Wedding Hive Podcast
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Wedding Hive Podcast
Balancing Family Dynamics: Pre-Wedding Celebration Strategies
Our hosts tackle the tricky question of managing family time around weddings when relatives from both sides want to spend time with the couple during an already busy period.
• Grace recommends avoiding family gatherings the week before the wedding due to last-minute preparations
• Welcome parties a few days before or combined with rehearsal dinner offer good alternatives
• Consider family dynamics when deciding whether to mix both sides
• Options include hosting dinners, barbecues, or taco bars at someone's home
• Post-wedding brunches are controversial – one host strongly dislikes them due to exhaustion
• Morning-after gatherings create another expense when couples just want time together
• Planning events before the wedding helps check social obligations off the list
• Consider hiring a wedding planner to help navigate complex family dynamics
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Hey queens, welcome back to another episode of the Daily Buzz. So, grace, a question has come in from Instagram. This is such a good one and I'm excited to get your thoughts on it. Are you ready? Yes, so this listener has said a family is coming into town and wants to spend time around the wedding time, but this family is mixed from both sides. So what is your thoughts? How do you navigate these special time with all of the family coming in? You have bride side, you have grooms side thoughts.
Speaker 2:Wow, um one, how close are they coming into town to celebrate? Because I don't know. I just wouldn't even do that to begin with, if I'm being completely honest. Um, if you're wanting friends and family to celebrate and spend time with you, I would suggest having them come the day before and then stay a few days maybe after, because the week before the wedding is just it's insane.
Speaker 2:It's busy. You're doing everything that you last minute need to get done. You're trying to get ready. You know, as the girls, you're trying to get your nails done, your toes done, go get your spray tan, get your hair done. I would not spend any time with family the week before my wedding. I just wouldn't. Or, if you're, if they're wanting to spend time with you, do a welcome party. Either you know a few days before, or you can do it. Some people do you know the rehearsal and then make it like a rehearsal dinner welcome party, if that's more your vibe, so that way you can spend more time with them before the actual day, cause sometimes it's obviously hard to talk to everyone on the day of the wedding. I think that's your best bet.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Do you think?
Speaker 1:you should do it with both sides of the family.
Speaker 2:If they get along, okay, if they get along. Okay. If they get along, I mean, at the end of the day, yeah, if they're cool and everyone's cordial with each other. And you know you're bringing two families together anyway. So it's, you know, it's who you're gonna be with for the rest of your life. So I would say, yeah, mix them together, and if it's not good, I think you that's your discretion you decide if that will be, um, a good time or a bad time.
Speaker 1:So mingle everyone. Yes, yes, I also, I agree. And then even with that timing piece. So family has spent a ton of money to come out celebrate your day. They're there, they want to see you. You're feeling obligated because they spent money and time to be there. So some of the things that I think I have seen that are really cool is that the day prior to rehearsal that evening, do some sort of like a dinner or welcome party. I know Grace mentioned it. Some people will do it on their rehearsal night, but I've also seen it done the day prior and it was as simple as somebody hosted it at their house. One of the family members' parents hosted it at their house. They did a taco bar and invited the family aunts, uncles, cousins. Again, it depends on how many people we're bringing in. This isn't your wedding 2.0, but just to have time. I've seen cute barbecues be done. They've done. What is it? Roast, not roasting. What do you do?
Speaker 2:smoking, smoking yeah, like smoke me yeah uh, they've done like fun barbecues.
Speaker 1:So that's an option. Like grace said, you can do a welcome party and do your rehearsal of rehearsal day and have everybody come together. If it is not smart to mix both of the families, maybe do a dinner the day prior to rehearsal, with one side of the family. On the rehearsal night, do the welcome and I would not call it a welcome party because then the other family is going to think that they weren't invited to the welcome party and that's going to start drama and the last thing you want is drama started prior to your wedding. Uh, so you know, another dinner gathering whatsoever. The other option is a fun brunch the day after the wedding. I have mixed feelings on brunches post-wedding as like a goodbye party or a send-off party. I don't think I would personally have it, because one I partied hard last night. The other thing is I would be too shy to answer the questions or handle the eye looks if people were wondering if we slept together on our wedding night or how that went. All of those things would just make me feel uncomfortable.
Speaker 2:I don't love the brunches because I just remember the day after my wedding, I was like Well, you were hungover, exactly, and so why would I want to go to a brunch and then have to talk to everyone? Yeah, that's why I'm not. I'm anti-brunch.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my other thing is is it's another expense and everything from the day prior was a whirlwind. You're going to hit your emotional cap and just completely crash and want to lay there with your new husband. Just lay vertical for like three days.
Speaker 2:Correct.
Speaker 1:Just lay vertical for like three days, correct, yeah, and you wanna spend time with your husband and you just have the best day of your life. So I know Grace says she's against doing stuff week of wedding. I have found it being more helpful doing it the week leading up to the wedding and the evenings, not throughout the day, just because you get that time with people and then you don't have to do it post-wedding. It's like another thing to check off. You also, like she said, you want to look at the dynamics of mixing families. The last thing you want is drama to start two days prior to the wedding between families and it all blow up on wedding day. So you don't want that. Hire a planner, a coordinator, talk through all those logistics and details. That person will help you figure out what is best with your day. So that's all I got.