You’ve planned your wedding and have finished the dreaded guest list, but there’s one more list to tackle that a lot of bride’s forget about until the last minute, and that’s the rehearsal dinner guest list.  It’s best to start the list with everyone that will have to attend the wedding rehearsal…the wedding party, parents, grandparents, ushers, readers, the officiant, etc. and then depending on the desires of the hostess, which is usually the parents of the groom, you may be able to invite more guests than the required/must have guests…your extended family like aunts and uncles, close family friends and out of town guests.  

Here’s a list of people that are typically invited to a rehearsal dinner:

Wedding Party

The wedding party is a given and should always be invited to the rehearsal dinner – bridesmaids and groomsmen and their dates, flower girls and ring bearers as well as their parents.  

Family

Of course your parents should be in attendance at your rehearsal dinner along with your grandparents and your siblings.  You are not obligated to invite your extended family, but most couples do include aunts and uncles; especially ones they are close to.  If you are close with your cousins you may want to include them; if it’s at all possible.

Officiant

The officiant and his or her spouse should be invited to your rehearsal dinner.

Ushers

Ushers should be invited to your rehearsal dinner along with their date.  

Readers

If you have any readers participating in your ceremony then they should be invited to the rehearsal dinner along with their spouse or date.  

Out of Town Guests

It’s not expected or mandatory that you invite out of town guests to your rehearsal dinner, however, if their budget allows some hostesses prefer to invite out of town guests.  You can read more about this in a previous blog post here.

Some couples invite musicians to the rehearsal dinner, but you are not obligated to do so.  If  you are getting married in your home church and the musicians attend the same church and you know them on a personal level then you may want to invite them.  A lot of couples do tend to invite musicians they know or ones that attend the same church as them.  This is the same for wedding coordinators…typically you wouldn’t invite your wedding coordinator/director to your rehearsal dinner unless it’s your churches coordinator that you know personally.  If you are one of my couples and you are wondering if you should invite me as your planner to your rehearsal dinner the answer is no.  It’s always a nice gesture and I appreciate the thought more than you know, but I am usually the florist as well and would be busy working on flowers until late Friday night anyway and we prefer for you to keep your dinner to your close family and friends.

If you have a question about who you should invite to your rehearsal dinner don’t hesitate to reach out to me and ask!  I will be happy to answer any question you may have.

xo,

Terrica