Destination Wedding Welcome Dinner

We’re having a destination wedding in the US and I struggled initially with how to handle this too! What I’ve decided is that we are going to do our traditional rehearsal meal with wedding party, significant others + immediate family only (which is around 20 people), which we will pay for as expected, but then let all of our other attendants know that we will he at X place from 7-9 (or whatever time) if they would like to join us for drinks. A lot of people may see this as rude, but it would’ve been just as much $$ to host everyone at a welcome dinner as it will be at our reception. Just do what you’re comfortable with!

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That was my exact thought.. I don't want to pay double for a reception dinner! Thank for the tip, I may end up doing something like this!

I like the idea of inviting ppl to come join you for drinks. Are all of ur guests staying at the same resort and do all of them have the all inclusive package? If they aren’t then definitely drinks and maybe a few appetizers? also its a little less stressful than coordinating a dinner.
But if everyone already has the inclusive package (which they paid themselves) it should be easy to make a reservation at the buffet.

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Yes they are all required to stay there and it is only an all inclusive resort option - they just offer a few a la carte restaurants. Yeah, I think I might be leaning towards the buffet

If I were a guest and required to stay at an all-inclusive resort and then on top of that, had to fork over more money for a welcome dinner while wasting the money I essentially already paid for my all-inclusive dinner, needless to say I would be pretty pissed! I'd absolutely recommend doing a large reservation at the buffet restaurant at the resort. That would be a win-win because you could get the welcome dinner you were envisioning and guests will have already paid for it through their reservations

View Quoted Comment Okay then yea I agree. Place a reservation so you can all mingle and eat together

Our wedding was not a destination wedding per say. We got married in a town in between both families as my family lives in Pennsylvania and a majority of my husband's family lives in New Jersey. Both families drove about 1.5 hours to our wedding. We didn't have a welcome party, but we had an after party. We told our guests we would be going to x place (a bar) from 10 pm to approximately 12 pm and anyone that wanted to could stop by for drinks. No one expected us to buy their drinks for them. Some people even ordered snacks, but it was up to them if they wanted to buy anything. Some of our friends even bought us drinks. The next day, we had a goodbye breakfast. Originally we talked about renting out a space within our venue to host the breakfast, but it was going to be $300 to rent the room plus x amount per person for food and drinks with a minimum of 35 people. We weren't sure how many of our guests were actually planning on staying over because of a lot of them were planning on driving back home after the wedding. So we ultimately decided not to go this route because we couldn't provide our venue with a final guest count and it was getting to be a lot more money than we were comfortable spending without knowing 100% if those who said they were going to come would actually end up coming. Instead, we decided to go with another option our venue suggested. Our venue has a restaurant and every Sunday they have a breakfast buffet from 8-10:30 am for $15.95 or guests can order from their menu and pay based on what they order. We decided to tell guests we would be having breakfast there and they were welcome to stop by if they wanted breakfast before they left to go home. Everyone that decided to join us were totally fine with paying for their own food. While this might have been frowned upon, it worked for us. My brother-in-law also did something similar. His wedding was in Ohio which meant all of his family drove 7+ hours for his wedding so he wanted to have a welcome party. They had their rehearsal followed by a rehearsal dinner for his wedding party, their significant others, and immediate family. After the rehearsal dinner, they booked a room at a bar for friends and extended family to join them at. Their welcome party started at like 8:00 pm so no one was expecting to be served a dinner or anything like that. It was very casual and if people wanted food or drinks they bought it themselves.

We're having a DW also but in Jamaica. All the food, drinks (alcoholic and non alcoholic) and on resort water are all included in the room rates. This actually the reason we chose Sandals, to not add additional costs. Does your resort offer a pack for food and drinks?

If people are arriving throughout the night, you could go either way - table at the buffet, or drinks.
You might even want to book the table for a certain time, and the make sure everyone knows you've moved to the bar after a certain point. People react differently to traveling, and might not want a meal.

View Quoted Comment We are staying at an all inclusive, but they also offer some a la carte restaurants on site. I was originally thinking that would be the better option than the buffet so that everyone wasnt having the get up and down, but I'm not willing to fork over the money to pay for everyone in addition to the wedding

View Quoted Comment We've decided to have the dinner the day following everyone arriving.. this way no ones rushed and can enjoy their first day or night. But I do like the idea of seeing if you can reserve the tables for a set amount of time so guests can come and go as they wish. Thanks!

View Quoted Comment I agree. If you need to save money, skip the booze but do provide a meal.

We staying at an all inclusive resort Sandals in Jamaica and they offer perks especially if you have a certain number of rooms booked. The more rooms the more perks. One of the perks is a welcome cocktail party for your guest, or a bonfire or even a game night. I would y’all to the wedding planner for your resort and see what perks they can offer especially if you have guest that have booked with them. This is one of the reason we decided to go all inclusive instead of a villa because of the extras.

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Seconding this comment, and can't believe I forgot to mention the same thing earlier! I went to a destination wedding at an all inclusive Secrets resort, and the resort threw a complimentary welcome cocktail party the day before the wedding with fancy drinks and appetizers since the bride and groom managed to have their guests book a certain number of rooms. This is pretty common at the brand-name all inclusive resorts

View Quoted Comment Soooo, I did not think of this! Love it, thank you!

View Quoted Comment I didn't even think of this! Thank you!

View Quoted Comment Your welcome. Hope all goes amazingly 😊

Hi Kaitlin! I’m having a destination wedding in Mexico as well. We’re doing a welcome cocktail party the day after our rehearsal dinner. We’re only having the bridal party and immediate family come to the rehearsal dinner and that’s included in our package. Inviting ppl to meet you at one of the bars is an idea I see a lot of brides do as well. I wanted the private option so I went with a cocktail party plus we have 100 guests so meeting at a bar probably wouldn’t be best for us.

Hi there! Congratulations!

Since you are having a destination wedding, I would definitely recommend hosting one event other than the wedding that all guests are invited to. This is definitely an added expensive in your wedding budget, but people will really appreciate it since they traveled to see you guys get married. Plus is allows opportunity for you to connect with them more.

That being said, it doesn't need to be over the top expensive. You don't need to invite everyone to a sit down dinner. I like your idea of welcome cocktails! Maybe offer free beer and wine and some appetizers, and make it a fun theme instead of formal. We opted to do this for our destination wedding.