The Ultimate Wedding Weekend Guide: How to Plan a Multi-Day Celebration
We are officially in the era of the wedding weekend. While it’s not required, many couples choose to turn their weddings into a lineup of events to have even more time to celebrate with their loved ones. Since many friends and family will travel a long way for your wedding day, building out a full weekend of parties and activities can be a wonderful way to thank them for joining you in this major life moment. Planning a wedding weekend, however, is not for the faint of heart. It requires investing more money into your celebration, as well as time and thought into the planning of these other events.
Ahead, we asked top wedding planners to give their guidance on whether hosting a wedding weekend is right for you and provide tips to help plan out the perfect itinerary for your nuptials.
Is a Wedding Weekend Right for You?
One of the best reasons to plan a full wedding weekend? You get to spend more time with your nearest and dearest who have traveled to celebrate with you. “Couples get to experience a sense of community with friends and family that they wouldn’t get to experience at a one-night event,” shares wedding planner Marcy Blum. Not only can you have more time to connect with your guests, it gives your friends and family the opportunity to get acquainted as well and build a rapport as the weekend moves along. “People often complain that after spending so much time and money, the wedding itself goes by so fast, and a wedding weekend mitigates that.”
Another plus of crafting a multi-day wedding celebration is your ability to curate a unique, individualized set of events. While you can host traditional rehearsal dinners, day-after brunches, and welcome parties, you could also throw in some fun activities that fit your destination, like a beach party or wine tasting on a vineyard.
“One of the biggest advantages of hosting a full wedding weekend is the freedom it gives you to design a schedule that genuinely reflects who you are as a couple, emphasizing your priorities, your interests, and an optimal guest experience,” notes event planner Augusta Cole. “When you have ownership of the entire weekend, you’re no longer tied to a traditional wedding flow, and that flexibility can be incredibly impactful.” One of her clients that was featured in Vogue decided to host their ceremony and an alfresco dinner on a Friday night, leaving Saturday as a day for a full-scale dance party. “They knew this flow would allow them to be fully present and enjoy every part of the celebration without feeling rushed or constrained by an impending ceremony,” Cole says. “Think about your personalities, your families and friends, what you love most about your chosen wedding location, and plan a weekend that’s designed for how you actually want to celebrate.”
While there are many perks to throwing a wedding weekend, it obviously comes with some setbacks. “The biggest consideration is simply that a full wedding weekend is a significant undertaking. It is a multi-day commitment from your guests and multi-event financial commitment on behalf of the hosts,” explains Cole. “You may find that throwing one epic celebration day or evening allows for you to check more priority boxes than diluting your resources over multiple days.”
Photo: Abigail Lewis Photography
Consider the Destination and the Venue
If you’re dreaming of a wedding weekend, it’s important think about travel and lodging logistics around your venue before you lock it in and craft an itinerary. Cole advises thinking of a destination as your “home base” for your celebrations. “A home base can be a full hotel property buyout offering a variety of onsite venues, but it could also be a great town that offers a range of hotels in close proximity to one another,” she explains. “The goal here is to keep your guests together so transportation from event to event is convenient and efficient. It is so important to remember that the event experience starts with the journey to get there and ends with the return home, so be especially mindful of this as you plan out your guests’ weekend itinerary. Moving hundreds of guests also takes longer than zipping between point to point as a couple on a vacation.”
Cole recommends not having any events more than 20 minutes away from the main hotel. She adds, “If there is an event location that is spectacular but 30 minutes or more from accommodations, try to concentrate most of your events at or very close to your home base, saving the travel time for one incredibly memorable and worthwhile experience!” While property buyouts can be expensive, the planner does say it comes with a few benefits. “A buyout often allows for hosting parties in spaces on the grounds that would otherwise be unavailable to a regular hotel guest. For example, How fabulous is it when the late-night party ends at the buyout hotel?” Cole says. “Guests safely return home to rooms no matter how late the party goes, without any transportation concerns.”
Speaking of transportation, consider how easy it will be for your family and friends to make their way to your destination. “Guests generally prefer destinations with a single flight versus those with layovers,” shares Blum. Don’t forget that budget will be a major factor for those heading to your wedding as well. “Something that is overlooked (assuming you’re not paying for all of the hotel rooms) is the affordability of the destination or resort,” she adds. Selecting a location like the Hamptons in peak season might mean some guests will need to pay a high premium to attend a full wedding weekend and may end up bowing out of the festivities.
