Who to invite to the rehearsal dinner?

xjulie2188x

I wondering if any of you ladies know who is normally invited to the rehearsal dinner, besides the wedding party or course!

I'm having a fairly small wedding of around 100 & a lot of that is family. So I'm just wondering who is normally invited to the RD because I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, leave someone important out, or be rude, but I also don't want it to be like the entire invite list! Thanks!

sep72fendr

The people I invited to my RD were the bridal party, parents, siblings, grandparents, and any super important/close family (my mom's sister/my aunt, parents and siblings of the flower girl and ring bearer, MIL's sister and husband) that I had in from out of town that had already arrived. I love my friends and all, but I wasn't going to invite them to the RD, even if they were in from out of town. My figuring is that I was going to see them the next day and I just wanted it to be a low-key intimate affair that would allow me to focus on my most important family members and key players in my wedding.

Jelenny

We invited the WP plus their guests (flower girls have their families attending), some people do grandparents (we are not) and some people do OOT guests (we are not) so really it's up to you.  We opted just parents and WP.

casims3

We are doing WP and guests, parents, grandparents (we only decided to this because our venue has room, if it didn't, we wouldn't) and our officiant (who is my cousin) and his family. I really think it's up to you. The thing I've heard the most complaints about is when the WP's dates are invited, especially if they have traveled from out of town.

Brit12

I've heard a lot of people invite OOT guests that are going to be there that night, but almost ALL of my family was OOT and came in on Friday, so we only invites wedding party and their guests / family, parents, grandparents, our siblings, and the officiant (he wasn't married).

I'm actually glad we had such a low-key affair... the craziness of so many people and things to do on the day of was enough for me, and all I wanted on the night before was to relax and get to bed early

clearheavens

We invited our priest, readers, altar server, parents, wedding party and their +1, and siblings + their spouses + their children.  It kept the number small.

No OOT guests, aunts and uncles, or cousins.

amalia0525

We did it a little different. Husbands dad had us on a crazy budget and it was the only thing he paid wanted to pay for so we really had to watch who we invited nap we invites just the wp and reader and parents. It pissed a lot of people off but at the end everyone needs to realize that it's ur wedding and that money does effect some things and get over it.

nannerswolf

We thought about this a lot especially concerning our budget, but decided on inviting all of the OOT folks for one overarching reason- we wanted to see everyone and have heard over and over again that the day of the wedding is a blur and you don't get to talk to everyone. This way, we can make sure that everyone gets some face time. Plus if people know each other a little better, they will be more willing to get up and dance the next night.

csh96

We invited our parents, siblings, bridesmaids/groomsmen and their guests, ring bearer and his parents, and our Deacon and his wife.  We chose not to include grandparents because we didn't have many and most wouldn't have been able to make it.

stanzi113

We're inviting the wedding party (& dates), grandparents, the officiant, and some selected other guests.  

A good rule of thumb were out of town guests that didnt have much else to do that night, or friends who werent in the wedding party but were participating in major roles.  For example, people who traveled by themselves, or were staying with anyone in the wedding party.  I thought it was unfair to have a close family friend fly in from boston then have her host at a dinner she wasnt invited to.  

I also have a friend who is being my day-of coordinator  She deserves a free dinner for that.

green795

I would say with a wedding your size, I would invite your WP and their dates, your special roles (i.e. ushers, readers, etc.) and their dates, your officiant (and spouse, if married), and your immediate family up to grandparents. 

We invited all the above, plus my uncle and his family (dad has a small family and they were the only family coming from dad's side and his daughter was my MOH), and all OOT family. Most of our OOT family was from my FIL side, and since he helped pay for the RD and most of the OOT family haven't been together in one place for over 25 years, we thought it was fitting to invite them. In all, about 50 people came. But by no means would I say a guest list like that is necessary for a RD.