Tips & Advice
It’s almost time for your big wedding day, and there’s still a bit more to do. You’ve made it to your locale and you’re ready to welcome your guests to the spot of choice for your destination wedding. A welcome reception is a nice way to greet your guests and tell them how much you appreciate them traveling to your destination to see you walk down the aisle. So let’s talk happy hour!
A welcome reception can be as simple as drinks in the bar or as lavish as a full meal. So decide how you want to say hello and thanks, and form your welcome reception around that. It’s usually best to have your reception after the lunch hour, either as a dinner or an after-dinner party, depending on your budget. If you decide to go with a meal, the hotel can help you set up your space and you can decorate it to your own taste or leave it simple china and white napkins. But if you want to go a bit more to theme, make it echo your wedding plans.
For a Mexican wedding, you can go to a local Mexican restaurant for drinks and/or dinner. Make sure there is transportation to and from for all the guests, whether by taxi, on foot or even on burros. Have your guests dress casually and enjoy local tradition and music. If you want to do something with a bit of Mexican flavor at your hotel so your guests don’t have to travel, choose a space where you can set up a station with Mexican beer and margaritas and serve a buffet-style tapas bar for your guests to nibble from.
If you’re getting married on a beach, you can set up a reception there, too. Get a large tent or canopy, set out tiki torches and mini white lights and let your guests enjoy the ocean breezes. Or maybe set up on an outside deck or veranda, with a selection of tropical drinks and finger foods that are easy to carry and hopefully won’t stain party clothes.
A Caribbean wedding can go tropical, too, or you can play on its hidden side, pirates and lost treasures. Use lots of plants and foliage intertwined with party lights, and serve your choice of beverage and food in sturdy dinnerware. Make it a dessert and drinks party and let your guests indulge their inner pirates, with dark chocolate and golden desserts designed to please both the eye and the palate.
No matter where you hold your destination wedding and welcome reception, you can carry your theme throughout all the parties and events you have, to keep you and your guests looking forward to every next thing, ending with your special day (or night) and the party of your lifetime. |
