Doing a Welcome Dinner?

1) lol - No, it's not rude to ask for another night of their time - or at least I don't think it's rude. They don't have to come if they don't want to... plus, they gotta eat anyways so what's the big deal?!

2)I heard that some resorts will do a bonfire or something - I liked that idea, but since the resort will charge you anyways for the welcome dinner, you might as well see if you can find something on your own - you always have the resort to fall back on.

We're definitely doing a welcome night gathering. If it's in our budget, we'll do a cocktail or dinner. If we're strapped for cash, we'll have everyone get together in one of the bars/lounges at our resort after the dinner hour for drinks. We were thinking of assigning our guest list to 2 teams and doing some games (something that makes them consult with each other as a team) to get people talking and interacting with each other... But we'll decide the team divisions because we definitely wont' have an equal distribution of the guest list (groom's side outnumbers brides side by about 4:1)...

We had a welcome dinner at Tabasco's as well as a rehearsal dinner on a boat. IMO it was too much planned in a short period of time. That said, both were a blast and provided a great chance for everyone to meet & greet. Out of the two, I thought that the boat was more fun.

Jess, I like this idea. We have a 1 bdrm. suite as well and we're only having about 20 ppl total, so this might work for us. glad you mentioned it!

We agonized over this . . . parents & FI thought it was good enough to make a reservation for 40 and everyone pays for themselves. I wanted to host something though, even just cocktails/chips/etc. I ended up booking a full dinner/drinks sans the parents money because it was something I wanted.

 

I googled PV restaurants, checked photos and reviews on tripadvisor/igougo/yahootravel, then contacted the restaurants directly via the email addresses on their websites. Most of them replied promptly with quotes and that's how I did it.

Our wedding is on Sunday also.....We will be having a welcome dinner Friday night at one of the restaurants on location at Dreams. Since it is an AI, We are just reserving spaces for our 30 or so guests and paying a little extra for the extra service so that they can be there to help and be prepared. My TA is actually doing all of this for me, but the resort should be able to help you in this area!

Good luck!

Thanks everyone! I've e-mailed my WC to see what options she can give me, so now I just have to wait patiently to hear back... I just like the idea of guests getting a chance to get acquainted b/c there's people coming from across Canada now. I was a little worried of taking people's time when it is their holiday too, but I think the suggestion that if someone doesn't want to come they don't have to is bang on!

Hi Starchild,

What restaurant are you doing your WD?
I am also getting married in PV (dreams) and would love to know what type of rates you were given by different restaurants.

Thanks

Thanks Courtney for the input - you kick ass heheheh

 

we've decided to wait and see when everyone will be there and then decide which night it iwll be on.

La Palapa quoted $45pp for chicken, $59 I think for filet mignon, drinks not included

Los Burros quoted $22pp for chicken & beef fajitas, 2 beers & 1 margarita pp

River Cafe quoted $45pp I think it was fish & chicken?

We chose Barcelona Tapas based on food and killer views. My brother is an event planner and did the negotiating with the owner who is from Chicago and super nice. I think it's between $40-50 pp at this point. I know we get several cold and hot tapas pp, desserts, pitchers of sangria, softdrinks, and beers (all unlimited). The food is so varied and is served family style which will be great for getting guests to interact. There are tons of great places in P.V though. My WC suggested La Palapa and El Arrayan.