Be on time.

lizandmark2014

How do I urge my wedding party to be on time to rehearsal?

Is there a polite way to do the above?

MyNameIsNot

When you call them to tell them where and when to be at the rehearsal, mention that there is only X amount of time before you'll have to leave for the RD, so it will be on a tight timeline.  

Most people know the difference between showing up fashionably late for a party and being on time for something like a rehearsal.  

OliveOilsMom

Tell them that your officiant will be starting at 6 PM sharp and if anyone is late, the rehearsal will start without them.  But there really shouldn't be an issue if anyone from your BP can't make the rehearsal.  My MOH didn't even make my rehearsal because she had to work.  She walked down the aisle fine the next day.  When it was time for her to join me at the alter for the vows, I just pointed quickly where she was supposed to stand while handing her my bouquet.

KatWAG

My pastor told me that the rehearsal was at 5pm. And he would not start until everyone was there. He didnt want to repeat himself a bunch of times. And I dont blame him. So I sent an email to the BP conveying the pastor's feeling and reminded them of the location. They were all adults and arrived early/ on time.

MrsDeRuyter87

I told a little white lie and said the rehearsal started at 5:45 knowing everyone would show up kinda on the fringe anyway and sure enough i was right...everyone showed up right around 6pm when we wanted to get started!

sarahufl

ugh, I am legit concerned that FI's brothers will be late. They are the type to show up literally HOURS late for dinner reservations. It drives both of us absolutely insane. I feel bad for FI because he is so considerate and timely and his brothers just don't seem to give a s*&t. I can be firm with them about it and I am considering assigning them handlers for the weekend. Partially because I don't want them to be late, but also because it really hurts FI when they don't seem to care.

KatWAG

MrsDeRuyter87 said:

I told a little white lie and said the rehearsal started at 5:45 knowing everyone would show up kinda on the fringe anyway and sure enough i was right...everyone showed up right around 6pm when we wanted to get started!

I hate when people do this. I am an adult and can get myself to an important event on time. I would have shown up at 5:30 and had to stand around for a half an hour.

bethsmiles

KatWAG said:

MrsDeRuyter87 said:

I told a little white lie and said the rehearsal started at 5:45 knowing everyone would show up kinda on the fringe anyway and sure enough i was right...everyone showed up right around 6pm when we wanted to get started!

I hate when people do this. I am an adult and can get myself to an important event on time. I would have shown up at 5:30 and had to stand around for a half an hour.

While I completely agree that I hate it when people do this for a big crowd, because I get everywhere 15 minutes early too, I completely understand telling specific people that are always late that an event starts a little earlier than it does. Unfortunately, not all adults are respectful of other people's time and for some reason can't get themselves places on time.

MrsDeRuyter87

KatWAG said:

MrsDeRuyter87 said:

I told a little white lie and said the rehearsal started at 5:45 knowing everyone would show up kinda on the fringe anyway and sure enough i was right...everyone showed up right around 6pm when we wanted to get started!

I hate when people do this. I am an adult and can get myself to an important event on time. I would have shown up at 5:30 and had to stand around for a half an hour.

I completely agree with you. However I know my people well enough unfortunately. That and we were expecting really bad weather that night so better safe than sorry.

mmm4763

Our immediate families (parents and siblings) are ALWAYS late ("oh I just have to do one more thing...") and sure enough it caused them to be late to our rehearsal/walk through, which actually jeopardized our time in the venue. It was probably only 1 of 2 times that I got really stressed during my wedding weekend. My thought was "we are the bride and groom and have been entertaining guests all weekend (meeting people at their hotels, taking people to lunch, etc)...if we can manage to be on time, so can you" (It's not like we hadn't been in communication with them multiple times leading up to stuff either)

But I digress...

That being said, I used the "15 minutes earlier" technique with them for the rest of the weekend after that and it got them places right on time. I also had one of my aunts handle any of the conversations that needed to be had and it was fine after that. Do you have anyone in your bridal party (your MOH?) that can express to the other women how important it is that they are on time. If you can delegate that to someone you trust it will relieve a lot of stress.

(I know the above probably makes me sound like a giant biotch but we were not asking anything of our families other than to show up on time. In the middle of what was already a very emotional time, the fact that our parents couldn't be on time b/c they were farting around in their hotel was extremely frustrating)

minskat30

Our officiant gave us 30-45 minutes (max) for a rehearsal and then he had another event.  I told the bridal party that and when we were starting and everyone showed up on time. 

pinkcow13

MrsDeRuyter87 - I'm totally with you on this one. At the end of the day you know your people. I have friends that are extremely punctual, I would never lie to them about the time because I know that they will be there early. But I know that a lot of my friends - including a few in our WP - are chronically late. No matter what the occasion. I know we will have to tell them a little white lie. Some people are just like that, and do things on their own time, unfortunately.

sarahufl

We will be forced to lie to FIs brothers or else they just simply won't be there. Experience has taught us that they are just late and disrespectful. Everyone else will get the actual time.

jdluvr06

MrsDeRuyter87 said:

KatWAG said:

MrsDeRuyter87 said:

I told a little white lie and said the rehearsal started at 5:45 knowing everyone would show up kinda on the fringe anyway and sure enough i was right...everyone showed up right around 6pm when we wanted to get started!

I hate when people do this. I am an adult and can get myself to an important event on time. I would have shown up at 5:30 and had to stand around for a half an hour.

I completely agree with you. However I know my people well enough unfortunately. That and we were expecting really bad weather that night so better safe than sorry.

We have to do that with one of my great aunts. Her and my uncle are always late to everything. They aren't trying to be disrespectful or anything but they're a little scatterbrained.

lizandmark2014

Thanks for the help everybody. :-)