Who gets invited to the rehearsal dinner?

abarlow12

If his young cousins are in the wedding, do they just come, or do we have to invite their parents (his aunt and uncle) and his other cousins?

mysticl

If you have children in the wedding their parents must be invited to the rehearsal dinner.  I'm not sure about the "rules" for the siblings but in my case I am inviting them.  They are out of town and even though they could stay home alone, I'm not going to expect them to stay in a hotel alone and not have dinner. 

hzamonis

I think that if you have young children in the wedding they should be invited along with their parents. I have been looking this up because someone told me that the bridal party should also have dates to the rehearsal dinner? I guess it's different for every family. I would need to add 10 additional guests and that might put us over the budget. I think we're just going to do bridal party (including flower girl/ring bearer & their parents), our parents, and our grandparents who will be coming from out of town. If you have room and the money for extra guests than I also say the more the merrier!

heyimbren

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_pre-wedding-parties_gets-invited-rehearsal-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:32Discussion:2c464843-aade-4074-90d0-6a11adb5db6aPost:3400e6a3-9cf3-4336-978c-8bf6f014f982">Re: Who gets invited to the rehearsal dinner?</a>:
[QUOTE]I think that if you have young children in the wedding they should be invited along with their parents<strong>. I have been looking this up because someone told me that the bridal party should also have dates to the rehearsal dinner? I guess it's different for every family. I would need to add 10 additional guests and that might put us over the budget.</strong> I think we're just going to do bridal party (including flower girl/ring bearer & their parents), our parents, and our grandparents who will be coming from out of town. If you have room and the money for extra guests than I also say the more the merrier!
Posted by hzamonis[/QUOTE]

The Bridal Party is supposed to be invited with their SO, if they have one. A BM or GM who is married, engaged, or in a serious, committed relationship should be invited with their SO. You don't split up social units in social events. There are other ways to cut back on your budget- the RD doesn't need to be a big, expensive production.

marissa_claire

The RD minimally includes the BP and for the most part who came with them - so for children that includes parents and for BM's and GM's that includes SOs.  

If you're having a hard time affording it, I would make it more low-key or casual.  If there's a cheaper food option, go for it!  There's nothing saying it really needs to be nice or formal, so that would be one option to look into.

annie6672

In addition to bridal party, I think any one who reads at your wedding is invited too, correct?

StarfishNJellybean

The parents really should be invited, it's the polite thing to do. Just be glad that's your only RD invitation issue. My FMIL wants to invite EVERYONE who's in town for the wedding (only 7 of 85 households live in town, and two of those are in the wedding).

sno224

I am in the process of addressing my RD invitations.
We are including:
The entire wedding party and their SO.
Parents & Grandparents
I am getting married in a church so we also have 3 Readers, a Eucharistic Minister and 2 people to bring up the gifts and their SO.

None of my out of town guests will be here due to our rehearsal being on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but if they were, I would have included them as well.

You absolutely should invite the children's parents...

Good Luck!