Rehearsal & Rehearsal Dinner Dilemma

soontobemrsbuccheri

So, being that I am getting married in March, during lent, we are limited to the amount of time that we have inside the church for rehearsal.  We were told that we can have our rehearsal on the Friday before so long as we are out of the church no later than 6/615 as they have a 7pm Stations of the Cross.  I know the priest that is marrying us will get us in/out quickly as he is not a mess around guy.  He likes to get to the point and quickly.  If I remember correctly we were only at my brother and SIL's church for about 20 minutes for their rehearsal.  Anyhow.  With that said, I know some of our bridal party works a normal 9-5 shift and some travel quite a bit to/from work.  I have a feeling my girls will be taking the day off to do last minute errands with me, etc. I also have a feeling that the people we'll be choosing as our readers will be able to make it with out a problem.  I don't know about the guys though.  Would it be inconsiderate of me to ask our bridal party to make sure they are available for a 5:15pm rehearsal at our church by leaving work a bit earlier to ensure being on time?

Since it's customary to have a rehearsal dinner afterwards, we are trying to figure out where to have our dinner (we have it narrowed down but price may be an issue) and who should be invited.  I know that we should invite guests that are coming in from out of town (those traveling quite aways) and also any of the bridal parties significant others.  We also know that Parents and grandparents are also invited.  But where can we draw the line? We will most likely be paying for this ourselves and we know most of our bridal party is single and would most likely be bringing a date to the wedding, but do we invite said date to the rehearsal dinner too, even if they are just a date and not their SO? 

Any help/advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!!!!

AmandaNWP

I was a bridesmaid in 3 weddings this summer and and getting married next April. For all the weddings that I was in, I had assumed I'd need to take the Friday before the wedding off to do last minute details, get nails done with the bride, etc. I don't think that's crazy to expect from the bridesmaids or groomsmen.
Is the church near where people work/live in case they can't take off the entire day? If so, the groomsmen could just go straight after work. Either way - I don't think that a rehearsal at 6 is unreasonable.

For our rehearsal dinner we're only inviting the wedding party, their significant others, grandparents/parents, and family that is helping at the ceremony (playing music, etc). i think it's fine to keep it small considering the cost of it. But if you have a lot of out-of-towners staying at the same hotel, maybe you get together with them all at the hotel restaurant/bar that night, so they feel included

soontobemrsbuccheri

AmandaNWP said:

I was a bridesmaid in 3 weddings this summer and and getting married next April. For all the weddings that I was in, I had assumed I'd need to take the Friday before the wedding off to do last minute details, get nails done with the bride, etc. I don't think that's crazy to expect from the bridesmaids or groomsmen.
Is the church near where people work/live in case they can't take off the entire day? If so, the groomsmen could just go straight after work. Either way - I don't think that a rehearsal at 6 is unreasonable.

For our rehearsal dinner we're only inviting the wedding party, their significant others, grandparents/parents, and family that is helping at the ceremony (playing music, etc). i think it's fine to keep it small considering the cost of it. But if you have a lot of out-of-towners staying at the same hotel, maybe you get together with them all at the hotel restaurant/bar that night, so they feel included

5 out of the 6 groomsmen are from the area (4 are in NJ, one is right over the bridge in PA) where as the 6th groomsman is coming from Florida.  He'll probably be up a few days before and most likely staying with us or our other groomsman that lives in PA.  I'm not sure how many OOT's there will be staying at the hotel, until we get closer.  I just hope I can convince my one bridesmaid to take the day off (she's given me nothing but grief over having to take time off for other bridesmaid things....I swear I'm not doing too much to inconvenience her...but seriously...each time I plan something she freaks....and she's my FSIL. WTH?