Rehearsal Dinner
Invitations

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COMMON REHEARSAL DINNER TRADITIONS & ETIQUETTE

The actual event of the rehearsal dinner has several longheld traditions, but the true bottom line is that it is your wedding weekend and as a couple, it is your choice whether or not to follow them. Typically the rehearsal dinner takes place after the wedding party and the officiant rehearse how the wedding ceremony will take place. This run-through of the wedding and follow-up dinner usually takes place the night before the wedding, but this is not always the case. Sometimes breakfasts are hosted on the same day as the wedding if the wedding ceremony takes place in the evening. Ideally, you want as many people invited to your rehearsal dinner to have the availability to attend the event.

Who you invite to the dinner is also up to you as the couple, but traditionally all immediate family members are invited, as well as the entire wedding party. It is common courtesy to extend an invitation to the officiant and their spouse if they have one. If your budget allows, inviting guests that have traveled great distances to be with you for your wedding weekend is also commonly practiced. This gesture showcases your appreciation for them making the long journey to attend your wedding.

Tradition states that the groom’s family is to pay and host the wedding rehearsal dinner, but now more often than ever untraditional payment arrangements are being made to pay for the wedding weekend. Since the bride’s family traditionally pays for the wedding and reception, it often falls on the groom’s family to manage and pay for the rehearsal dinner.

The typical cadence of the rehearsal dinner includes a cocktail hour with mingling, a dinner, and a speech from the father of the groom welcoming and thanking the people in the room for coming out to celebrate the couple. The food can be served a la carte through a more formal dinner setting, through a buffet line that is self-serve, or a more casual dinner setting like a barbeque. Think about what you and your family like to eat and make sure there are options for different diet types.

While planning for the rehearsal dinner should take place three to six months before, you should send your invites at least a month in advance to allow people to block their schedules and RSVP. The rehearsal dinner invitation traditionally is sent separately after the formal wedding invitation. Once you start to formalize a headcount for your wedding ceremony you can begin to finalize your more exclusive rehearsal dinner guest list and send out those invites accordingly.

WHY MINTED?

Minted’s wedding rehearsal dinner invitations are designed by independent artists from around the world. Through design contests hosted regularly on our website open to the public for entries and voting, we are able to collect some of the most unique and diverse designs to be found. We have invitations that can be printed in all sorts of styles and themes like rustic, painterly, botanical, and formal to name a few. We have a design to match every couple’s aesthetic. We can even help you coordinate your wedding rehearsal invitations to match other wedding stationery you have previously sent, like save the dates and wedding invitations. Or you could have the rehearsal correspondence match signage, menus, and seating charts you plan to feature at the rehearsal or wedding. We are here to assist you in achieving a professional and seamless look.

HOW TO PERSONALIZE YOUR INVITE

Minted offers a wide selection of options to transform your rehearsal dinner correspondence into a one-of-a-kind deliverable. Take a look below at the design features that can be manipulated to your preferences.

• Add custom imagery: Feature engagement photos or other personal imagery on the back of your invitation. Use our built-in filters to transform your image into a black-and-white or sepia color arrangement to complement the design elements on your card.
• Edit text: Update your invitation to include all the important rehearsal information to keep guests informed like the time to meet, location to meet, dress code, and more. Choose font stylings, colors, and sizes that best relay your message and theme. We even allow you to add custom gold foil text to any design in case you want to enhance certain messaging. The luxe shine of the gold foil will help you achieve elevated wedding rehearsal invitations.
• Select a card shape: Add some character to your invite by altering the shape. Transform the look of your card with rounded corners, scalloped edges, or even a framed cut.
• Coordinate color arrangements: Choose from different pre-selected color themes or opt to have your card printed in completely unique colors. During the card creation process, you can simply message a Minted design associate with your preferred color combinations and we will apply your colors to the design and send you back a digital proof to review.
• Select your paper type: Enhance the experience of receiving your wedding rehearsal dinner invitations by printing the correspondence on high-quality card stock. We provide over five paper options that each have their own unique texture and durability. We also offer a recycled option that is made from 100% post-consumer waste.
• Add professional address labeling: Provide Minted with the home addresses of your guests and we will have those addresses printed onto each envelope in style and class, for free! We provide you with an assortment of styling options to choose from as well as a coordinated styling that matches the design elements of your wedding rehearsal invite.
• Seal in a colored envelope: Enclose your invitation in a beautifully colored envelope so that your correspondence stands out in your guest’s mailbox. We provide over a dozen colors to choose from like white, silver, antique rose, cloud blue, and many more.

PROFESSIONAL DESIGN ASSISTANCE

As you work through customizing your invitation design, feel free to use our online chat tools for real-time design assistance. If you have special requests or elements that need enhancing you can email our team and a Minted design associate will work with you to achieve your vision. Lastly, if you want a completely custom design from scratch, a dedicated minted designer can create an invitation based purely on your direction. Simply fill out a questionnaire on themes and looks that inspire you and we will start creating!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What information/verbiage should be in your rehearsal dinner invitations? Your invites should include the following key information:

• Wedding couple’s names
• The phrase “rehearsal dinner”
• Date and time
• Location (venue name and address)
• Date to RSVP and how to RSVP
• Lastly, if a particular family is sponsoring the dinner, you can decide if you want to feature those details on the invitation out of respect.

Who do you invite to a rehearsal dinner? Traditionally immediate family, close extended family and friends, the wedding party and their plus-ones, and the officiant and their plus-one should be invited. You should also consider inviting guests that have traveled a long way to attend your ceremony.

How far in advance should you send invitations? You should send invites at least one month before the wedding date.

Does the rehearsal dinner have to occur the day before the wedding? While a majority of dinners are indeed hosted the night before a wedding, there is no set rule. Some host rehearsal breakfasts on the morning of the wedding.

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