How much time to allocate for rehearsal?

dcbride86

This is kind of a spin off of the rehearsal dinner timing post.  How much time do rehearsals generally take?  The same amount of time as the ceremony?  More?  Less?  Since I now know I need to eliminate a gap, I want to make sure I know how long it should last.  Thanks!

danamw

The one wedding I was in, the rehearsal was the night before. I got to the church at about 5:30, and most were there. We didn't really do much of anything.

The officiant just told us, you walk, then you walk. We didn't even walk down the aisle, they just told us.  Then someone said "ok let's go eat!" and we went to the rehearsal dinner. It seemed like a formality to have, before the real event, which was the dinner! There were no mistakes at the real ceremony.

That is one end of the spectrum, there are probably rehearsals which are full-on, over and over, total practice of what will happen at the wedding.

arrrghmatey

One rehearsal I went to was for a non-denominational ceremony and took 15 minutes. Another was for a Catholic church ceremony and took 40 minutes. So it depends. A lot of people are bypassing the entire rehearsal all together these days.

dcbride86

arrrghmatey said:

One rehearsal I went to was for a non-denominational ceremony and took 15 minutes. Another was for a Catholic church ceremony and took 40 minutes. So it depends. A lot of people are bypassing the entire rehearsal all together these days.

Okay, thanks!  I'll allocate 30 mins (same amount of time as the ceremony), and if it finishes early, we will head over to the rehearsal dinner venue and FI and I will buy everyone a drink before the dinner.  I want to have one because our officiant is a friend who has never done it before, but hopefully it will just be super quick

southernbelle0915

I think ours took 20 or 30 minutes. That included waiting for people who were late. 

The officiant really runs the show here. To make things more efficient, just know how you want people to process and give the officiant a list so he knows how to direct people. That should make it short and sweet.

dcbride86

southernbelle0915 said:

I think ours took 20 or 30 minutes. That included waiting for people who were late. 

The officiant really runs the show here. To make things more efficient, just know how you want people to process and give the officiant a list so he knows how to direct people. That should make it short and sweet.

Thanks!  Our officiant hasn't done it before, so our DOC will also be there to help him run it.  I'll make sure to give the DOC and the officiant a list though.  Thank you! 

PrettyGirlLost

Ours was a Catholic Mass rehearsal so it took about 40mins or so, because our priest wanted everyone to go through the processional a few times, plus he went over parts of the mass with everyone.

poodledoodleooo

Our rehearsal took an hour. Our actual ceremony was about 20 minutes.

I was married in a church, so the church coordinator had to go over "ground rules," then she lined us all up, walked through the ceremony, including intent, readings, vows and unity candle, then we practiced coming down the aisle, and coming back up after the ceremony ends. She also gave us a tour of the church so we knew where we were supposed to keep our stuff, get ready, eat lunch, etc.

Rehearsal times will vary. Ask the person running your rehearsal how long it will take. Usually that is the officiant, in my case it was the coordinator.

kvruns

It shouldn't take long as long as you already have it planned out and written down.  So for guests of honor (MOG, MOB, grandparents, etc) who is escorting them, then are BM & GM walking together, or separate or.....etc.   I say this because my friend's wedding rehearsal last year took at least an hour because none of this had been planned out and so people were making opinions left and right and it took forever. if she would have had it all planned out it would have taken like 15 min

VulgarGirl

Took us maybe 15-20 minutes. Would've taken less time but we were dicking around and being goofy.

We kept it basic, didn't actually do all of the ceremony, just an overview. Like she'd say "Ok, you and you, now you two, then you two, and now the kid, now Wifey, now Magic, ok parents will take their seats, I'll welcome everyone, quick moment of silence..." and so on and so forth. It was quick and easy.

SP29

I think ours was around half an hour. We practiced where everyone would stand, and what order everyone would walk in. Our officiant also had us run the ceremony and say our vows (he said it helps with the jitters). 

vmj23

I had a Catholic Ceremony (no mass) and our rehearsal prob took about a half hour..and that was with some standing around chatting, waiting on everyone to get there, witnesses signing the marriage certificates, etc.  

slothiegal

We had a non-religious ceremony and our rehearsal took about....10 minutes?  Maybe 15, including time to round people up and put them in line.  Our officiant just kind of said "I'll welcome everyone, slothieguy, you'll say your vows, slothiegal, you'll say yours, cool?  Cool."

And then I hate about 200 tacos at our RD and I had absolutely zero regrets.  (I'm sorry.  I'm starving.  All my stories at this time of night end with me wanting tacos.)

dcbride86

slothiegal said:

We had a non-religious ceremony and our rehearsal took about....10 minutes?  Maybe 15, including time to round people up and put them in line.  Our officiant just kind of said "I'll welcome everyone, slothieguy, you'll say your vows, slothiegal, you'll say yours, cool?  Cool."

And then I hate about 200 tacos at our RD and I had absolutely zero regrets.  (I'm sorry.  I'm starving.  All my stories at this time of night end with me wanting tacos.)

You had tacos at your RD?  You're a genius.  And also, now I really really want some tacos.  Yes it's 6:35 am and I want tacos.  Don't judge.

arrippa

slothiegal said:

We had a non-religious ceremony and our rehearsal took about....10 minutes?  Maybe 15, including time to round people up and put them in line.  Our officiant just kind of said "I'll welcome everyone, slothieguy, you'll say your vows, slothiegal, you'll say yours, cool?  Cool."

And then I hate about 200 tacos at our RD and I had absolutely zero regrets.  (I'm sorry.  I'm starving.  All my stories at this time of night end with me wanting tacos.)

You should never be sorry about tacos (unless you are stealing mine).

 

 

slothiegal

dcbride86 said:

slothiegal said:

We had a non-religious ceremony and our rehearsal took about....10 minutes?  Maybe 15, including time to round people up and put them in line.  Our officiant just kind of said "I'll welcome everyone, slothieguy, you'll say your vows, slothiegal, you'll say yours, cool?  Cool."

And then I hate about 200 tacos at our RD and I had absolutely zero regrets.  (I'm sorry.  I'm starving.  All my stories at this time of night end with me wanting tacos.)

You had tacos at your RD?  You're a genius.  And also, now I really really want some tacos.  Yes it's 6:35 am and I want tacos.  Don't judge.

We had a muthafuckin' taco TRUCK. slothieguy was in charge of the RD and home skillet NAILED it.

arrippa said:

slothiegal said:

We had a non-religious ceremony and our rehearsal took about....10 minutes?  Maybe 15, including time to round people up and put them in line.  Our officiant just kind of said "I'll welcome everyone, slothieguy, you'll say your vows, slothiegal, you'll say yours, cool?  Cool."

And then I hate about 200 tacos at our RD and I had absolutely zero regrets.  (I'm sorry.  I'm starving.  All my stories at this time of night end with me wanting tacos.)

You should never be sorry about tacos (unless you are stealing mine).

 

 

OMG LOVE.