Rehearsal or celebratory dinner the night before

Same situation - pretty much 90% of our guests are traveling from out of state. We are definitely having a Welcome party. Nothing over the top, just big salad and either pizza or flatbread(s). No open bar either - guests will have that at our reception! 😁

I agree with your fiance - I think it's a VERY nice and generous idea but is really isn't necessary. Guests that are traveling from out of town are doing so because they can/want to, not because they're expecting TWO parties from you guys! Rehearsal dinners are usually for the immediate family / anyone who will be walking down the aisle, as you practice your cues and then go for dinner after. If you feel like it's the right thing to do, then do it!

I think the rehearsal dinner for those who are at the actual rehearsal (plus spouses, significant others, etc.) and then a welcome dinner/ hang out is the way to go if you want to do something with your out of town guests before the wedding. We're in a similar situation, and if we invited everyone coming from out of town, we'd essentially be hosting a second reception.

In our social circle rehearsal dinner is for those who rehearse and the immediate family (parents, siblings and so's). While it is kind to include anyone who has traveled into town for the wedding if you do that I think you must include everyone who has traveled picking and choosing certain guests could hurt feelings. If you have a lot of out of town guests though it could easily turn into a 2nd reception. I d probably just leave it as the bridal party and immediate family. If you wanted to you could have sandwich platters or pizza sent over to the hotel. Our rehearsal dinner is the night before the wedding and we are trying to keep it small and casual mainly because I want to be in bed at an early hour, need all the beauty rest I can get haha . Most of our out of town guest aren't arriving until the morning of the wedding, the hotel has a free breakfast and we are giving each guest a welcome bag stocked with snacks and waters. Aside from the wedding reception we will not be providing any other meals for the guests it gets way too pricey quickly! Best of luck to you.

We also called ours a welcome dinner because we saw it as anyone who traveled across state lines to celebrate with us deserves to spend more time with us than just the wedding day. We had our rehearsal and the wedding party met us for the dinner. Traveling guests who were not in the wedding were invited to meet us at the restaurant in time for dinner.

It's really a matter of personal preference. We included all out of town guests in our rehearsal dinner but it definitely had more of a casual "welcome dinner" vibe. Heavy appetizer stations instead of a plated meal, and beer, wine, and champagne only instead of an open bar. Even though roughly 60% of our wedding guests attended, it didn't feel like a second wedding. It felt like a pre-celebration and it was a lot of fun. It's totally not required to invite out of town guests though.

Hi! i am doing something similar to exactly what you described. how did you invite guests to the welcome dinner / word the invitation?

We included a separate "details" insert in the invitation suite for the out of town guests, which included information about our welcome dinner, farewell brunch, and the hotel block. It worked out well!