Not Having a Rehearsal Dinner? No Sweat!

Thinking about not having a wedding rehearsal dinner? No sweat, sister! I didn't have one and everything worked out just fine.

If people are pressuring you to have a rehearsal dinner, just smile and share this list with them. Remember, it's YOUR wedding. If you don't feel like rehearsing for it, then you surely don't have to!

Reasons to NOT have a Wedding Rehearsal Dinner

Your bridal party already knows what to do. I know it's hard to believe, but everyone in your wedding party will be quite capable of walking down the aisle two at a time, without any prior practice whatsoever. We learned all about line walking at age 4 or so, and I think it's safe to assume that the majority of us can still do it with no problem.

You'd rather spend the night at home stressing about relaxing before the big day. I don't know about you, but I personally found the wedding stressful enough without adding insult to injury. I preferred taking a quiet evening to myself where I could once again run through the wedding day plans and make last minute calls to be sure everyone was on board. You may be different, but if you actually want to have a wedding rehearsal dinner then I guess you don't need to read this argument to the contrary!

You're getting married and you already have a kid or kids. For my husband and I, this was reason enough to not want a rehearsal dinner the night before our wedding day. We were just busy trying to get our kid to eat his broccoli at home, no need for relatives showing up and priests scolding us for walking in the wrong direction or whatever happens at these events. No, we knew that there was a big day ahead for us, and that meant our boy would be off schedule for the entire next day. May as well give him a "typical" evening's rest that didn't involve complicated family ceremonies.

You're planning to have a really small bridal party, or maybe no bridal party at all. This should be a no brainer, but if no one else is traveling down the white runner, then there really isn't a need to practice. Is there??

Who remembers what goes on at wedding rehearsal dinners anyway!? As a bridesmaid of several friends and family members, I've been to my share of them. All I recall doing is a lot of giggling and looking around at everyone else, staring blankly at the priest as he utters gibberish that I can't hear, somehow falling into the correct formation as my designated groomsman escorts me down the walkway to the fake ceremony. So other than enjoying a few glasses of wine and probably a pretty decent meal... this is probably not going to make a difference on your wedding day at all!