Pre-wedding Parties
MRDCle
member
Rehearsal Dinner Questions





I'm trying to plan my rehearsal dinner and it's giving me a massive headache, and I'm getting all sorts of conflicting answers, so I come to you, oh-wise-ones.
1. Who exactly needs to be invited to a rehearsal dinner?
2. How do I invite those who I do need to invite? Does it need to be a formal invite, or does a text/phone call work?
1. Who exactly needs to be invited to a rehearsal dinner?
2. How do I invite those who I do need to invite? Does it need to be a formal invite, or does a text/phone call work?
Re: Rehearsal Dinner Questions
How you notify guests depends upon the formality of the RD. My sister’s inlaws hosted a RD with open bar, four course meal, centerpieces and favors...we were invited via printed invitation. H and I had our guests back to our place for pizza and wine...we just texted our guests.
In terms of who to invite, the only people required are the ones you ask to be at the rehearsal and their SOs, plus immediate family and their SOs. Sometimes, couples go beyond that and invite grandparents, aunts/uncles, OOT guests....you decide whether to go outside the required guest list and how far.
The invitation should match the formality of the event. If you're ordering pizza to your house afterwards, a call or a text is probably fine. If you're reserving space at a restaurant or getting a private room, a written invite is probably more appropriate. How fancy the event is can dictate how fancy the written invites are....same as a wedding. Vistaprint, Weddingpaperdivas, Zazzle and even Michael's have nice, cost-friendly options.
Since we were inviting a lot of people, we had a separate insert printed up that we included with the invites, and put my MIL's email & phone number on there for RSPVs. I know some people will say that's not super etiquette-approved, but we thought that was the least confusing way. My family wouldn't have expected to be invited, and a separate mailing would have thrown them off.
I've been in weddings with smaller RD's though, and the invites pretty much matched the formality of the event. One bride emailed the WP the details of the rehearsal and the dinner, one of them gave us a card with the info (must have been at a shower?).