How to plan a wedding weekend itinerary

A wedding weekend itinerary is a short, guest-facing schedule that runs from the welcome party to the day-after brunch, built so out-of-town guests always know where to be. The simplest way to plan one is to anchor the whole weekend to a single place: guests book a room block at The Box House Hotel in Greenpoint, the wedding happens on the rooftop upstairs at Box House Events, and the welcome party and brunch run at The Brooklyn Lantern downstairs. Keep the printed schedule to three or four items a day, each with an address and a time, and share it before guests travel.

Most of the stress in a destination-style weekend comes from logistics, not the wedding itself. A good wedding weekend itinerary answers the three questions every guest has: where do I sleep, where do I go, and when. This guide walks through the welcome party, a day-by-day timeline, the welcome bag, and the lodging decision that ties it all together.

The wedding weekend timeline, day by day

A wedding weekend timeline usually covers three days, and the trick is to schedule enough that guests feel hosted without booking every hour. Leave open windows so people can rest, explore the neighborhood, or catch up with family on their own.

A three-day shape that works looks like this. Friday afternoon is arrival and check-in, with a welcome party in the evening that is come-and-go rather than seated. Saturday holds the wedding: an open morning and early afternoon for getting ready and for guests to eat and wander, the ceremony and reception in the late afternoon and evening, and the after party to close the night. Sunday is a late, casual brunch and departures, with no set program beyond a start time.

Print it small and clear. Each day gets three or four lines, each with a place, an address, a start time, and the dress code if there is one. Note travel time between anything that is not in the same building, and give a phone number for questions. Guests will read a one-page schedule; they will not read a multi-page binder. If the ceremony, reception, and after party all sit inside one venue, the timeline gets shorter and the travel notes mostly disappear, which is part of why couples choose an all-inclusive rooftop venue with the day-of coordination built in.

The wedding welcome party

The wedding welcome party is the Friday-night kickoff, and its job is to let guests meet before the main event so the wedding day feels like a reunion rather than a room of strangers. Keep it low-key. A welcome party is not a second reception, and treating it like one exhausts everyone before Saturday.

The format that works is a relaxed two-hour window with drinks, easy food, and no schedule. A welcome party differs from a rehearsal dinner: the rehearsal dinner is usually the wedding party and close family, while the welcome party opens the door to everyone who traveled in. Many couples do both back to back on Friday, a seated rehearsal dinner first and then a wider welcome drinks hour that anyone can join.

Hosting it where guests are already staying removes the last logistical hurdle of the night. At The Brooklyn Lantern, the restaurant and bar inside The Box House Hotel, guests can come down from their rooms, have a drink, meet the other side of the family, and go back upstairs to sleep. On the invitation, keep the wording plain: who is invited, the time window, the address, and the dress code. Guests appreciate a welcome party they can leave early without feeling rude.

What to include in a wedding welcome bag

A wedding welcome bag greets out-of-town guests at check-in and does quiet work: it says thank you, and it carries the practical information that keeps the weekend running. Skip the filler. A bag stuffed with things people throw away is worse than a small, useful one.

The items worth including fall into three groups. First, the schedule: a printed one-page itinerary with addresses, times, and a contact number, which is the single most useful thing in the bag. Second, comfort and recovery: bottled water, a local snack or two, and something for a late night, since the after party runs past midnight. Third, a sense of place: a note about the neighborhood with a few nearby coffee shops and the walk to McCarren Park, so guests can fill their open hours.

Keep the local picks specific and walkable from where guests are staying. A Greenpoint welcome bag might point to a Franklin Street coffee shop, the India Street ferry for a skyline ride into Manhattan, and MADRE, the group's MICHELIN-recognized restaurant, a ten-minute walk away. When guests stay in the same building as the wedding, you can have the front desk hand out the bags at check-in instead of driving them to a dozen different hotels.

Where guests stay for a Brooklyn wedding

Where guests stay for a Brooklyn wedding shapes everything else on the itinerary. Scatter guests across a dozen hotels and every event needs a travel plan; put them in one place and the weekend runs itself. The tool for this is a wedding room block, a set of rooms the venue holds for your guests at an agreed rate.

The strongest version is a hotel that is also the venue. When guests book a room block at The Box House Hotel, the wedding is on the rooftop upstairs and the welcome party and brunch are in the restaurant downstairs, so the getting-ready suites, the ceremony, and the guest rooms are all one elevator ride apart. Out-of-town guests never have to arrange a late-night car, and the couple can offer a range of rooms, from a queen for a solo cousin to a full-kitchen apartment that sleeps six for a family. If you are still deciding on lodging, our guide to how a wedding room block works covers the wording, the numbers, and what to ask, and you can browse the room and apartment options to see what to reserve for the block.

Give guests the booking link and cutoff date early, on the save-the-date if you can, so the block fills before it releases. Note the nearest partner hotels as backup for anyone who books late, and make sure the itinerary lists the one address most guests will call home for the weekend.

What we use to build the welcome bags

We have handed out a lot of welcome bags at the front desk, and the ones that work are built from the same six things. Buy for your guest count plus five, because someone always brings a plus-one you did not plan for.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy through a link below we may make a small commission at no added cost to you. These are the supplies we see couples reuse year after year.

• Kraft gift bags or canvas totes. Bags with handles survive the trip from the front desk to the room. Totes cost more and guests keep them, which is the point if you are printing a date on the side.
• Heavy cardstock for the itinerary cards. The one-page schedule is the most valuable thing in the bag. Print it on stock that will not fold into a pocket and disappear.
• Hydration packets. One per guest, dropped in with the water. The after party runs past midnight and Sunday brunch is at 11 am.
• Travel-size pain reliever and blister bandages. The two things guests ask the front desk for the morning after, in that order.
• Collapsible water bottles. Lighter and cheaper to ship than cases of bottled water, and guests can refill them for the walk to McCarren Park.
• A folding hand truck. Fifty assembled bags weigh more than you think. Whoever is dropping them at the front desk will thank you.

Everything we recommend for a wedding weekend is in one place at our Amazon storefront.