When it comes to planning your wedding, most of your attention has gone to the big day – we get it! You don’t want to forget about the pre-wedding events, though. As wedding planners, we are always paying attention to these smaller details that help round out your wedding as a whole, so today we’re going to talk about rehearsal dinner venues and welcome party ideas.

There’s no doubt that the rehearsal dinner is the most special of all the pre-wedding events. It’s the kick off to the celebration and sets the tone for the whole wedding weekend. This intimate gathering of your closest circle is a wonderful celebration where you can enjoy a great meal, listen to speeches, and toast to the upcoming nuptials. It’s a chance to say thank you to those closest to you for being a part of your wedding journey. It’s also a perfect opportunity for close family members on both sides of the wedding party to meet, interact, and get to know one another better. 

The Welcome Party is typically open to all of your wedding guests and takes place post rehearsal dinner. If you have a lot of out of town guests, this is a wonderful way to spend more time and connect with your guests before the wedding day (which we all know can go by quickly). It’s usually a more informal setting, so it is a great way for the couple to engage and bond with family and guests casually. 

Wondering our favorite spots for rehearsal dinners and welcome parties in Charlottesville? Here are 6 Charlottesville wedding event venues we would absolutely recommend:

1. The Space Downtown

Located in the historic district of Charlottesville, Virginia, this spot specializes in private dining experience and events. They’ve got a contemporary style with an industrial touch, featuring hardwood floors, comfortable booths, an exposed brick wall, and simple hanging lights inviting ambiance. Their food is delicious – onsite catering makes everything even easier!

2. Level 10

Level 10 is a blank canvas ready for you to make it into whatever you’d like for your rehearsal dinner or welcome party. With a commercial catering kitchen available, you can bring in your favorite caterer to this Downtown Mall venue. This rooftop spot is an indoor/outdoor option with an open-air outside terrace that can be heated if needed.

3. Common House

This irrepressibly cool and stylish venue has multiple event spaces, giving you many elevated modern options for your rehearsal dinner or welcome party. From a billiards room to the rooftop bar, and a guest list of a 15 person plated meal to a full club buyout, Common House can accommodate whatever you need. With their onsite catering, you barely have to worry about anything here!

4. Quirk Hotel Charlottesville

At this point, you’ve probably sensed I love a good rooftop, and Quirk Hotel has a great one! This boutique hotel has 80 upscale rooms and is full of art filled spaces. Their rooftop is a popular space with mountain views, bistro lights, and built in bars. If you don’t want to go with the rooftop, they also have 2 ballrooms and a gallery to choose from, which won’t disappoint.

5. The Forum Hotel

This spot is the newest hotel in the area and it brings a lot to the table as a rehearsal dinner or welcome party space. I love the intimate private dining space of L’Orangerie. With floor to ceiling windows, you get stunning views of the arboretum and gardens. The doors leading out onto the patio allow you to spread out and have drinks outside before dinner. Their onsite culinary team will help you customize your menu, making your evening exactly how you’d like it!

6. Old Metropolitan Hotel

This beautifully restored historic event venue is in downtown Charlottesville on the mall. Still sporting their original early 1900s tin ceiling tiles and gracefully restored architectural details, Old Metropolitan is a stunner! I love the option of starting upstairs in the ballroom with an intimate rehearsal dinner and then moving downstairs to the cellar for a welcome party. (My favorite part of this venue is definitely the black and white checkered floor in the cellar!)

There are so many great spots in Charlottesville, but we can’t list them all! We can’t forget to mention the fun brewery options the city has to offer, though. They are great places to have welcome drinks and gather the night before. One of our favorites is Three Notch’d.

While you might put the majority of your wedding planning focus on the actual wedding day, these pre-wedding events should not be overlooked. Which is why we always recommend utilizing our services for planning these types of events. Our full planning package does include events throughout your entire wedding weekend, but you are able to add on wedding related events to any of our other packages, too.  

Having us do everything creates a seamless and stress free process from beginning to end. Planning for these events still requires research, budget management, checklists, and design. The whole point of a wedding planner is to provide peace of mind – don’t you want that to extend through your entire celebration, all weekend? Let us help!

All photos from respective websites