Welcome Party ideas

max&lucy

Hi ladies

FI and I are wanting to offer some food and drinks - nothing too formal - to our guests on the Friday before our Sunday wedding since so many are out of towners. Any ideas on something fun but not crazy expensive? I am not super picky in terms of location. I already tried Rock N Bowl and Southport Hall which were both booked

Other ideas would be much appreciated!
Thanks!

Queen Jane

We did a bar crawl the Friday before our Sunday wedding. Everyone was from OOT and it was the perfect way for our different friend groups to meet. We picked 4 of our favorite bars, planned a route and a loose "schedule" of what times we were aiming for. We even planned to-go drinks for the longest stretch of the walk. It was a lot of fun.

NOLAbridealmost

There's a brand new Italian Pie on Prytania and it is GORGEOUS (they renovated a huge mansion).  They do 3 for 1 well drinks, house wines, and draft beer on Friday nights and the food is really good for a very reasonable price.  Maybe something like that would work?

NolaWhit

We had quite a few guests that arrived early, and my in-laws hosted a casual welcome party at Voodoo BBQ on St. Charles. My H loves Voodoo and wanted to have our rehearsal dinner there. FIL wanted something nicer so he compromised and did the welcome party there.

alyss21mom

My daughter is doing hers at Tujacques

max&lucy

Thanks, ladies - I am still investigating, but these are all great ideas

mnols

For those who have had them at places in the French Quarter, were you able to get everything for a reasonal price?  We're also looking to do a welcome party on Friday night with drinks and some basic hors d'ouevres for 2 hours and it seems like the lowest price I can get is upwards of $40 per person.

Kristina CT

We are doing ours at Napoleon House.  My honest opinion is that it isn't the greatest spot (their upstairs room that is - downstairs is awesome), when we visited the upstairs last month we were really put off by (a) the dusty-ness of the whole place, (b) white linens covering everything (made us question how often is it used), and (c) some of the chairs were stained.  Our deposit was non-refundable so that is that and we are sucking it up.  However, where they have been good is in their responding to my correspondence and flexibility, major points for that.  I originally gave them a budget of $25 per person and they met it.  They were going to do 2 hours - inclusive of house wine, bud light/coors light, one signature cocktail (pimms cup) and 2 types of hors d'oeuvres.  I've since upped the package to a $39 package which is full open bar and 8 hors d'oeuvres for 3 hours.  They are also letting us bring in dessert with no plate charge, and have met our request for a special hors d'oeuvre that isn't on the options they give you (no upcharge).

My point is, if you are truly on a strict budget, you may want to reach out to them and see if they can work within your range.  Speak to Vivian.  

Let me know if you have any questions

Kristina CT

We are doing ours at Napoleon House.  My honest opinion is that it isn't the greatest spot (their upstairs room that is - downstairs is awesome), when we visited the upstairs last month we were really put off by (a) the dusty-ness of the whole place, (b) white linens covering everything (made us question how often is it used), and (c) some of the chairs were stained.  Our deposit was non-refundable so that is that and we are sucking it up.  However, where they have been good is in their responding to my correspondence and flexibility, major points for that.  I originally gave them a budget of $25 per person and they met it.  They were going to do 2 hours - inclusive of house wine, bud light/coors light, one signature cocktail (pimms cup) and 2 types of hors d'oeuvres.  I've since upped the package to a $39 package which is full open bar and 8 hors d'oeuvres for 3 hours.  They are also letting us bring in dessert with no plate charge, and have met our request for a special hors d'oeuvre that isn't on the options they give you (no upcharge).

My point is, if you are truly on a strict budget, you may want to reach out to them and see if they can work within your range.  Speak to Vivian.  

Let me know if you have any questions