When to host every wedding-related event
First off, congratulations are in order. You or someone you love is newly engaged! Take a moment to bask in the joy of true love…okay, that’s enough basking, it’s time to start planning! One of the best parts of any wedding is all the quality time spent with your favorite people, and not just on the actual wedding day. From the engagement party to the wedding weekend’s welcome drinks and beyond, we’re here to help you figure out which wedding-related events are right for you, and how and when to get started planning them.
Of course, the wedding is the main event, but each of the parties in the days, weeks, and months leading up to (and following) the big day should be carefully considered as well. Whether you choose to host one, a select few, or all of these wedding-related festivities, read on for our comprehensive timeline for all of the bonus celebrations surrounding your nuptials—and when to send out invitations for each.
Table of Contents
Engagement party
While a traditional engagement party is not always necessary for shorter engagements (read: under a year), friends and loved ones will want to toast the happy couple, so why not give them the opportunity? Plus, it’s a party that’s fun and relatively simple to plan.
Give the guests of honor a chance to enjoy the moment before all the festivities begin, and throw the engagement party a few months after the proposal, but before the wedding planning kicks into high gear.
When you send out invitations, give everyone three to four weeks’ notice so guests can make sure they are in town and able to join. Gathering an exact headcount is key since the venue is probably your home or a local restaurant with limited capacity, so use a classic engagement party invitation with advanced guest list tracking features.
Also, surprise engagement parties are trending! Our RSVP tracking feature allows guests to discreetly message you within the invitation to help keep the surprise exactly that.
Bridal shower
The bridal shower is your opportunity to celebrate with close friends and relatives. It’s often during the day (think elegant luncheon) and can include bridal shower games and traditions like opening gifts from the couple’s wedding registry that the shower guests have brought. We’re all about simple, classic bridal showers and bridal shower invitations to match.
Bridal shower planning can usually fall on the bride’s mom, sister, best friend, the bridal party collectively, or a mother-in-law… or all of the above. The timing of the wedding shower depends on logistics, but generally, a bridal shower is held anywhere from two weeks to two months before the wedding.
Corralling a bridal party isn’t always an easy task, so send your bridal shower invitations six to eight weeks prior to the event to give everyone time to sort out any travel details. If you’re hosting in a restaurant or any venue that requires an exact headcount, the RSVP tracking on our bridal shower invitations will come in handy. Don’t forget to include registry information for bridal shower gifts!
Bachelorette party
The difference between an enjoyable bachelorette party and an overwhelming one, we find, is in the planning. A well-organized bachelorette weekend is an opportunity to celebrate your soon-to-be-bridal BFF with non-stop fun for all involved.
The goal of a bachelorette party is to help the bride blow off some steam amidst all the wedding excitement before embarking on the next chapter of her life. With that in mind, hosting too close to the wedding itself will likely add stress for the bride (not to mention everyone else), and the absolute last thing you want to do is be the reason she shows up on her wedding day looking like she spent the last three days raging in South Beach. Host the bachelorette about a month before the wedding to give everyone time to recover.
Send bachelorette party invitations three to four weeks in advance, or at least eight if guests will be traveling or celebrating for more than one night. From a relaxing spa day to a boozy night on the town, we have an invitation for every kind of bachelorette party. Add dress code details and, ahem, information on the best way for everyone to pay you back for putting all the reservations on your credit card.
Rehearsal dinner
It’s almost time for the main event, but there are still a few more pre-wedding toasts to be made. A rehearsal dinner is a traditional wedding event that usually takes place the night before the wedding, immediately following the run-through of the ceremony.
Typically hosted by either the groom’s family, in some cases the bride’s family, both families together, or the couple themselves, a rehearsal dinner is a great way to gather in a more intimate setting before the frenzied energy of the wedding day kicks into high gear. Share this Champagne-toast-filled meal with the members of your wedding party, immediate families, and any other close friends or extended family members that you want in attendance. Everyone will appreciate the extra time spent with the couple of the hour, as well as the opportunity to meet and mingle with the other main players of the big day.
Send rehearsal dinner invitations six to eight weeks before the wedding, to ensure that guests arranging any travel will be able to plan accordingly. It’s best to send these invitations separately—following the actual wedding invitations—due to the more exclusive headcount. To help with planning, enable Guest Questions on your rehearsal dinner invitations to gather information about any dietary restrictions or meal preferences. For inspiration, read our guide to rehearsal dinner invitation wording for ideas to match your dinner’s style and theme.
Welcome party
Often paired with or immediately following the rehearsal dinner, a welcome party is a casual get-together to greet and mingle with all of your wedding guests in a low-key setting—and also provides a built-in activity for anyone traveling from out of town. Welcome parties are not only a fun way for guests to get acquainted, but also give the bride and groom an opportunity to say all of the obligatory hellos and thank you for comings in advance, freeing up more time to enjoy every moment of their big day.
Extend a welcome party invitation to all of your wedding guests, and let them know in the invitation details whether you’ll be providing drinks, light bites, or a full meal, as well as the preferred dress code for the night. The welcome party is typically the evening before the wedding, hosted by the couple or their families, and invitations should be sent out two to four weeks before the wedding to let everyone know the plan. Feel free to clarify in your invitation wording that the welcome party’s attendance is, of course, optional (so no need to change any travel plans for it), but our guess is that your guests will be overjoyed to plan for an extra night of celebrating your love. An open bar never hurts, either.
Post-wedding brunch
Here’s to the newlyweds! You did it all: expressed your love and commitment surrounded by family and friends, danced the night away to all your favorite songs, and stuffed cake right in your beloved’s face. Now, before you ride off into the sunset or head off on your honeymoon, there’s time for one last soirée to spend quality time with your guests before they return home.
A post-wedding brunch can be as formal or casual as you like and includes as many guests as your budget allows, but it’s totally acceptable to keep it small—limited to just the wedding party, family, and as many close friends as you choose to include. Couples will typically host the brunch themselves, or delegate the planning to one of their family members, the wedding planner, or sometimes a maid of honor and/or best man.
Making your post-wedding brunch an informal drop-in event within a set time range is ideal, as it will typically take place in the late morning or early afternoon on the day after the wedding, so guests will likely have varying travel plans and availability. Let guests know the details in a post-wedding brunch invitation that you send after you send wedding invitations, and after you start receiving RSVPs—about four to six weeks in advance of the wedding—so you get a good sense of how many guests will be around on the day.
Plan the perfect wedding weekend and more with Paperless Post
Bachelorettes, bridal showers, and brunches—oh my. Once you’ve got all the pre-wedding parties planned, learn how to save money on wedding invitations and the best etiquette for when to send them. Find online invitations for every kind of wedding event, and tips on wedding thank you note wording. Paperless Post is here to guide you in all of your wedding-related needs!
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