How to Plan a Wedding Weekend for an Extended Celebration

Planning a wedding weekend is a fantastic way to extend your celebration, allowing you to spend quality time with loved ones across multiple days. From choosing the ideal venue to crafting a fun itinerary with activities like welcome parties and farewell brunches, a wedding weekend lets you make unforgettable memories with friends and family.

A wedding weekend is a multi-day celebration that allows couples to spend quality time with friends and family and is a beautiful opportunity to create a memorable weekend that goes beyond the wedding day itself. Not only can a wedding weekend be tailored to fit your style and preferences, making it a unique and unforgettable experience for those involved, but it’s also the perfect chance to create a relaxed and intimate setting for all your guests to enjoy. A wedding weekend can be in the form of a local wedding spread over several days or, of course, a destination wedding, where guests travel to a new location for the celebration, which can double up as a holiday!

Choosing the perfect venue for your wedding weekend

The wedding venue sets the tone for the entire wedding weekend, so it’s essential to choose a location that fits your and your partner's vision. Consider a venue that offers a relaxed and intimate setting, such as a beachside resort or a mountain lodge. Still, you’ll also need to think about the guest experience, choosing a venue that provides a range of amenities and activities for everyone to enjoy. A destination wedding venue can be an excellent option for a wedding weekend, offering a memorable experience for guests. Just make sure you consider your budget and choose a venue that fits within your means.

Planning the wedding weekend itinerary

If you’re inviting guests to speak a number of days with you, it goes without saying, you’ll need to plan some of the activities for them. So, with this in mind, break it down and craft a wedding weekend itinerary that outlines the schedule for each day of the festivities. Of course, you’ll need to plan activities and events that allow guests to spend valuable time with you and your partner, such as a welcome party, rehearsal dinner and farewell brunch, but you’ll also need to make sure to include downtime in the itinerary too, allowing guests time to relax and recharge. Guests will see this as their holiday too, so giving them their own time is as important as time spent all together.

Your wedding website is a valuable tool for communicating the itinerary and details with guests. Just remember to include as much detail as possible, including meeting points, start times, dress codes, and locations for each event. Make it easy for guests to access this information, and don’t forget to send out reminders beforehand!

The welcome party: Setting the tone for the weekend

See the welcome party as an opportunity to set the tone for the wedding weekend and showcase a taste of what’s to come. You could plan some activities and games that allow everyone to mingle and get to know each other before the main event and to inject a bit of fun into the welcome party; why not set a wedding theme or dress code? Just ensure everything is optional so guests can choose how much they get involved; no one likes to feel like they have to adhere to rules when they're on holiday!

The rehearsal dinner: A night to remember

The rehearsal dinner is a special event that brings all of your most important people together and ensures everyone knows and understands their role ahead of the impending wedding day. For this occasion, choose a venue that offers a relaxed and intimate setting, such as a private room at a restaurant or a backyard BBQ and plan activities and games that allow guests to bond and create memories. You could even include a special toast or speech to mark you all as being there, which is also an excellent opportunity to welcome everyone and thank them for being part of the weekend.

The wedding day: Main event and celebration

It’s the main event of the wedding weekend, and it’s essential to plan carefully to ensure a smooth and enjoyable time for everyone. When it comes to your wedding ceremony, make sure to include an activity or ritual that reflects your personality and unique love story.

While the wedding weekend as a whole is a lot of fun, it’s also a lot of work to organise, which is why the planning process for the wedding day should be where you really focus your efforts; after all, it's the day everyone will be looking forward to and saving their energy for.

Farewell brunch and activities: Wrapping up the weekend

Who doesn’t love a slightly hungover farewell brunch? It’s a brilliant opportunity to wrap up the wedding weekend, but it’s also a chance to squeeze out your remaining time with your loved ones. Include a special toast or speech to thank guests for celebrating the last few days together, what you've enjoyed most, and what it meant to you to have everything there with you. Many guests will travel home on this day, so keep the brunch time flexible and consider offering grab-and-go options.

Guest experience and hospitality

The guest experience is essential to creating a successful and memorable wedding weekend. To take a load off, we recommend hiring a wedding planner or coordinator to help with logistics and ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience for guests. It will help you twofold, as you’re not only planning one day but potentially three or more! There will be lots to coordinate, including wedding vendors and food and drink.

When planning a multi-day event, remember to include amenities and activities that cater to different ages and interests, such as a kids’ zone or a spa day to suit all ages. Your wedding website will be your right arm in the build-up to the wedding and during the event, as guests will refer to it for the itinerary and communication throughout. The more detail, the better to prevent you and your partner from being inundated by many phone calls and texts with potentially the same questions. It’s your wedding weekend too; you don’t want to spend it on the phone giving directions and instructions, do you?!

Budgeting for a wedding weekend

Budgeting for a wedding weekend can be challenging, but it’s essential to prioritise and allocate your funds wisely. If it’s an option, consider a destination wedding, as the venue and amenities are often included in the package; that way, you're eliminating hidden costs you possibly didn't budget for. Regardless of your wedding location, plan activities and events that are cost-effective and offer a high return on investment, such as a welcome party BBQ or a rehearsal dinner buffet. Just make sure to include a contingency fund to cover unexpected expenses, so you're not caught out and use a wedding budgeting tool or app to track expenses and stay organised. It may seem laborious when you're in the thick of it, but it will prevent overspending; it's totally worth it!

Capturing the moment: photography and videography

Capturing the moment(s) is essential when creating a memorable wedding weekend. While we will assume you’ve already booked your wedding day photography, consider hiring a photographer and videographer to capture all of the celebrations. Many photographers offer add-ons such as capturing the rehearsal dinner and/or the post-wedding party. You might just have to pay a little extra and organise some accommodation for them too so they’re nearby.

During the weekend, plan activities and events that allow guests to take photos and create memories, such as a photo booth or a group photo shoot. Just make sure to include a hashtag or social media handle to encourage guests to share their photos and videos so you can group them all together.

Conclusion: Making your multi-day wedding unforgettable

By planning carefully and prioritising the guest experience, you can really create a memorable celebration that goes beyond the actual wedding day. By focusing on comfort, clear communication, and offering a mix of structured and relaxed moments, you can create a fun and seamless wedding weekend that your guests will remember for years to come. Happy planning!