Your wedding day is one of the most important days in your life, but there are several wedding-related events that are also meaningful and celebrated. Please note none of the events are mandatory, but in case you’re wondering what other festivities can happen during your wedding season, see below.
Engagement Party
Whether is happens the night of the proposal or a few months later (which is typically the case), the event generally includes immediate family members and close friends and/or friends and relatives who helped coordinate the proposal, if the engagement party is the same day as the proposal.
Wedding Shower
This event is typically done during the day and hosted by wedding party members or non-immediate family members (aunts, cousins, etc.), but anyone can host this event. It usually occurs a few months before the wedding day, and sometimes there are more than one shower to accommodate different groups of people.
Bachelor or Bachelorette Party
This is traditionally separate events for the couple, although joint parties have become more common, but it occurs with the couple’s favorite people about a month or two before the wedding day. What was once a night of fun has now turned into a weekend long vacation to out-of-state locations and even international destinations.
Rehearsal Dinner or Welcome Party
This event usually occurs one or two nights before the wedding and typically takes place after the ceremony rehearsal. It’s common for the couple’s wedding party, family members and close friends to be invited to the event. The main difference between a rehearsal dinner and welcome party is, if a couple has a destination wedding and majority of the guests are travelling in for the wedding, it’s a nice gesture to have a welcome party for all of the guests after or in lieu of a rehearsal dinner as a thank you for their travel efforts.
After Party
It’s becoming more popular to keep the party going after the wedding reception following all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, so for couples who don’t want the party to end when the reception concludes, they can keep the festivities going by hosting an after party at their venue (if they allow overtime), bar or other location for their late-night wedding guests.
Day After Meal
This event takes place in the morning or afternoon the day after the wedding, however hosting an early breakfast or brunch may be asking a lot from guests if they stayed out late for the reception or after party. A popular version of this has been a grab-and-go meal for a few hours. This way the couple can see their guests as they bid farewell, and guests can pop in to grab a bite without all the formalities. This event is as intimate or as large as the couple wants it to be.
Honeymoon or Mini Moon
Every wedding-related event above includes guests in one way or another, but a celebration that’s equally important and is solely for the couple is a honeymoon or mini moon. Some couples choose to have a full out honeymoon right after their wedding weekend, while others plan a mini moon, or smaller trip, first and take a bigger vacation on their one year wedding anniversary. If there isn’t time to travel after the wedding day, planning a nice dinner for two or doing a staycation are other options.
Weddings are an exciting and happy time in couples’ lives, so there’s a lot that can be celebrated pre and post wedding day.
Thursday, June 30, 2022
