Done right, a wedding rehearsal takes a full hour — twice the length of the ceremony! Other officiants will do it in less time. Rev. Phil wants everyone in the wedding party to be comfortable and feel confident.

The purpose of a rehearsal is to walk everyone through where they will be, what they will be doing, etc.

Who should be there? Everyone in the processional — parents, bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girl, ring bearer, ushers (if there is an aisle runner) and, of course, the bride and groom.

Where should the rehearsal be at? Ideally, the room where the ceremony will be. It allows everyone to visualize where they will be walking and standing. This is not always possible. It’s 75% effective to do it a restaurant or a home. Just be sure there is plenty of space for a processional and for bridesmaids/groomsmen to stand next to Rev. Phil. (So, need a big, empty space in the shape of a capital T).

When do you not need a rehearsal? When the wedding party is small — a maid/matron of honor, a best man. You will get the processional line by line in the script Rev. Phil will send you 10 days before the ceremony. It saves on not having to provide a rehearsal dinner.

Rev. Phil leads 98% of the rehearsals for couples he marries. Be sure the date and time is open in his calendar. Typically, Friday late afternoon/early evening is not available — he is doing a wedding then. Most venue will not let you do a wedding then anyway. They, too, won’t give up a wedding to do a rehearsal. So, most rehearsals are done on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. For Rev. Phil, Friday rehearsals typically start by 1:30pm or are at 8:30pm.

In a platinum ceremony, a rehearsal is included as part of the all-inclusive fee.

A rehearsal is not included in a gold ceremony or silver ceremony. Those weddings are, almost by definition, smaller with few if any bridesmaids, groomsmen, etc. A rehearsal can usually be added on for an additional fee.