welcome dinner and after reception questions!!

latinagyrl_2001 · August 2011

We're having our wedding on Oct. 21, 2011 which lands on a friday and most of our guest will be arriving on thursday. I had posted in my website that we wanted to do a luau as a group-sorta like a welcome dinner for everyone, however, it seems like none of my guests are really interested in possibly spending more money than what they are already are for the luau. one of my bridesmaid suggested it would be better if we just did a welcome party over drinks or dinner at a restaurant instead to be able to catch up with everyone and be able to talk instead of watching a show..so my question is does anyone know of a restaurant/lounge where there is good food and drinks that is not too expensive near the Hyatt Maui Regency Spa & resort in Ka'anapali area?? Also after the dinner reception which will be held at the resort's restaurant, is there any lounges/bars/restaurants in which they have dancing or music so we could continue the party since everything will probably end around 10pm??? I need to find out soon of places so i could let people know of the events!! any recommendations are welcomed!!!

jessj336 · August 2011

I have heard Kimo's in Lahaina mentioned by a few knotties in the past for a welcome happy hour/dinner. Duke's Beachhouse or the Hula Grill are also owned by the same people and are nice as well (Dukes's at the Honua Kai and Hula Grill is in the Whaler's Village i think) Also Timba in Lahaina has a dj and dancing and has been mentioned on the boards in the past.

Tanq&Tonic · August 2011

Different people do this differently. I'm a firm believer that if I'm asking folks to plan their travel around a get together, I should host it. However, that's definitely not the norm, and organizing non-hosted events is pretty common for DWs. You just have to know your crowd, and in this case, if it's clear they don't feel like chipping in for a luau, do something else instead.

We hosted a 2 hour cocktail party from 8-10pm the night before the wedding. This left everyone enough time to get to the island & get checked in, and gave everyone a chance to mingle and chat, and some folks to get to know each other before the next 3 days of festivities. I think hosting a BBQ on the beach or in your condo complex is another great way to do things. I would be much happier to chip in & flip some burgers than pony up $100 for a luau ticket where you can't really even talk that much.

You could also check with your hotel bar to see if they will give you a discount on some signature cocktails to help limit your bar tab if you wanted to go that route.

kaesha · August 2011

We hosted a welcome bbq at our condo too. It was cheap, easy and people had a great time.

I totally agree with Tanq - any events that you expect guests to show up for should be hosted. It's okay to do no-host optional events, but if you're asking people to spend their money, they have to have a choice in the matter and you have to be okay with people saying no.

It's possible that most people won't want to do anything the night they arrive, depending on how much time they're spending travelling and when they get in. Do you have any post wedding events planned?

spiroffnatasha · August 2011

We are hosting a cocktail hour at Duke's the night before the wedding. We are holding it during their happy hour (3-5PM) which cut costs for us and still gives people time during the day to do some activities and let's them go out on their own for dinner if they want to.

kimmykupcakes · August 2011

We are getting married on a Saturday and most of our guests are arriving on Tuesday. It gives us lots of room for all kinds of stuff.

We are hosting a welcome BBQ the Wednesday before the wedding. It will be at our MOH's condo. She offered for us to have it there so we didn't have to worry about it in our condo. There's a beach right there, too so we are inviting guests to join us at the beach before the BBQ.

The other days we have some hosted and non-hosted events. In all we will be hosting the welcome BBQ, rehearsal dinner, wedding, reception and mahalo brunch the day after the wedding. Guests also have the option of attending a luau with us and a sunset cruise, no host. But, those two things are completely up to them to attend. We of course, hope they will!

SunshinyLees · August 2011

Are you staying at the Hyatt Kaanapali? Cant wait to hear how it goes or any tips, that's where we are all staying for my Olowalu wedding next Feb!;) Good luck with the planning, I heard Timba is great for dancing!

latinagyrl_2001 · August 2011

Thanks everyone for the recommendations!! i checked out the websites for the restaurants and im hoping i could pull off a happy hour welcome party which at this point im really trying to save on costs since we're hosting the wedding's cocktail open bar, and dinner at the resorts restaurant for the reception. I am going to look into possibly making reservations at Timba for after the wedding for sure and for the welcome party im wondering if i will need to make reservations and have a "banquet menu" which really is gonna add up..! I need to start calling around i guess..

another question though: for a welcome BBQ where would i order food??? would i need to talk with the resort for them to cater? or could i have my own choice of who caters?? this is all confusing to me and starting to get a little overwhelming!!! i guess planning a destination wedding is harder than i thought!!!

welcome dinner and after reception questions!!

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