Wedding Rehearsal Time!

Hey Lovebirds! Your wedding rehearsal is important, especially for people who have never been in a wedding before. Although it's important to get down to business, you should schedule enough time for everyone to socialize first so that there will be less chatting throughout the actual rehearsal.  Try not to make rehearsal long and drawn out.  If you (or your wedding planner) stick to the wedding timeline, time will be well spent.  There is no need to go through the actual wedding ceremony and any additional readings word for word. Try using keywords, phrases or cues instead.

Rehearsal is a great time for laughter. Let your bridal party dance down the aisle to loosen everyone up.  Then practice the real bridal procession. Remind everyone to smile!  Have everyone line up in the actual order in which they will walk down the aisle.  Let your bridal party know each song that will be used.  Let your parents know where they will be sitting once they reach the end of the aisle. Let the bridesmaids know how they should hold their flowers, and let the groomsmen know how they should rest their hands once they are at the alter.  If everyone is doing something different, it will be obvious in your wedding pictures, so make sure everyone's on the same page. After the wedding ceremony, the Bride and Groom will exit first.  Have everyone practice walking out after them, typically in pairs with about 20 feet between each couple. Again, remind everyone to smile!

Here's a tip: Women should practice walking down the aisle in their wedding shoes.  This will help them break the shoes in and get a feel for any imperfections (rises or dips) that may be on the floor.  

If the Bride is being given away, the escort(s) should practice the hand-off. Typically, the escort(s) will shake the partner's hand, give the Bride's hand to the partner...the Bride will hand off her bouquet to the Maid of Honor, and then the couple will go stand before the Wedding Officiant.  

There is no right or wrong way to arrange a wedding procession.  Modern ceremonies can have all types of variations.  Again, just make sure everyone is on the same page.  I highly suggest having the rehearsal at the actual wedding location so that everyone can practice walking down the actual aisle and know where they need to stand at the actual alter. Children in the bridal party need to practice their part too.  It's important that everyone understands their role, but you can still make it fun because this is a pre-wedding celebration. Wrap up the evening with a toast to "family". Congratulations! Your big day is right around the corner! #behappy

~Your Favorite Wedding Officiant~

www.sweetheartweddingvows.com