How to Plan the Ultimate Wedding Welcome Party

At its core, a welcome party serves as the initial opportunity to greet guests for the wedding celebrations to come. "I think of the welcome party as a 'wedding-warm up,'" says wedding planner Sara Landon. It's also a time when couples can get creative with their overall vision, opting to throw unique events that can take many forms.

For instance, many couples choose to host this affair as a way to replace a traditional rehearsal dinner, while others prefer to tack it on to the end of their rehearsal as an extended party. You can also hold a rehearsal dinner on a Thursday night, a welcome party on Friday, and the actual wedding on Saturday. What's more, your event can be a chic, simple gathering with cocktails and/or dessert or a more interactive affair with games and a DJ spinning all night long.

With so many options to mix and match, it's no wonder why welcome parties have become a wedding itinerary mainstay. And for those interested in hosting this event for their own nuptials, here, you'll find expert advice on how to incorporate a welcome party into your wedding weekend.

How to Plan a Wedding Welcome Party

Customarily, a welcome party will typically take place the day before the wedding, but as mentioned above, the timing in which you throw your event can vary based on your personal preferences. Nevertheless, regardless of when you choose to schedule your soirée, it will require a bit of work and attention to detail, no matter where it's held. And to help you put all the pieces together, keep reading below for several important tips to follow when hosting the ultimate celebration.

Create the Vision

"The first step in planning a wedding welcome party is to find out what impression you want to lead with for your guests," says Landon. "The direction may be dictated by cultural elements, what you love, hate, and dream, etc. That’s where we start." Most importantly, though, make sure the welcome party represents who you are as a couple. It’s the first introduction to the weekend and sets the tone for the celebration.

Put Together the Guest List

Welcome parties are a great way for guests to meet and make friends before the wedding, so be sure to invite as many people as you can. "The welcome party serves the purpose of breaking the conversational ice so that the wedding day will feel more like a warm meeting of friends," explains Landon. Your guest list will also help you find and settle on a location that can accommodate your count.

Mind the Details

Be sure to make a list of all the nitty-gritty details to keep yourself on task and on budget. "The most commonly overlooked items for a welcome party are audio and visual, such as entertainment and/or microphones for toasts," notes Landon. "If you are an intimate group of people, you likely do not need amplification. However, 50-plus people in a room make more noise than you might think. Plan for success, no one wants to miss the punchline."

Additionally, if you're having a destination wedding, you'll need to factor in arrival details when planning out a timeline. "The welcome party is intended to welcome everyone to your celebration," says Landon. "If you are planning a destination wedding, then you should schedule the welcome party for the day guests are set to arrive." Take into account all the travel details, including hotel check-in and time zone changes, so you can pad in some time for everyone to get settled and rest before the party.

Decide What to Serve

The fare you offer guests—and how you choose to present it—will help set the vibe of the event. "If you are planning to invite all of the guests to the welcome party and make it a dinner, then do something different than the wedding," says Landon. "If the wedding is a formal plated dinner, think about stations, family-style, or a buffet." On the other hand, if the welcome fête is following a rehearsal dinner, serve one-bite hors d'oeuvres or sweets for a dessert reception, and have them passed around on trays or arranged on an accessible buffet.

While making menu picks, keep in mind that the goal is for guests to easily mix and mingle. This is also a great opportunity to have some fun and feature local cuisine or favored items that may have clashed with the aesthetic of the wedding itself.

Add Activities

Sure, a cocktail party can certainly suffice as the welcome event, or you can kick things up a notch and incorporate an activity to get friends and family interacting. From setting up boat rides on yachts to group excursions to cultural elements like a sangeet for Indian weddings or a Shabbat dinner for Jewish nuptials, the possibilities are endless. "Fireworks are a classic trend making a comeback," notes Landon. "It is also trending to incorporate exciting entertainment, such as a small, retro band playing covers of modern songs, or a food truck of your favorite desserts."  

Find the Right Wording for Your Invites

Once you've planned the celebration, see to designing the invitations and inserts or finding the right wording for the wedding website. Use festive colors and creative verbiage to reflect any theme or activity. Also, make sure the invites convey everything guests need to know, in order to prepare for the cool events you've planned. Be as descriptive as you can, including clothing and footwear suggestions, area maps, and any phone numbers or websites that might be useful to guests when planning their time.

Have an Exit Strategy

While the welcome party will undoubtedly be an exciting kickoff event, remember that it's only the beginning of a very whirlwind schedule. "Always have an exit strategy so you can get a good night’s sleep before the wedding," advises Landon. "Hair and makeup will be knocking on your door bright and early, and we want you to look and feel your best."

Welcome Party Planning Etiquette Rules

Though there are no set rules to follow when planning a welcome party, there are a few things to keep in mind when hosting this event. To start, when deciding whom to invite (especially for couples hosting a destination wedding where everyone will have to travel), couples should choose to include the entire group as a warm gesture of gratitude. "If you are a more low-key couple, then invite your families and bridal party to an intimate dinner then move on to a bar or more lively location with friends and extended guests," suggests Landon. "You should choose a different location for the two, so you don’t have an awkward overlap should the dinner run long."

Food and beverages should also be provided if the rehearsal dinner and welcome party overlap. However, Landon notes that it is acceptable to provide either food or drinks for a welcome event that is separate from a more intimate dinner.

As for décor, the aesthetic is entirely up to you, whether you lean toward a megawatt moment or err on the more casual side. "I like to plan welcome parties in locations with a lot of character and play into the surroundings, especially if you and your guests have traveled to celebrate," says Landon. "The wedding is the place to really represent who you are as a couple. If you’ve chosen a destination, use the ambiance for greater impact."

Lastly, this is the perfect time to schedule any toasts that might be spilling over from other events like the rehearsal dinner or wedding reception. "If you come from a more modern family with parents who all want to speak, keep the parent toasts on the wedding day, as they are likely hosting the celebration," advises Landon. "And let friends control the welcome party." In regards to the order of the speeches, the rules of etiquette deem that the host speaks first.