About six weeks before her wedding, Lisa emailed me. She said that she’d been talking to a recently married friend, and of course the conversation turned to wedding plans. Lisa’s friend’s biggest regret from her wedding was not having a professional photographer for her rehearsal dinner. I was a little surprised to hear this, because honestly, this wasn’t a regret I’d heard before.

But, after giving it a little thought, I could see why. Like pretty much everything related to weddings (and life in general), this one is going to vary based on personal preference, and what your rehearsal dinner plans are. If it’s a backyard barbecue in jeans and T-shirts, maybe high quality photos wouldn’t fit in.

Lisa and Jimmy’s rehearsal dinner was held at my favorite downtown Pittsburgh hotel, the Kimpton Hotel Monaco, in the Rialto Suite on the 9th floor, the space adjacent to the Biergarten. The idea was to eat inside and then mingle out on the rooftop patio. Unfortunately, the weather almost the entire night looked like this:

Inside, though, the room looked amazing! I have to say, once I’d seen this lovely setup, I started to come around to thinking having me come to document the evening was a pretty good idea. And I kept finding more reasons to think so.

So many pretty dresses!

Attending the rehearsal dinner gave me an opportunity to become familiar with Lisa & Jimmy’s family members. While I’m quite used to showing up on a wedding day and quickly figuring out who the parents and siblings are, I found it really helpful to get to know them the night before, so the next day I already knew who the VIPs were.

Plus… I was honored to document… and to hear… some very personal, moving speeches. I’m a firm believer in telling people what they mean to you, and speeches are one of those times that people truly speak from the heart. It’s pure connection. I’m very happy that Lisa & Jimmy have these photos to help them remember the lovely things their family members had to share.

Best of all… the rain did stop long enough for us to get a photo of the happy couple out on the rooftop! Thank you Pittsburgh weather!

So, should you have a photographer for your rehearsal dinner? Maybe you should! If this is something you’re interested in, contact me and let’s talk about it.

– Christina