A welcome party can be an amazing addition to your wedding weekend. Especially if you’re having a lot of out-of-town guests, we recommend hosting a welcome party. As Lake Tahoe wedding photographers, we often guide our couples through their Lake Tahoe experience. So, if you’re looking to plan a great welcome party in Lake Tahoe, we’ve got some ideas.

Why You Should Host a Welcome Party

Welcome parties are the perfect way to start off your wedding weekend. They give you a chance to spend extra time with your guests, especially any out-of-town guests. You can combine your welcome party with your rehearsal dinner or keep it as a separate event. Whatever makes sense for you and your guests. Either way, you might not get a chance to chat with everyone at the wedding, so a welcome party gives you a better chance to do that.If you decide to have your wedding photographers come during the welcome party, you also have a chance to get great photos of you both with your loved ones, practice in front of the camera, and have some time to get to know your photographers if you didn’t do an engagement session.

What to Do for Your Welcome Party

There are no rules when it comes to what to do for your welcome party. You can set the stage for the wedding day with amazing décor or leave it to the natural scenery of Lake Tahoe. You can host an intimate dinner party or have something more lively. You might want to go the opposite of your wedding. If you’re doing something more formal, it might be fun to have a more casual event. Typically, there are food and drinks, and if you’d like, there can be some speeches and toasts from people not getting a chance to speak on the actual wedding day.Think about what type of aesthetic and feel you want to have during your welcome party and make decisions based on that.

How to Dress

How you dress depends on the general theme of your welcome party, but typically, it’s a more laid-back affair than the wedding. A fun casual dress might be the way to go, or a button-down shirt and slacks. Typically, a bride will wear a white dress as well, but obviously, there are no real rules. Dress however makes you happy and makes sense for the type of event you’re holding, whether that be a causal event in the backyard or an upscale country club.The one big thing we suggest is considering your and your partner’s outfit together. You’ll want to look cohesive in photos together.

Fun Welcome Party Activities

There are so many ideas to consider when it comes to your welcome party in Lake Tahoe. You can host it wherever you want, including on a boat if you want to take full advantage of the lake. You can plan a variety of activities for you and your guests, such as a fun food truck or group excursions. Not to mention, you might have cultural events, such as a sangeet, during the welcome party. You can even end the day with something like fireworks. Have fun with it as you plan out the activities for your welcome party.

Where to Host Your Welcome Party in Lake Tahoe

There are so many places to host your welcome party in Lake Tahoe, from breweries to boats to restaurants. Of course, we have our favorites. For bars and breweries, we love Revive with its lakefront location and Tahoe Cocktail Corner with its open firepits and woodsy vibe.

There’s also Basecamp, one of our recommended places to stay during your elopement, and Garwoods, which has beautiful views of the ocean.If you’d rather hold your welcome party on a boat, we recommend Sail Tahoe Blue or Tahoe Cruises.

When it comes to restaurants, our big recommendation is Chart House. It has many locations nationwide, but its Lake Tahoe location has those lakefront views you’re looking for.

We’re happy to share our knowledge with our couples so they can plan the Lake Tahoe event of their dreams. If you’re in the planning stages of your wedding, let us know! We would love to serve you as you go on this adventure together.