At last, the much-anticipated day has finally come.
You’re gonna get married soon! However, that won’t happen right away.
There’s still so much to do first, and you’ve all only just arrived.
In fact, this isn’t even the wedding itself that we’re talking about.
You’ll need to meet and greet everyone before all that, right?
After all, they’ve all taken time off and come all the way out here to see you get married.
So, put on a nice little wedding welcome party to show them how much you appreciate them for attending. 🙂
Note: This is not the same as your reception.
Determine The Date
This party can start when you want it to and end when you want it to.
You can start in the morning, the afternoon, or even the evening, and you can wrap things up as early or late as you desire.
However, you do need to have a specific and stated schedule for the event.
This gives you and everyone else the ability to arrange your day around the event and not have to worry about staying out too late or anything like that.
After all, the wedding is still coming up.
So, you don’t want to get carried away and lose sleep.
You’ll want to be fresh and well-rested on your wedding day.
Decide Who’s In
In other words, write out the guest list.
You don’t necessarily need to invite every single person who will be at your wedding.
And frankly, some of them probably won’t be able to show up to both for one reason or another.
That being said, do still invite as many people as is feasible for you because the wedding welcome party is an opportunity for guests who don’t know each other yet to meet and mingle.
These people might not have ever met or communicated before, but they’ll now be connected through the two of you getting married.
How cool is that?
Choose The Venue
Depending on how much money you want to spend/save and what sorts of deals you can negotiate, you may or may not want to utilize the same venue you’re using for your ceremony.
But if you can’t work out some sort of deal with the owner of your wedding venue, you may want to just rent out a normal event space or make reservations at a restaurant.
However, remember that the wedding welcome party is not meant to be as formal as the ceremony itself.
There will be a time for formalities and fancy clothes, but that time has not arrived yet.
For now, you’ll want to relax and take it easy as much as possible.
If you can, keep it casual and try to avoid overspending.
Decide On The Menu
Once again, this is not your ceremony day.
You’ll get there, but you’re not there just yet.
So, be patient and don’t feel like you have to impress everyone with luxurious culinary delicacies.
Instead, lean toward ensuring that everyone gets enough to fill up and feel well-nourished.
Rather than those tiny food art pieces you’ll see at 5-star restaurants, you’ll get more bang for your buck with things like comfort food, BBQ, and other types of food that people gravitate toward when they’re actually hungry and trying to not be hungry anymore.
And depending on how many people you’re inviting, you might actually be able to spend less money per person while still getting excellent quality by hiring an event caterer as opposed to taking everyone to a restaurant.
Arrange Something Fun
You don’t all have to run out onto a field for an impromptu game of flag football, but it can be nice to plan for some kind of entertaining activity to get everyone up and moving around.
As anyone who has ever attended a wedding or any other type of highly formal event knows, there is usually a lot of sitting involved.
There is also frequently a great deal of trying to be still and quiet when you’re itching to do otherwise.
Depending on your budget and logistics, you might choose to hire a local Bluegrass band to come by and play a few sets live, or you may prefer to rent a bunch of lawn games, like croquet and giant chess.
Wrap It Up
We talked about this a little bit in the first section about dates and times, but let’s get more specific now.
In addition to having a clearly written start and end time on the invitations, you also need to ensure that you (or someone else) have the skills required to get everyone (or at least yourself) out of there early enough for you to get a full night’s sleep.
Remember that your wedding welcome party is only the first of a series of parts that comprise your overall wedding event.
So, don’t get carried away in the very beginning.
Pace yourself and save your energy for the big show.
Take It Easy And Have Fun
As we mentioned at the start of this article, today is not your big day.
It’s close, but it’s not here quite yet.
So, don’t feel like you need to take out a loan to impress everyone or overexert yourself to show that you’re into it.
All you need to do is make sure everyone has enough food to eat and that they’re all in a clean and safe place where they can all socialize with each other.
The whole point of a wedding welcome party is to create an environment where connections are made and lighthearted fun is had.
Keep that in mind, and you’ll be fine.
