When/Where did you have your welcome party?

[DisneyLeah]

Hi all -

Just wondering when and where you had (or are planning to have) your welcome parties?

Did you do it the night before the wedding or sooner?

I'd love to do O'hana for dinner and then go down to watch Wishes from the Poly beach, but we may end up with a very large group and it may not fit in the budget.

What are some other ideas?

Thanks for your help and advice!
Leah

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

I am having a "dessert party" at Morocco the night before the wedding. We are using a cocktail style menu instead of desserts though. I think a few others did/are planning on doing a dessert party as well as a rehearsal or welcome dinner.

I think Ohana is a great idea though. Hoop dee Doo could be really fun as well!

 

[DisneyLeah]

I am having a "dessert party" at Morocco the night before the wedding. We are using a cocktail style menu instead of desserts though. I think a few others did/are planning on doing a dessert party as well as a rehearsal or welcome dinner.

I think Ohana is a great idea though. Hoop dee Doo could be really fun as well!

Thanks for posting a reply! I'm planning to do a Dessert Party on the actual wedding day, so I need something else for the Welcome Party - but I do think they are GREAT ideas for Welcome Parties to really get people into the celebrating/Disney spirit!

My wedding is going to be on a Saturday morning, so I was wondering if I could get away with a Thurs night Welcome Party (as opposed to Friday night - since we have to be up really early on Sat ).

What do you all think?

 

[kcampbell]

Our wedding was on a Saturday. On Thursday night, we had a "Welcome Cocktail Hour" at the Martha's Vineyard Lounge at the Beach Club (not set up thru DFTW) for anyone who was already in town and wanted to swing by for a drink or two. Everyone just ordered whatever drinks they wanted and however much and we ordered a bunch of apps off the bar menu. On Friday night, we had our "rehearsal dinner" at The Attic which was more like a "welcome dinner" b/c everyone was invited and we had almost 85% of our guest list there. It was so relaxed and fun. We also loved being secluded, not in a park, and able to watch Illuminations. (The aerial parts that is! )

There are tons of other ideas for welcome dinners and such...BBQ's, clambakes, group dining at a restaurant, using a ballroom setting, S&D restaurants, DTD locales, DP's, etc. I'm sure the girls will bring more ideas. Good Luck!!!

 

[lurkyloo]

We had an informal meet 'n' greet in one of the public areas of the Beach Club the day before. We just invited people to stop in and say hi if they wanted to between 2pm and 4pm. We didn't get food or anything because it was between meal hours, and most people split off into groups afterward to go to dinner together. We just couldn't afford to pay for a second catered meal, so at least this way people had a way to get together before the big day.

 

[weedee]

We're having a Welcome Dinner at Ohanas the night before our wedding day. Since our reception dinner is at Citricos, we wanted something really laid back and fun, which is why we went with Ohanas!

 

[ChocoKat]

I am thinking of doing something like Carrie did, we can't afford doing a second catered meal for everybody so we are thinking of designating a time and place for everybody to hang out.

I am mulling over a dinner at O'Hanas but I am a bit scared that if I say "We can all have dinner together" that they will assume DH and I will be paying for it... and that we can't swing (as much as I would truly love to )

 

[gemmybear83]

Were hopefully doing Ohanas too, will our planner make our ADR for us?

 

[padisneyfour]

we are planning an for an informal get together with a little food-snack etc in late afternoon and resort photo scavenger hunt for some fun. Guests will be family. we are planning on a day after everyone arrives- a couple days before ceremony

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

We were thinking of doing a welcome dinner at Teppan Edo. There will hopefully be 16 of us and thought we would get two tables together! I hadn't thought of paying for this meal so that could cause a problem!

Also need to see what everyone's plans are as not everyone will have park tickets so that could be tricky since Teppan Edo is in Epcot!

But O'hanas sounds like a good alternative!

 

[weedee]

Were hopefully doing Ohanas too, will our planner make our ADR for us?

We had to make our own ADR at Ohanas. I tried to see if the planner would do it for us because we weren't having any luck contacting the restaurant directly for our large party reservation, but she wouldn't help me out there and suggested that I call the reservation line. I guess since it's an Escape wedding and it's a restaurant instead of a banquet hall the planners don't really deal with that. So we called a couple more times and finally got through. Good luck!

 

[girli565]

We're planning on having a little informal get together like "Hey come stop by our resort's pool between 2-5 for snacks and drinks!" the Sunday before our wedding.

We really can't afford another catered meal and my mom offered to buy some Publix platters and drinks so people can stop by and spend time with us!

 

[Sarns00]

Would anyone mind posting their menu/budget for your welcome dinner? We want to be able to invite everyone to our welcome dinner (since they're all traveling from a distance), but not sure if we can work it into the budget.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Would anyone mind posting their menu/budget for your welcome dinner? We want to be able to invite everyone to our welcome dinner (since they're all traveling from a distance), but not sure if we can work it into the budget.

My original budget was around $1800 for 17 people. This included the venue fee for Morocco, wine and beer package, dessert party photography, and Oswald Buffet menu ($28.50 per person), as well as 2 vans to bring people to their hotel after. We ended up cutting the alcohol out to save money, since we will have it for the wedding reception.