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Arlene
Devoted March 2020

Bridal Party Gathering Ideas

Arlene, on January 15, 2019 at 5:46 PM Posted in Planning 0 25

Hi Wedding wire Fam!


So We have our bridal party set its pretty big. 7 & 7 on each side plus a jr bridesmaid however for this I did feel I wanted our bridal party to meet and greet before the wedding. They all live out of county and far away and not everyone knows each other. The 2 weddings I was in last year I love how the bridal party was so close and loving towards one another because we met ahead of time or knew eachother and it made the whole wedding process even more exciting. I have 4 out of 7 girls that are out of town and 5 out of 7 boys are out of town. So we want to do something outside the engagement party and bridal party and outside the bachelor and bachlorette parties where it is just all of us bridal party only to enjoy meet and just say thank you to them for being a part of our day and standing by our side. Our families are all so huge so at every event we will all be there but I just want something bridal party onlyy and we do not have any clue or idea what to do? BBQ at the house maybe? or something fun just to say thank you. Our engagement party/coed bridal party will be a dinner so I am trying to think outside of the box.

Anyone ever do this or have any ideas?


25 Comments

Latest activity by Arlene, on January 18, 2019 at 4:07 PM
  • B
    Super May 2019
    B11 ·
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    If you’re having an engagement party, that can be a place for everyone to meet. I’m never a fan of these forced meet and greets for the bridal parties.
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  • L
    Savvy September 2019
    Latonya ·
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    Maybe a Brunch? Game night? Or spa day.
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  • Courtney
    Master December 2019
    Courtney ·
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    We're having a meet and greet as well for our wedding party. Some of our people are out of town or don't hang out in the same circles so this will be a great way everyone to put a face with a name.

    And nothing too fancy, just a relaxed BBQ at our house.

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  • Arlene
    Devoted March 2020
    Arlene ·
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    Yea I understand, I wish that would could be the case however both of us have huge families and so much going on that I want it to be more intimiate with the bridal party which is why we want to do something outside of the engagement party. People's kids my son and everything going on will just make it harder.

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  • Arlene
    Devoted March 2020
    Arlene ·
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    I like that for game night.

    That is a good idea. to have everyone be at the house and stuff, I am having our videographer incorporate them in our wedding movie as well as everyone who is in the bridal party really is part of our lives in an amazing way and we want to give them a thank you shoutout during the video that my FH and videographer are planning.

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  • Arlene
    Devoted March 2020
    Arlene ·
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    Nice!! Yea I think we will plan the same. Something intimate and enjoyable. BBQ or something at the house.

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  • Megan
    VIP January 2019
    Megan ·
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    Our wedding party was from all over the place and didn’t really know each other. The day before the wedding we took them all out to lunch and then hung at our house until the rehearsal dinner. They ended up super bonding and hung out without us after the wedding and dinner and had a blast!
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  • MrsD
    Legend July 2019
    MrsD ·
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    For the 2 weddings you were in last year, did they do some type of event like this? Or did people just already know each other? If I was a bridesmaid and the bride & groom wanted me to go to the engagement party, bridal shower, bachelorette party & an additional day to meet the groomsmen & other bridesmaids, I would be pretty stressed unless I lived within 10 minutes of her. Everyone will bond at the engagement party & shower & bachelorette. You could always offer to host a meet & greet BBQ but I'd just be prepared for some people not being able to attend all events.

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  • Danielle
    Master June 2019
    Danielle ·
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    It is nice to have your bridal party meet and greet, but I do think it will be difficult with so many of them being out of town. You run the risk of "asking too much of them," if you do another separate event just for this. We used our engagement party to do this. I feel like your engagement party would be a good way to accomplish this, since everyone lives out of town. If they lived closer, it would be more feasible to have a separate bridal party meet and greet.

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  • FutureMrsKC
    Master January 2019
    FutureMrsKC ·
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    My bridesmaids really don't know each other and live in different states. They will all officially meet at the rehearsal dinner, and I don't see a problem with that. They're all pretty outgoing, easy to get along with, and I didn't want to ask them to travel down for a party to meet people that they will likely never talk to again after the wedding. Wasn't worth the travel money and days off work, to me.

    I was in a wedding last fall where I didn't know anyone and honestly it was fine. We all got along just fine on the wedding day and we were all "friends" by the end of the night. If its too hard for them to come to town then I wouldn't stress it.

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  • JustKidding
    VIP April 2018
    JustKidding ·
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    I agree with this. If I lived out of state, this would cause me added stress and I would decline.

    My bridal party did just fine not meeting before my shower. They talked without me doing some grand thing to put them together. Most people are adults and know how to function as one.

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  • Arlene
    Devoted March 2020
    Arlene ·
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    They are not out of state, and I am aware they are adults but it also has nothing to do with just meeting each other when majority of them do. I am filipino and my family is MASSIVE more than anyone can imagine, we want to celebrate and thank our bridal party in an intimate smaller occasion. Being aroud my family plus his at the engagement party and the wedding is HUGE. Not sure why my bridal party would decline feeling stressed going over to our house? When they come over all the time to visit just all at different times so having 1 specific time frame to drink enjoy and have fun shouldn't stress them. If I felt they felt stressed to come over to say hi which they do already, then I would reconsider them in my bridal party.

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  • Arlene
    Devoted March 2020
    Arlene ·
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    I understand,

    I honestly think my post might of been confusing to most.

    I am not doing this to have them get along, I KNOW they will get along for the sake of my family and my friends already know each other and my friends already know my FHs and family does too. For the most part someone knows a good amount, as stated before my family is MASSIVE more than anyone can imagine. We want a more intimate gathering to say thank you. This actually would of happened on my FH birthday 2 weeks ago but I was sick and everyone loves to visit and pops up at the house to stop by all the time when in town, I do not think it would upset anyone if I invited them over.

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  • Arlene
    Devoted March 2020
    Arlene ·
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    You're right thats why I planned to do something all at once for just them. I have family out of town yes but I also have a large family. My grandma had 14 kids on my moms side and you can imagine the craziness from there. We have family parties left and right so the people out of town are always in and out and same with my friends on all occasions. If they all plan to stop by see me my mom and my son for different occasions I thought it was best to find a day where they can all stop by the same.

    My post was not to ask if I should do it, it was to ask what I should do.

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  • FutureMrsKC
    Master January 2019
    FutureMrsKC ·
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    Typically you say thank you at the rehearsal dinner when you give them their "thank you" gifts and maybe a little speech to say how much they mean to you. I don't think you need a day to do this over a year before your wedding when at this point they probably haven't done much.

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  • Arlene
    Devoted March 2020
    Arlene ·
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    I apologize everyone if this post was worded in correctly.

    My bridal party from what I know has no problem coming over and would not stress.

    Fun Fact my family is bigger than most can imagine, family parties happen every weekend mostly. These people out of town slide through on most, my friends come over all the time. I have play dates all the time, my FHs groomsmen visit all the time. I know they would enjoy all of us together as we had planned a suprise party for my FH but me and my step son got very sick so we canceld and everyone was very sad and still trying to come stop by. My post was not to ask if this would be a good idea because I know it would and I know the people love to get together which is why we picked such a good group. I apologize to all if I wrote it in a very confusing manner!

    I just wanted ideas of what we could do and try to think outside of the box for this

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  • Arlene
    Devoted March 2020
    Arlene ·
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    Majority of them have and considering with my mother ill in the hospital and alot of them stepping up to ask or help, they have done alot. They deserve it. The time of having my wedding be over a year to me doesn't define the stuff they have done for us as not only friends but as a bridal party. We actually do not care to ask them for ANYTHING as a bridal party but as friends, they are amazing and as family. Yea a reharsal dinneru and a thank you is nice but I believe they deserve more and we will give it. Like wedding wire shows, everyone is different and we plan to do something special for them.

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  • earias
    Champion December 2017
    earias ·
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    Exactly this. The rehearsal dinner is exactly what this is for. It is supposed to be an intimate dinner where the bride and groom thank their wedding party with a little speech and a gift for each member.

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  • Arlene
    Devoted March 2020
    Arlene ·
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    You are right but my rehearsal dinnner will be them plus my family and his.

    I am filipino so I am having sponsors/ god parents walk. My rehearsal dinner won't be just them but a good amount of my family who is helping set up. So instead of the 14 of them for the dinner, I am looking at over 30 with others included to join.

    my family and culture isn't traditional, we are filipino and he is black we have different traditions in it which will include more family to attend the dinner. It just takes away the intimacy of the bridal party and feels like a regular family gathering which defeats the whole purpose.

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  • Arlene
    Devoted March 2020
    Arlene ·
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    Hi everyone ty for your input, I asked for advice on what to do not if I should do it.

    Ty but if the advice is to question why or why not to do it, then I think I won't respond but ty for your input! I just wanted fun ideas on what to do as a group outside typical brunch idea.

    Ty thoughSmiley heart

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