There is no rule that says you MUST have a wedding rehearsal, but if you choose to, having a day-of wedding rehearsal is what we recommend.

After approximately 1,000 weddings hosted here at Kendall Point, we know how to eliminate unneeded stress on your wedding day, and hosting a rehearsal the morning of your wedding is one of the most stress-relieving things you can do. There isn’t much involved in a wedding rehearsal timeline, so it won’t be as hard as you might think to fit it in on your wedding day.

I am sure most of you have been in a wedding before, whether it be a Friday wedding, Saturday evening, or Sunday morning, at some point, the bride requested you be in town or available the day before the wedding—or days before the wedding—for the wedding rehearsal. Admit it, you had a little eye roll when you found out you had to be at a rehearsal at 3pm on a Thursday or Friday before a wedding. You had to take off work early, or the entire day, you had an extra hotel night to pay for, all just to follow the person in front of you and stand in a line.

There are numerous benefits of hosting a day-of rehearsal, but we narrowed it down for you to our 5 favorite reasons to have a wedding rehearsal on your wedding day.

Photo by Kayla Barker

What Is A Wedding Rehearsal?

This most important aspect of a wedding rehearsal is you, your bridal party, and groomsmen will practice the processional for your wedding ceremony. You’ll go over each aspect of the ceremony from the timing of the walks down the aisle, where each person will stand, how they’ll be positioned, the timing of the music, and more. 

In addition to the entire bridal party, the wedding officiant, wedding planner or day of coordinator, and venue coordinator will all be there. 

Your wedding rehearsal timeline consists of introducing any members of your wedding party who may not know each other yet especially if they’ll be walking down the aisle together, and then lining everyone up in the proper order. You’ll then practice the processional and your wedding planner will tell everyone how to stand and hold their hands during the ceremony. At this point, the wedding officiant will go through the ceremony and practice and special readings. Finally, your wedding planner will go over special instructions for the maid of honor and best man, you’ll practice the recessional and then you’re done!

You’re probably wondering, how long does a wedding rehearsal take? Well, you should budget an hour for the rehearsal, but it will likely take only 30 minutes or less. 

Some couples choose to have their wedding rehearsal immediately before their rehearsal dinner, if it’s located at the same venue. But there are lots of things you’re doing the day before your wedding, and trying to squeeze in the rehearsal with every other last-minute task will add unnecessary stress. 

Photo by Allison Jeffers Photography

5 Reasons to have Your Wedding Rehearsal on Your Wedding Day

Having a day of wedding rehearsal allows you to plan your rehearsal dinner anywhere, anytime.

Unless your rehearsal dinner is at your wedding ceremony location, you don’t need to have your rehearsal a day before the wedding. This gives you more freedom when choosing your rehearsal dinner location.

You don’t have to search for a nearby restaurant and worry about timing of the dinner and traffic getting to and from your venue to the restaurant. Gather with your bridal party and enjoy the stress-free evening at your favorite hangout spot, or favorite restaurant, and relax. You can also do the rehearsal portion at the dinner location if you choose.

Pro tip: a wedding rehearsal can be done anywhere at any time, except when at the venue itself, when you’ll have to consider other couples and the venue’s schedule.

BONUS: If you have a wedding planner or day of coordinator, guess what? They are going handle all the details the day of anyway. They will be there to direct traffic and tell the wedding party exactly what to do and where to stand that day. So why do it twice?

It’s more convenient for your out-of-town wedding party members.

Do you have members of your wedding party who are coming from out of town? Awesome! Save them the extra stress and let them get settled in before the celebrations commence! Day of wedding rehearsals give your out-of-towners a little wiggle room in case of travel delays, traffic, and or unexpected flight changes.

Remember how long the wedding rehearsal will take—not long at all. So don’t try to add that stress to the already packed day before the wedding.

If you have the time, use it.

10am-Midnight, that is how long you have Kendall Point. That’s 14 hours friends! Ample time to run a day of rehearsal in the morning, or even afternoon of the wedding depending on your wedding timeline.

How many times have you been at a rehearsal the day before the wedding and you are waiting on the last bridesmaid or groomsmen to arrive? Ugh! Without fail, someone is always late and will put you way behind schedule for getting the rehearsal dinner started. When you host the rehearsal on the day of the wedding, the wedding party will switch into wedding mode and be more focused and ready.

And guess what, it will be fresh on their mind too because the wedding is later that same day. You can even sweet talk the wedding party and promise them coffee and breakfast the morning of the rehearsal. Once the rehearsal is over, the girls head straight to the bridal suite to begin their hair and makeup. Boom, everyone is already there and ready to jump right into the wedding day preps.

Likewise, the guys can hangout in the state of the art grooms suite here at Kendall Point, or jump in a car and head to San Antonio (just 10 minutes away) and hit Top Golf, grab a quick lunch, maybe even go bowling before show time.

Ohhh…you don’t want to see the Groom on the day of the wedding? Good. (We love that tradition!). We typically see the bride stashed in the bridal suite during the rehearsal. The bride already knows what to do, am I right?! The rehearsal can just be for the bridal party and the groom! Let’s face it, you have had this planned out for some time now, and you already know exactly what to do when it’s go time.

Don’t forget about that planner you hired! The planner will follow your wishes/guidelines for the rehearsal, so everything will be just as it should be. Trust the process, trust the professionals, we got this!

You can do a separate wedding rehearsal for the bridal party and groomsmen.

There’s no rule that you have to have the entire wedding party do one wedding rehearsal. That can be a lot of schedules to keep up with, especially when it comes to out-of-towners.

When the bridal party arrives at Kendall Point to start hair and makeup at 10am, do a quick run through with just the bridesmaids, 15-20 minutes tops. When the ushers arrive later in the day, the wedding planner can do a second run through with them too. As a result, both parties have practiced their steps, and know exactly what to do, and it is fresh on their minds!

Feeling better about the day of rehearsal yet? Just one last thing.

Don’t make the wedding rehearsal more than it is.

The wedding rehearsal is just a quick walk-through, so don’t make it out to be much more than that. The procession down the aisle and standing at the alter are self-explanatory. Don’t over think it. And definitely don’t let other people make you crazy about these things.

The wedding planner will help everyone get down the aisle, and the officiant will take it from there and tell you exactly what to do. 

 

Have a Beautiful, Stress-Free Wedding at Kendall Point

At Kendall Point, we’re here to give you your dream wedding, with no added stress. That’s why we give you exclusive access to our venue on your wedding day, which allows for more than enough time to get hair and makeup done, take stunning photos, and have both your wedding rehearsal and wedding all in one day!

Enjoy gorgeous views of beautiful Texas Hill Country, and enjoy everything San Antonio has to offer throughout your wedding weekend.

Get in touch with us today to book a tour of our venue and start planning your big day.