Welcome parties and rehearsal dinners are frequently used as synonyms. They're not the same thing. Understanding the difference helps you plan which one, or both, to include in your wedding weekend.
The Rehearsal Dinner
A rehearsal dinner is exactly what it sounds like: dinner, following the wedding rehearsal. It is a practical event with a functional origin — the wedding party has just run through the ceremony, everyone is in one place, dinner follows naturally.
Guest list: wedding party, both immediate families, officiant, and immediate out-of-town arrivals. Typically 20–40 people. Format: sit-down dinner, informal speeches, relatively early end (tomorrow is the wedding).
The rehearsal dinner is usually the night before the wedding. It's intimate, functional, and set by tradition particularly in American and increasingly UK weddings.
The Welcome Party
A welcome party is a more expansive event — a gathering open to all or most wedding guests, designed to welcome people as they arrive for the wedding weekend. It typically takes place the evening before the wedding but may be two evenings before if guests are arriving across multiple days.
Format: drinks and light food rather than a full dinner — cocktail party style, garden party, or informal gathering. Guest list: everyone invited to the wedding. The welcome party is a social event rather than a functional one.
Key Differences at a Glance
| Rehearsal Dinner | Welcome Party | |
|---|---|---|
| Guest list | Wedding party + families | All or most guests |
| Format | Sit-down dinner | Drinks and canapés |
| Size | Small (20–40) | Larger (50–150+) |
| Feel | Intimate | Social, festive |
Which Should You Have?
If you have many out-of-town or international guests, a welcome party makes sense — it gives those guests something substantive to arrive for the night before. If your wedding is primarily local guests and your wedding party is small, a rehearsal dinner is more appropriate and less logistically demanding.
Some couples hold both: a small rehearsal dinner for the wedding party and families, and a separate welcome party for all guests at a different time or venue. This is the full wedding weekend format.
Planning a multi-event wedding weekend?
I offer photography add-ons for welcome parties and rehearsal dinners. Ask about multi-event packages.
