Are you wondering whether you need to have a rehearsal for your wedding ceremony? The answer is a definite yes! Wedding rehearsals are as important as a test drive before you buy a new car. Planning for a wedding is already stressful, therefore, knowing exactly how the ceremony will flow can ease some anxiety. 

What is a wedding rehearsal?

A wedding rehearsal is basically a run-through of the ceremony and it is conducted a day or two before the wedding. This event allows everyone who is involved in the wedding to know when and where they will be on the wedding day. Your bridal party, the officiant, flower girls, parents to the couples, and anyone else who has a role to play in the wedding should be present. 

Being that it is a rehearsal, this event has to be held at the same venue where the wedding will be. This is an opportunity to work out kinks in advance so things run smoothly. One of the best ways to have a successful wedding rehearsal is to have a wedding director.

A wedding event director/coordinator is a person whom you have chosen to tell people where to be and who will bring your wedding ideas to life. It can be your wedding planner, but if you planned the wedding yourself, use someone with event direction experience. This way, you can be part of the rehearsal and not the one running it.

Importance of your wedding rehearsal

To Pair Up Your Wedding Party 

It is important to figure out your wedding procession, especially with your bridal party. Know how your bridesmaids and groomsmen will be paired. One way to choose the pairings is to have people of the same height walk together. You can even have the groomsman taller than the bridesmaid.

This will make everyone happy, especially the men. It is a better idea to have your bridal team acquainted with each other before the rehearsal day to create a rapport among them. If you have people who already know each other, then you can pair them together. Be careful to not pair people who have recently broken up to avoid awkward moments or fights.

The seating arrangement of your guests of honor

The guests of honor are the people who are not in the procession but are definitely involved in the wedding. This describes the parents to both the bride and groom, the grandparents, siblings, or people you may want to honor at your wedding. 

The wedding rehearsal is the time to decide how they would make an entrance at the wedding. Will they be part of the procession or they will be seated before? Show them where they will seat, and also how they would exit the location.

Entrance of the Wedding Party

Decide how your wedding party will enter the ceremony depending on your religious background. You can confer with the wedding officiant or wedding venue manager on what is acceptable before making any decisions. Ask for tips or recommendations and see whether it aligns with what you have in mind.

Traditionally, the bridesmaids and groomsmen will walk down the aisle together and take their rightful places at the altar. Next, the flower girls or boys may follow. Another alternative is having all the gentlemen at the altar waiting for the bridesmaids to walk down the aisle.

Order of the procession

Having paired the bridal party earlier, the entrance is a great way to have a play-by-play view of how they would look together. You can decide the order of the entrance by height, personal importance, or family relations. Whichever way you come to the procession order should only be known to you and your fiancé, not even the event director.

The event director will start by having everyone at the end of the aisle with the officiant at the top and instruct people how they would the next day. Line up the wedding party along the side of the couple.

Play the entrance music and have a quick run-through with everyone doing exactly what will be done on the day of the wedding. If there is a specific entrance choreography, this is the time to do a final practice. Time for pace and check on uniformity. It is also a great time for the little ones to get more practice.

Practice readings

Next, the officiant will review how they will lead the service or ceremony. If there are people who will do readings, this is their time to shine. Let them practice as many times as time will allow until all jitters are gone. Advise the event director to have printed copies of their readings for them just in case they need them.

Have time with your fiancé at the altar to have a reality check of what it would feel like on the wedding day. You can even practice your vows if they are not a secret to be revealed later.

Recession

If you are planning on having a recession, you can do a reverse of the procession order or the exact same order as the entrance. This process still needs to be timed and practiced. 

Conclusion

The wedding rehearsal is supposed to be fun, easy, and short. It should not take all day or be stressful for everyone there. Also, do not be worried about losing the magic of your wedding day.