City you were born in? All attention goes to the big wedding day and the fabulous reception! The rehearsal and its dinner are only the warm up to the  big  show, and are  many times overlooked for their importance. There are certain rules that go along with the rehearsal dinner, just as there are proper etiquette guidelines for the wedding. The couple along with the person(s) hosting the rehearsal dinner needs to determine the formality, the location, invitation list, and the design of the invitations. The dinner and invitations should never outshine the wedding invitations, but should rather complement the wedding invitation.This is the most asked question. Because of our ever-changing culture, traditional rehearsal rules may not apply to the couple getting married. For example: traditional etiquette  states, the rehearsal  dinner,  and party are hosted (paid  for) by the parents of the groom. However, in today’s culture, many couples marry later in life and can afford a more elaborate rehearsal than their elderly parents can afford.

Or perhaps it is the couple’s second marriage, so the couple pays for their own rehearsal dinner and party. It is also acceptable for a relative or friend to host the rehearsal dinner. Some traditional etiquette rules that still apply: The rehearsal dinner is held the night before the wedding, regardless of when the wedding rehearsal is held. The rehearsal dinner can be in a private home, country club or even at a restaurant, usually in a private room. The dress code can vary, but it is never more elegant than the wedding reception. On the list of invitees you traditionally invite: The parents, grandparents, siblings and their spouses, spouses of the parents (if they remarried), the clergyman and the entire wedding party. The children of the bride and groom are also  invited if they are not too young. Invitations beyond this list are completely up to the couple and the hosts as the list and expense can grow out of control. Rehearsal dinner toasts are said during dinner, not after dinner.

Traditionally, the toasts begin with the serving of the first course. The host, usually the groom's father, welcomes the guests and thanks the bride's parents for hosting the wedding. The best man makes a toast, and then the father of the bride's responds with his own good wishes, followed by the groom, the groomsmen, and a bridesmaid or two. Where To Buy Max Studio BeddingIn the new parameters of today's etiquette,  the  best  man makes the  first toast, because the couple, not the groom’s parents, hosts the  rehearsal. How To Change A Bath Tap ValveAlso, guests may participate in giving toasts to the couple, and it's not even unusual for the bride or her mother to add a few words.Best Concrete Running Shoes 2014 About gifts: The rehearsal  dinner is the perfect time for the bride and groom to present their wedding party with well thought-out thank-you gifts.

This creates a less formal but more memorable wedding party gift-giving gathering. The best way to give a gift in today’s world is online; it is efficient and manageable for all parties involved. However, the rehearsal is also an acceptable time to give a gift. Giving a gift at the wedding is a difficult task for someone to schlep it from the wedding back to the couples home and hope they do not break the gift or loose the attached gift card. The rehearsal dinner is a perfect way to have your family and close friends to meet one another. I realize this can create unwanted drama, but in today’s modern families we are learning more than ever to get along with one another, despite family differences or previous broken marriages. This will help in assuring that the wedding day and rehearsal can be happy memories for the couple starting out their life together. Joy Weaver is a renowned etiquette expert, speaker, and author of “Just Ask Joy… How to Be Socially Savvy in All Situations”—a book highly endorsed by Jean and Zig Ziglar.

Joy represents designer Joseph Ribkoff and is a regular guest on ABC’s Good Morning Texas. Her clients vary in range from corporate giants such as Raytheon, Sprint and Balfour Construction to Junior Leagues and National Charity Leagues across the nation. Joy is nationally published and has been featured on ABC’s The View, in the Associated Press, New York Times, USA Today, Southern Living Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and The Dallas Business Journal. Protocol Enterprises/Just Ask Joy is based in Dallas and has served clients across the country since 2000. Read the latest issue of Affluent via our digital flipbook. Click here to get started. Follow Affluent Magazine on Twitter Like Affluent Magazine on Facebook Affluent MagazineFeatured RSS FeedTraditions are part of the Italian culture, days like Christmas, Easter, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Births and of course Weddings have their own traditions. All countries in the world have a variety of customs and traditions and of course Italy is not an exception to this.

Italian traditions regarding weddings are so intriguing because they vary from region to region, even if the nicest are respected everywhere. Couples wishing to get married in Italy in the tradition of their ancestors or at least introduce elements from their cultural backgrounds. Step by step here follow the most important traditions of a wedding. Nowadays a man proposes to a woman directly giving her a ring with a diamond which is a symbol of the eternity of love, a promise to marry, a first step towards a life together and this promise is then traditionally sealed with a romantic kiss. Engagement rings date back to medieval ages and are now one of the most common traditions all over the world. From this moment on the couple can be considered officially engaged. This is not part of the Italian tradition like in other cultures, what happens is that the couple organizes a meeting with both their families to allow them to know each other if this has not happened before and then announce their wish to share a family life.

'Hen' or bachelorette parties are a recent innovation that started in America in the 1970s. In Italy these parties are an opportunity to have a nice dinner and fun with friends, even the ones who are not invited to the Wedding. A night out with friends that usually happens one or two weekends before the wedding. An Italian bride spends the night before the wedding at her parent's house. Some wear green because it is said that brings good fortune. The Bride is not supposed to wear any gold on her wedding day apart from her wedding ring, it is considered bad luck. Bride has to wear something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and something she has received as a gift. It is rude for anyone other than the Bride to wear white. Black dresses are becoming more and more popular because considered really elegant especially for an afternoon wedding. The Groom must not see the Bride before the wedding ceremony, he is at the altar with his witness and waits till the Bride steps in accompanied by her father who will then "give her away".

Brides father shakes the Groom's hand, kisses her daughter and walks back to the first raw of benches to take place next to the Bride's mother. This is more common with Catholic weddings, while for a civil wedding Bride and Groom arrive together to the Wedding Hall accompanied by family and friends. 
In some regions Bride and Groom walk together to the Church, in other regions the Groom brings the bouquet of flowers to the wedding or even carries a piece of iron in his pocket. Rice is thrown at the couple coming out of the Church or wedding hall to symbolize a shower of fertility. All guests approach and congratulate the newlyweds outside the wedding venue. In some regions in Italy Bride and Groom have to cut a log in two with a double handle saw after the wedding. This symbolizes the couple's partnership in marriage. Another nice tradition is tying a ribbon in front of the church. The ribbon represents the bride and groom 'tying the knot'. Wedding receptions follow the ceremony, guests keep same dresses.

Guests arrive before the wedding couple at the restaurant. The waiters offer them some aperitifs while they wait for the arrival of the spouses from their photo tour. Many funny moments are organized at an Italian Wedding despite main activity is still eating a lot of delicious and genuine food accompanied by the best wines, Limoncello and liquors. Often during the banquet, guests bang glasses with spoons to encourage the Bride and Groom to kiss several times. At some weddings, particularly in Northern Italy, the best man cuts the groom's tie into little pieces. The pieces are then put onto a tray and sold to the guests. Bride and Groom go from table to table, greeting and chatting with every guests, so everyone feels welcomed. At some point friends of the couple sneak away to play tricks in the new couple's house (they put itching powder in the bed, fishes in the bathtub, hide shoes...), others organize practical jokes for the couple. It is customarily that the Bride throws her bouquet to the single ladies attending the banquet.