant something unique that only they get.
For example, you could give each of the groomsmen a steel flask engraved with their names on it.
Or you can give all your bridesmaids matching earrings.
Whatever it is, gift giving is a meaningful gesture that makes people feel special and cared for.
2. Select a Cool Location
You might be hosting your wedding rehearsal at the same venue you intend to get married in, but you also might not be.
Sometimes, you can’t reserve the time at the same venue, and sometimes you just want to mix it up a bit.
Whatever the case, if you’re not going to be having the rehearsal at the same venue as the wedding, you have an opportunity to explore another venue.
And it’s a rehearsal, so there’s no stress.
You’re all just practicing and dry-running.
So you can go anywhere that you feel comfortable.
Maybe you can rent out a riverside eatery during a time in the day when they’re not going to be busy.
If you’re feeling more adventurous, you can even have your rehearsal at some fun place you wouldn’t want to have your wedding at.
Perhaps a local indie bookstore or an amusement park.
It’s just a rehearsal, and there aren’t that many of you, so you’ve got a lot of options to choose from.
3. Hire Entertainment
Even though you’re all only rehearsing, it can be easy for you or someone else in the group to get nervous.
That’s completely ok and normal.
Everyone’s only human, after all.
But one way to help with that is by hiring some entertainment to help loosen everyone up.
This can mean anything from hiring the same wedding singer who will be performing at your wedding to help everyone sync with their timing.
It can also mean more wacky things like hiring a stand-up comedian to crack jokes as you’re all going through the motions, so that you can each loosen up and stop feeling so nervous.
Whatever helps.
4. Serve Special Food
You’ve already got a menu set for your wedding itself, and it’s probably spectacular.
But everyone at your rehearsal will need to eat too.
The good news, though, is that you don’t need to have the same food at your rehearsal that you’ll be having at your wedding.
So, you can either save some money by simply taking everyone out to a local favorite restaurant or make it a bit more special by hiring a chef to prepare each of your guests something a little more unique based on their personal tastes.
Since there aren’t so many of you, either option shouldn’t cost an enormous amount.
In fact, depending on how you play it, hiring a private chef for the day could actually be cheaper than taking everyone to the local Australian-themed steakhouse for burgers, steaks, and the multiple rounds of drinks that are certain to follow (plus tips).
5. Game Day/Night!
Like we mentioned earlier, even though this is just a rehearsal and not the main event, it’s likely that you or someone else in your party will be nervous.
And another rehearsal dinner idea to help with that is organizing your rehearsal within a larger game day or game night.
Even if no one is nervous at all, this can still be a lot of fun.
You can have board games, video games, or even rent out giant lawn games to play outside (such as giant Jenga or giant chess).
If you’re a nerdier or more eccentric couple, you can even arrange with a local board game cafe to host your rehearsal there.
On average, you won’t find many more casual and supportive environments than gyms and tabletop game cafes.
6. Save Money
Rather than spending a lot on hiring a chef or buying everyone a steak at the local steakhouse franchise, why not go for pizza?
This has long been the go-to option for parties and large events where organizers need to feed a lot of people on a tight budget.
Naturally, that also makes it a cost-effective rehearsal dinner idea.
But that doesn’t mean you have to go as cheap as possible.
Like hamburgers, there are cheap pizzas and then there are good pizzas.
Since you won’t have that many people at your rehearsal, why not treat everyone to their own classic Neapolitan pizza?
If you’re all American, there’s a good chance that none of you have ever actually had authentic Italian pizza before.
And Neapolitan is the standard bearer for Italy.
It also ensures that everyone gets enough, because, unlike most American pizzas, Neapolitan pizzas are made plate-sized for individual servings.
So everybody gets their own (or two of their own).
Relax and Take It Easy
There are many ways to go right and few ways to go wrong.
As you’ve probably picked up on, one of the main themes of this list of rehearsal dinner ideas is that, because your rehearsal is a rehearsal and not the wedding itself, you’ve got a lot of freedom to let loose and experiment.
Most importantly, nothing that happens at your rehearsal is as big of a deal as your wedding ceremony.
So, your rehearsal is a fantastic opportunity to release some of that pressure you’re likely all feeling and have a little fun.
We’re not saying your wedding won’t be fun too, but why should it be the only part of this whole process that’s fun?
