Welcome party/rehearsal/morning after brunch

This is totally a personal choice. For me, having another pre-wedding event would have added too much stress to an already busy time - I had lots on my plate and needed all the time I could get to make sure everything on my list got done and it was as stress-free as possible (we did do the typical rehearsal and rehearsal dinner with our parents/wedding party). The morning-after brunch made more sense for us since we could just relax and relive the day at that point. Plus, the bonus is that you can talk with your guests about the wedding and hear everyone's thoughts, experiences, etc. (Bc after your wedding all you'll want to do for the next month is talk about the wedding )

You can do whatever you want! If you want to do a welcome party for the guests that are traveling out of town then you can do like a breakfast, brunch, or lunch same day as rehearsal. I would give yourself a grace period of 3 hours at least to then prepare for your rehearsal if need be. If you feel like you want to invite them to the rehearsal dinner as well then by all means you can, but personally I would want to give that dinner to dedicate to those who are a part of and has helped in the wedding.

If you just want to have a simple brunch the day after the wedding for the family that is in town that's fine too. Maybe you can book a restaurant that is near your guys hotel? That way you don't have to travel far.
The main question is, does this fit within your budget for hosting a separate event for your family in town?

If the majority of your guests are from out of town, I think it’s nice to have a welcome party! Usually welcome parties are held the night before (just like the rehearsal dinner). You could have your rehearsal dinner with your bridal party and immediate family and then have everyone for drinks and dessert or just cocktails! You could use the same venue or go somewhere after your rehearsal dinner.

We did both! (Haha). The welcome party might have been my favorite part of the whole weekend. We had the rehearsal dinner inside the small venue (immediate family, grandparents and bridal party, which was still about 40 ppl) and the. The welcome party immediately following on the back outdoor deck! It was perfect, since all our guests were from out of town, They were already in since our ceremony was at 11am the next day. I loved that the welcome party gave me the chance to talk to everyone, since cocktail hour went so quickly the next day, but I didn’t feel worried because I knew I had already seen everyone the previous night.


We also did a drop in “coffee mimosas and snacks” on the gorgeous pool deck of our bridesmaids VRBO house on Sunday morning. We didn’t think a ton of people would show but a bunch did and it was a great way to see people before the weekend was officially over.

We are doing a Welcome Party as 80% of our guests will be flying in from out of state. It's just a simple salad, antipasto and pizza kind of deal at (hopefully) our favorite downtown Sarasota Italian restaurant. (It's too soon to book) I want to do as much as I can financially afford so that our guests have as little 'out of pocket' expense worries that may hinder their attendance. Since it's only about 50 expected guests that are nearest and dearest to us, I felt a simple welcome meal would be appreciated.

I never thought about a welcome party. Maybe I’ll think about it now

Most of our guests will be flying in on Friday night for the Saturday night wedding. We're opting to follow up our rehearsal with a welcome dinner instead of a bridal party only rehearsal dinner (though, my family typically invites all out of town guests to the rehearsal dinner, so my mom is still calling it a rehearsal dinner instead of welcome dinner). We picked a Mexican restaurant just steps away from the hotel that our block is in. We rented a private room and we'll have a buffet style set up.

For our farewell brunch, we're opting to have it at the hotel we're all staying in. Our hotel offered to let us rent one of their meeting rooms, but my mom actually reserved their largest suite so we'll be doing a come and go brunch with pastries and breakfast sandwiches in there!

It’s a personal choice. A welcome party for all guests is a recent Pinterest trend that has taken off. Typically in many circles, there is only a rehearsal dinner for those actively participating in the ceremony. Some couples go all out with that expense so it’s equivalent in price and formality to the wedding itself.. A farewell brunch is another newer trend that some people have and others don’t. A rehearsal dinner is expected if you have any bridesmaids/groomsmen but the other parties are optional based on preference and budget. There’s no right or wrong either way.