Wedding Ideas
October 8, 2021
5 Tips for Planning a Comprehensive Wedding Weekend
Wedding venues in Maryland, tourist destinations, and more for your guests to enjoy your wedding weekend.
Wedding venues in Maryland, tourist destinations, and more for your guests to enjoy your wedding weekend.
When you have numerous wedding guests traveling from out of town, you want to put together an entire weekend for them to enjoy the city where you and your significant other are getting married. It’s also a great excuse to keep the party going for more than just one night. There is a lot more than choosing the perfect wedding venue in Maryland when planning an entire weekend. You should think about where your guests will stay, transportation accommodations, and opportunities for them to sight-see.
Although the weekend will have many more aspects than just the wedding day, the wedding day is still the biggest party out of the entire weekend. Finding the wedding venue in Maryland to match the number of people you are inviting, your theme, and your aesthetics is essential. There are so many options when it comes to venues. Maryland has options for a barn wedding, a ceremony by the water, beautiful wineries, farms, environmental centers, and more.
Our team at The Smokehouse Grill can work with you to plan a gorgeous wedding at any of our recommended locations. Not only can we cater with a casual buffet or upscale plated meal, but we can ensure that your special day is exactly what you dreamt it to be.
Before you build out an extremely well-thought-out itinerary for the weekend, think about who is paying — will it be you or the guests? The events you choose to include on the weekend are probably going to be because of the price, so this is an important factor to keep in mind. Of course, you can’t pay for an entire weekend for all of your guests. However, there can be a few events that you do pay for where only a selected group is invited. These separate events will give you time to bond with those closest to you and offer free time to others.
Along with that, not every person has to be invited to every event. As you are planning the weekend, create a separate budget and guestlist for each event. This will keep you organized and make sure all the guests are included in a majority of the activities. Stay as organized as possible to avoid inviting the wrong people to different events and confusing the agenda.
It can sometimes feel disjointed to have a wedding and various events throughout a whole weekend, but you can bring the entire weekend together with a theme. For example, if your wedding is beach-themed, you can carry that on throughout the weekend. On the first night, have a welcome party where everyone dresses in their Hawaiian beach shirts and go all out with their attire. It’ll be a great conversation starter and a fun way to bring the two sides of the family together before the wedding day.
The second day will be your wedding and reception with the beach theme however you wish to portray that. Then, on the third day, you can host a farewell brunch at a restaurant overlooking the waterfront. This is the perfect time for you and your significant other to have a moment to thank your guests and recap the exciting night. During your wedding day, you are stressed to ensure that the day is running smoothly, and it’s hard to find time to connect and thank your loved ones, but this brunch is the place to do so.
Before you start to plan out the weekend of events, don’t forget to feed your guests throughout the whole weekend. You’ll at least need to think about the rehearsal dinner, wedding, and possibly a next-day brunch. Show your friends and family what your town has to offer with a few different catering options that are delicious and cost-effective. Food costs can add up very quickly, so it’s best to set aside funds specifically for food. Make sure that you are serving the food you always dreamed of on your wedding day, then at the rehearsal dinner and brunch, make the meals more casual. Instead of sit-down meals, consider having a buffet for people to serve themselves at the rehearsal and brunch.
When planning out the weekend, keep in mind that not everyone will have their cars or reliable transportation. Therefore, it’s best to keep everything as close as possible, making it easier for everyone to make it to each event. If it’s possible, provide transportation with a bus, limo, or taxi service. Having transportation available will also ensure that none of your guests are drinking and driving.
At The Smokehouse Grill, we are here to assist you in creating a memorable wedding weekend for you and your guests. From catering to the wedding venue in Maryland, we can help you with everything. So contact us today to receive your free quote so that we can get started on planning the wedding of your dreams.