the.com/rehearsal dinner
The wedding's dress rehearsal, except everyone's already drunk on feelings and open bar.
means A dinner held the night before a wedding, typically after the ceremony run-through, hosted to thank the wedding party and close family before the main event.
from Straightforward compound: 'rehearsal,' from Old French 'rehercier' — literally 'to harrow again,' from 'herse' (a harrow, the farm tool dragged over soil to rake it) — which drifted from plowing fields to repeating words, meaning 'to go over again.' Pair that with 'dinner,' from Old French 'disner,' rooted in Latin for breaking an overnight fast. The custom of a formal pre-wedding dinner, especially after a ceremony walk-through, became an established American tradition over the 20th century.
- origin
- meant to literally rehearse the ceremony, toasts hijacked it
- who pays
- traditionally groom's family, a sneaky cost-splitting trick
- real purpose
- lets the best man test jokes before the real audience
- timing
- night before, so regrets have minimal time to compound