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Rehearsal Dinner Ideas
Written by
Cheryl Starkey-King
Logan, OH
Chances are that you have planned a formal or
informal, but probably not casual, wedding. After
all the hard work, stress, fuss, craziness, sniping,
snarling, hair-pulling, threats, tears, screaming
and general chaos, it's a really good idea to have a
NO STRESS ALLOWED rehearsal. Meaning? Do what you're
supposed to do to make sure that everyone knows
their parts and then go do something FUN! This does
not include bar hopping--think you feel sick now?
Try your wedding day with a hangover. If you're
going to drink, please keep it in moderation.
No, what I mean by FUN is do something other than a
formal sit-down dinner. The following depicts great
ways for everyone to let their hair down and
de-stress before the big event:
1) Repeat-- DON'T do the formal sit-down dinner
(unless you really want to). You're gonna stress.
Plan a big cookout (weather permitting) at a local
park or a relative's backyard. Have it potluck style
and just kick back and RELAX. Play some yard games
or board games. Play games that require physical
activity and concentration or board games that
require concentration (like Trivial Pursuit). Both
will help you sleep if you are both mentally and/or
physically tired. Just go easy on the alcohol if you
want to know why, go back and read the first
paragraph again.
2) Go bowling. You'd be amazed how much fun you can
have and what a great stress reliever this is.
Knocking the heck out of a bunch of pins may be just
what you need after all that planning. If you've
just had a manicure, you may want to re-think this
unless your nail technician has already been put on
alert status.
3) Go miniature golfing. Same principle, whacking the
heck out of a ball will make you feel better. Plus,
concentrating that hard on something else will ease
the wedding out of your head for a little while.
4) Go to a movie. A light comedy or action thriller
without too much gore. Watching a movie with a big
tub of popcorn and getting involved in the plot is
relaxing and removes reality for a little while.
Great way to de-stress.
5) If your wedding budget didn't allow for you to go
anywhere, when you send out your invitations, invite
everyone back to the house for some light
refreshments. Doesn't have to be anything fancy some
munchies and finger sandwiches and beverages. You
can insert a note to those you want to invite that
the only requirement is to come prepared to share
their favorite story about the bride or groom.
Invite them to bring pictures or anything that
provoked a favorite memory to share as well.
While the whole point of a rehearsal is for everyone
to know exactly where they stand and what they do
the day of the wedding, there's no reason that it
has to be kept as formal as the wedding itself.
You've probably been planning for months. Some
light-hearted fun the night before may be just what
you need to calm down before that good night's sleep
you're going to need. The vast majority of brides
and grooms sleep terribly the night before their
weddings. Finding a way to do something calming and
restful can be the best sleep tonic for you both.
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