Multi-day wedding celebrations are becoming increasingly popular, and it’s easy to see why. A wedding that stretches over two or three days is ideal if you have guests who’re travelling from overseas or from different corners of the UK, giving them the chance to get to know each other properly instead of diving straight into the ceremony. When planning a multi-day wedding, start the party the evening before with a relaxed welcome dinner or drinks, build breathing space into the wedding day itself, and bring everyone back together the next morning before you say your goodbyes.
Dreaming of a wedding that stretches across multiple days?
More and more couples are now turning their wedding into two to three midweek days or a weekend, giving them plenty of time to socialise and celebrate with the people who matter most – rather than rushing from canapes to cutting the cake in one long blur.
Here’s how to plan a multi-day wedding celebration that everyone will love.
This is more important than it might initially sound. Many wedding venues operate back-to-back weddings, which means that while you may be able to stay overnight, behind the scenes the venue needs to be reset and ready for another wedding the following day.
If you want a true multi-day wedding, look for a venue that gives you the time and freedom to make it your own for longer. Check whether you can arrive the day before, settle into the accommodation, enjoy dinner together, and perhaps even hold a wedding rehearsal. And after the wedding, ensure that you can wake up together, linger over breakfast, or even continue the celebrations the next day.
Ask exactly when your exclusive venue hire begins and ends, whether another wedding will take place immediately before or after yours, and what access you will have to the venue and its different spaces throughout your stay..
The evening before your wedding is the perfect opportunity to get everyone together. Both of your families and friendship groups will have a proper chance to meet and socialise before the ceremony, rather than simply bumping into each other as they’re taking their seats.
This is especially important if you’re planning an international wedding or if your loved ones have never met before, as it will help everyone to feel like part of one celebration rather than two separate groups of guests. It also takes the pressure off you on the day, as you won’t need to make introductions between courses.
Here are a few ways you can bring everyone together the night before:
At Solton Manor, we can arrange a private chef for your relaxed welcome dinner, or set you up with wood-fired pizza and drinks on the lawns as your guests arrive. However you want to spend your first evening together, our team will make sure it’s the perfect kick-off to your celebrations.
The day of your wedding shouldn’t be a rushed blur. You want to make sure you pace your wedding day so that it doesn’t just feel like a long checklist to tick off.
You could slow down the pace of the day by:
Our manicured lawns and nine acres of picturesque gardens provide the perfect base for golden-hour drinks or a spot of croquet. We can also open our outdoor horsebox bar an hour before dinner to give your day some breathing space with a relaxed cocktail hour.
Once the reception gets underway, it’s natural for everyone’s energy to dip at some point. Some tasty late-night food will keep your guests on the dance floor for longer. You don’t need to plan anything elaborate, just something easy that stops your guests from running out of steam.
Our favourite evening treats include:
At Solton Manor, we partner with some fantastic late-night food trucks to keep your guests partying all night long, and we can also put on a delicious spread inside The Dutch Barn. Just let us know what you fancy and we’ll help you plan it in.
The morning after your wedding can feel like an abrupt ending if everyone just checks out of their accommodation and heads home straightaway. Arrange one final gathering so that your celebrations have a proper close and you get the chance to say goodbye to everyone properly.
You could organise:
With luxurious onsite accommodation for up to 30 guests across the Solton Manor House and The Dovecote Cottage, your whole wedding party can wake up together the next morning, ready for a relaxed brunch or a walk through the grounds before you part ways.
FAQs
Wedding guests are increasingly travelling from further afield or even overseas, so a single wedding day just doesn’t give everyone enough time together. If you spread the celebrations across a few days, both sets of families and friends can meet properly. Plus, it also takes the pressure off the wedding day itself, as everyone is more relaxed after spending an evening together.
A relaxed welcome dinner is a popular choice for the night before the wedding, for example tucking into delicious food served by a private chef. The ultimate goal of the night before is to introduce each other properly, so that your guests feel like one group by the time the ceremony starts.
Hiring a venue with onsite accommodation will make planning your multi-day wedding much easier. If everyone stays overnight in the same place, you can plan a relaxed welcome dinner or drinks the evening before and a morning-after brunch, without your guests needing to travel between venues.
A multi-day wedding isn’t necessarily more expensive than a one-day wedding. Many of the best additional moments, like a relaxed welcome dinner or a shared brunch, are easy to plan and relatively low-cost. Look for a venue that offers a dedicated multi-day wedding package to help get the best value out of your celebrations.
The best days to plan a multi-day wedding over include:
