Wedding weekends have become one of the most popular ways for couples to celebrate, and it’s easy to see why. When guests are traveling from out of town, or when your circle of family and friends is one you don’t get to see all in the same place very often, a single evening can feel like it’s over before it really begins.
Stretching the celebration across a full weekend gives everyone more time together and gives you more moments to enjoy. Here’s how to think through each piece of the weekend and what to consider for each one.
The Welcome Party
The welcome party is typically held the evening or two before the wedding, and its main job is simple: bring everyone together, help guests feel at home and set a warm tone for the weekend ahead.
It works best when it’s a little more relaxed than what’s coming later in the weekend. A cocktail reception with passed appetizers, a casual seated dinner or an outdoor gathering with drinks and light bites all fit the occasion well. Guests who are still arriving, settling into their hotel or meeting each other for the first time appreciate a format that doesn’t ask too much of them right away.
Food and drink go a long way here. A welcoming spread that’s seasonal, approachable, and designed to encourage conversation makes guests feel genuinely hosted from the start. At Catering St. Louis Events, our team can help you design a welcome party menu and find the right venue to match the feel you’re going for. The Whittemore House at Washington University, with its warm interiors and garden terrace, is a natural fit for an intimate welcome gathering. Oliva on The Hill brings the character of St. Louis’ Italian neighborhood to an evening that feels warm and locally rooted.
The Rehearsal Dinner
The rehearsal dinner sits between the welcome party and the wedding day, and it tends to be the most personal event of the whole weekend. With a smaller, closer guest list, there’s room for longer conversations, heartfelt toasts and a meal that feels a little more tailored than what a larger wedding reception allows.
A seated dinner works beautifully here, and family-style service encourages exactly the kind of warm, communal atmosphere that makes a rehearsal dinner feel special. This is also a great opportunity to incorporate dishes that mean something to you as a couple, whether that’s a nod to a family recipe, a favorite cuisine or something that reflects where you’re from. Our chefs work with couples directly to build customized rehearsal dinner menus that feel personal to the occasion.
A Combined Option: Rehearsal Dinner and Welcome Party in One Evening
If you’d rather keep the weekend to fewer separate events, there’s a format we work with often worth knowing about: combining the rehearsal dinner and welcome party into a single four-hour evening.
The way it typically works is straightforward. The first portion of the evening, usually around two hours, is a seated rehearsal dinner for the immediate group. The wedding party, close family and anyone else at the rehearsal gathers for a proper dinner. Then, for the final two hours, the evening opens up into a welcome party format: the bar opens to a larger group, appetizers come out and guests who weren’t part of the seated dinner join in for drinks and conversation.
This format accomplishes a lot: your closest people get the intimate, seated dinner experience the rehearsal dinner calls for, and out-of-town guests and others who didn’t attend the rehearsal still have a dedicated moment to gather and celebrate before the wedding day.
At Catering St. Louis Events, we plan and execute this combined format regularly. Our team handles the full evening, from the seated dinner service through the transition to the welcome reception.
The Wedding Day
The wedding day is the centerpiece of the weekend, and the food and beverage experience plays a meaningful role in how the day unfolds for your guests. A well-executed cocktail hour gives guests something to enjoy while you take photos. A dinner service that flows smoothly keeps the evening moving without feeling rushed. A late-night snack toward the end of the night is a small touch that guests genuinely appreciate after hours on the dance floor.
Working with a catering team that has been part of your planning from the beginning means the wedding day food and beverage experience feels like a natural extension of everything else. At Catering St. Louis Events, we can serve as your catering partner across the entire weekend. That continuity makes the whole weekend feel more cohesive, and it simplifies your planning process.
The Farewell Brunch
The farewell brunch is often the most overlooked part of the wedding weekend, and consistently one of the most appreciated. After a full day of celebrating, guests are glad for one more reason to gather before heading home.
It doesn’t need to be elaborate. Good coffee, a brunch spread and a comfortable setting are all it takes. Guests can linger and say proper goodbyes rather than rushed ones at the end of the reception. For the couple, it’s often a quieter, more relaxed moment than anything else in the weekend, and a chance to sit with the people you love before the weekend wraps up.
Thinking About the Weekend as a Whole
The most enjoyable wedding weekends have a consistent feeling of hospitality running through all of them. Guests feel welcomed, well-fed and taken care of from the moment they arrive through the moment they leave. That comes from planning each event with the same level of care and making sure the pieces connect.
At Catering St. Louis Events, we love working with couples who are thinking about the full picture. Whether you need a catering partner for one event or all four, our team is here to help you design a weekend that feels as thoughtful as the wedding day itself.
Reach out to Catering St. Louis Events to start planning your wedding weekend. We’d love to hear what you have in mind.