The day before your wedding you may only be thinking about your rehearsal dinner, but don’t forget about what comes before the dinner - the rehearsal! Read on to learn more about who needs to attend the rehearsal and what you should cover.

Who should be at the rehearsal?

Short answer: anyone who’s in the ceremony!

Long answer:

The couple - obviously
Officiant
The wedding party
Anyone else who’s walking in the processional - parents, ringbearer(s), flower girl(s), and the parents of the little ones
Anyone who’s participating in the ceremony - doing a reading, leading a prayer, or performing a song

What should we practice?

Practice everything that happens in the ceremony, but the officiant doesn’t need to read through the entire script. You’ll want to go over the following:

Where everyone is standing/sitting
How to walk down the aisle and how to hold hands and bouquets
Processional and recessional
Bride hand off
Important ceremony pieces (readings, prayers, songs, unity ceremony, vows, rings) - again, you don’t have to do the full length of these, you just want an idea of the order of everything
Pronouncement and first kiss - the fun part!

What order should we practice it in?

Usually I suggest starting from where everyone is standing or sitting since that’s where they will be for the majority of the ceremony. It also helps more than if you start from the beginning (processional) because then you’re having to direct people as they’re walking, while you’re trying to tell them how to walk - it’s just a little chaotic and we’re all about organization and removing stress from you and the wedding party!

Here’s the general order I usually conduct rehearsals in:

Start with where everyone is standing (wedding party, couple, officiant) - practice the order in which they’re standing and spacing between people; generally speaking, the maid/matron of honor and the best man should be closest to the couple and then go out from there. Depending on how much space there is at the altar, have them line up in a straight line (more space) or fanned towards the chairs (less space). Then, show people where they’re sitting - parents, ringbearer(s), flower girl(s), and the parents of the little ones
Talk about how to stand. Bridesmaids should hold their bouquets at their belly buttons with both hands and their feet should face towards the opposite front row. Groomsmen should hold their right wrist with their left hand (showing off rings/watches) so they're all going the same direction and their feet should also face towards the opposite front row. The officiant should stand centered with the backdrop and the aisle, a little further back than the wedding party. The couple should stand in front of the officiant, facing each other, and holding hands
Get ready to practice the recessional. The bride gets her bouquet back from the maid/matron of honor who then fixes the bride’s train/veil and gets her own bouquet back from the second bridesmaid. The couple joins hands and faces the guests then starts walking down the aisle - with the bouquet in the other hand and the groom’s hand lightly swinging at his side - but everyone else stays where they are. Once the couple gets to the middle of the aisle, stop and do a kiss (perfect time for the dip kiss you’ve been practicing - and yes you should practice if you want to do it!), then keep walking. Once they start walking again, the wedding party starts walking out by joining together (one pair at a time) in front of the officiant, waiting until the pair in front of them makes it to mid-aisle, and walking out the same way the couple did (minus the mid aisle kiss lol). If you want anyone else to recess out, give them the same instructions, and they should leave after the last wedding party member has made it down the aisle. The officiant can then make some announcements about what comes next - cocktail hour, family photos, etc.
Practice the processional. It should be pretty easy to get everyone lined up for the processional because most will enter in the opposite order to how they exited - i.e., the maid/matron of honor and best man exited first (after the couple) and they will enter last (before the bride and little ones). Get everyone in the right order; generally the groom and officiant go first or the officiant starts at the altar and the groom walks solo or escorts his parents in, then the wedding wedding party, ring bearer(s), flower girl(s), and lastly the bride and her escort. Feel free to add in people (like mother of the bride, grandparents etc.) as you like!
- For walking, have everyone (except the bride and her escort) walk at a slow pace but not too slow. Timing wise, if you have someone leading, they will tell people when to walk, but generally speaking, the groom (whether by himself, with the officiant, or with his parents) will start and once he gets to the altar, the first wedding party member/pair (depending on what you’re doing) should start walking down the aisle - the rest of the members/pairs should wait until the member/pair in front of them gets halfway down the aisle to start walking (just like the recessional); when they get to the top of the aisle, they will split and go to the spots they practiced. If you’re having a ringbearer(s), they should walk next, and if he/they are actually carrying the rings, he/they will walk up to the best man, who will take the rings and pocket them, then the boy(s) will sit in their designated seats with their parent(s). After that, if you’re having a flower girl(s), she/they should walk next and sprinkle her/their flowers and then go to her/their seat
- Then, the officiant will ask everyone to rise for the bride, and then the bride and her escort will walk down the aisle as slowly as possible so she can soak in the moment. Once she gets to the altar, practice the handoff, whether there are any words exchanged or just a hug, practice this. The groom will reach out his hand and grab the bride’s hand (the one not holding the bouquet) and bring her up to her spot facing him. Once the bride is placed, the maid/matron of honor will hand her bouquet off to the bridesmaid next to her, fix the bride’s train/veil, the bride will turn towards the chairs and hand her bouquet to her maid/matron of honor, then the couple should grasp hands and the officiant will ask everyone to be seated
Go through the ceremony highlights. Practice the order of events in the ceremony and anything the couple will say (i.e., repeat after me vows) to alleviate any nerves. If people are walking up (to do reading/song/prayer), practice their cue (the last thing you’ll say before they walk up) and show them where to stand, then they can go back to their seats. Practice the ring ceremony with the best man giving the rings to the officiant, the officiant giving you the rings one at a time, and putting on the rings. It’s ok if you don’t have the rings for the rehearsal, it’s just good to walk through the motions. When it’s all said and done, the officiant will pronounce you husband and wife, move out of the way, and then you get to the best part - the first kiss!

Once you’ve run through the ceremony once, feel free to practice parts again until everyone feels comfortable.

Bonus Tips for your Wedding Ceremony Rehearsal

Sketch out the standing/seating arrangements so your planner/coordinator or whoever is running the rehearsal (shouldn’t be you or someone involved in the ceremony!) can see a diagram. Everyone who is (supposed to be!) at the rehearsal needs an assigned place, whether they are in the processional or not so everyone is clear and there are no delays (i.e., your uncle sitting in the middle of the second row who’s supposed to be reading a poem)
If you’re going to use groomsmen to escort people in (i.e., mother of the bride), pick groomsmen who are later in the lineup (i.e., the best man) so they have time to get back in the wedding party line up before walking down the aisle
Switch your bouquet to your outside hand during the handoff so that it’s ready to pass off to your maid/matron of honor
Remind everyone that they should not lock their knees (we don’t want anyone passing out!) - a slight bend is perfect
Walking pace: everyone except the bride - walk like you’re wading through a pool; bride and her escort - think graduation walk with step together
Tell the flower girl to wait to start throwing flower petals until she reaches the back of the chairs so she doesn’t run out of petals before she gets down the aisle
If your ring bearer is young or is a little chaotic (aren’t we all), I suggest not giving him the real rings or waiting until he’s about to walk down the aisle to give him the rings - unless you’re getting married outside and then you should definitely pre-give the rings to the best man - you do not want him to lose the rings in grass, dirt, etc.
If the rings drop, only the best man should be the one to find and pick them up. Trust me, you don’t want to see a bunch of people diving around!
When putting on the rings, if you are saying something while you are putting it on, slide the ring up with each part that you say; at the end, shove the ring the rest of the way on. This gives your photographer plenty of time to get those shots!
Ask the moms to stand/sit if the officiant forgets to ask people to rise/sit down - the rest of the guests will follow suit
When it’s time for your first kiss, wait until the officiant moves out of the way, then hold the kiss for 3 seconds so your photographer can get a perfect photo - any shorter and they might not get a clean shot, any longer and it’s starts to get awkward for everyone lol