Hosting something the day before for OOT guests?

goobersinlove

I know what I'm talking about is normally called the rehersal dinner. However, since we have such a small, simple wedding and no bridal party there is no need for a rehersal, so initially I was thinking we were off the hook for a rehersal dinner.

But now I'm rethinking the concept. My family and roughly 30% of our guest list is flying 3,000 miles from the west coast to attend our wedding and I want to welcome and receive them in a way that goes beyond a basket in their hotel room.

Our wedding is on a Sunday, so FI and I are trying to come up with an activity or something for all of our OOTers on Saturday to mingle and spend some extra time with us since we don't get to see them that often, without going over the top since we are on a budget already. I wish we could just cook for them at our place... but our 600sq ft apartment wouldn't exactly work for that.

On another note - am I being too ambitious? I like to think that our wedding is really simple and that I won't have much to do the day before (ceremony on Sunday is at 5:00pm). Am I going to be biting off more I can chew?

klkasych

Our wedding is a saturday, but most of our guests are out of town, too. We want to be able to spend as much time relaxing with our family and friends as possible since they all live so far away. We are hosting a "welcome party" Friday night in lieu of a true rehearsal dinner. It's basically just a big cookout. I've had people say "well then what's the point of a reception if everyone is going to be there the night before?" It's not everyone, just out of town and immediate family. Who cares if there are two parties? One is casual, and a time for us to spend time relaxing with people we love; the other is more formal and celebrates our new life together!

goobersinlove

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_pre-wedding-parties_hosting-something-day-before-oot-guests?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:32Discussion:5c78b17f-ab63-4717-a12d-d539242efef2Post:68b49cd9-38a2-4576-b3d1-66aab2daa7a8">Re: Hosting something the day before for OOT guests?</a>:
[QUOTE]Our wedding is a saturday, but most of our guests are out of town, too. We want to be able to spend as much time relaxing with our family and friends as possible since they all live so far away. We are hosting a "welcome party" Friday night in lieu of a true rehearsal dinner. It's basically just a big cookout. I've had people say "well then what's the point of a reception if everyone is going to be there the night before?" It's not everyone, just out of town and immediate family. Who cares if there are two parties? One is casual, and a time for us to spend time relaxing with people we love; the other is more formal and celebrates our new life together!
Posted by klkasych[/QUOTE]

Love it! This is exactly what I was thinking. Just making sure I wasn't crazy for wanting something like this.

Now we'll just need to figure out a venue for our "welcome party," but we are two years out yet so I'm not worried about it yet. At this point, I just wanted to factor it into our budget at the very least. 

If you don't mind my asking, how much are you spending on your welcome party (and approx. how many people)? I realize my scenario is likely to be different, but I'm just curious.

EDIT: P.S., and I noticed you're from upstate too! Whereabouts? We're in Clifton Park and getting married in Saratoga.

GreenEire

We had a catered picnic the day before our wedding for OOTers.  The pavilion cost $60 to rent the entire day and we got food from Fazoli's, so it didn't cost much.

Hbananas12

We are doing the same thing...only thinking about having our rehearsal dinner out of the way 2 nights before the wedding (which takes place on a Saturday) and the get together for out of town family and friends the night before when they get in. It's important to show them you appreciate the fact that they came out and we are just going to order pizza and have a pizza party type of thing with salad at our church. That way we can get a chance to visit with them before they leave and we leave on our honeymoon.

stefaniewattie

Our wedding is on a Saturday and most of our OOT guests are coming in on the Thursday, WP the Tuesday or Wednesday.
We are hosting a waterpark party on the Friday before the wedding for our OOT guests (and any guest that wants to attend!) at the World Waterpark at West Edmonton Mall, as it is a tourist attraction and most of our OOT guests have never been! And FI and I used to go there alot when we were dating, so its sentimental. So we are doing that, white bikini and all! haha. Most of our friends are just as excited for that as they are the wedding. Then after that we would be off to our rehearsal and very casual rehearsal dinner..pizza and beer  kind of a fun way to blow off some steam with our loved ones who have come so far for us, before the big day.

MyUserName1

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_pre-wedding-parties_hosting-something-day-before-oot-guests?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:32Discussion:5c78b17f-ab63-4717-a12d-d539242efef2Post:68b49cd9-38a2-4576-b3d1-66aab2daa7a8">Re: Hosting something the day before for OOT guests?</a>:
[QUOTE]Our wedding is a saturday, but most of our guests are out of town, too. We want to be able to spend as much time relaxing with our family and friends as possible since they all live so far away. We are hosting a "welcome party" Friday night in lieu of a true rehearsal dinner. It's basically just a big cookout. I've had people say "well then what's the point of a reception if everyone is going to be there the night before?" It's not everyone, just out of town and immediate family. Who cares if there are two parties? One is casual, and a time for us to spend time relaxing with people we love; the other is more formal and celebrates our new life together!
Posted by klkasych[/QUOTE]

<div>This is basically what we are doing too.  I think about 80% of our guest list is invited to this too.  This way we get to spend more time with our out of town friends and family!</div>