Today’s topic is going to be all about pre-wedding activities for your guests. I know many of you who are planning your wedding here in Spain would love to include some type of activity for your guests. While a welcome cocktail always is a good idea, you might want to go for something different.
Before becoming a wedding planner, I actually made a living out of planning land arrangements and travel itineraries. I was mainly focusing on group travels, and companies back then, and the companies would always ask for fun activities.
In this post I will give you advice of activities that I think really work the best for groups. Hopefully you can get some ideas for your pre-wedding activities in Barcelona!
Boat cruise or Catamaran cruise
Are you getting married during the summer? Then a boat cruise is ideal. Keep in mind that many boats do get booked up quite a lot of time in advance. It’s something that can be complicated to book in the very last minute. It’s also very common for boat rental companies in Barcelona to take their boats to Mallorca and Ibiza for the summer. This can sometimes limit the boat options a bit here in Barcelona.
You can always go for a Catamaran, which is a really nice alternative since it’s available in different sizes. All from 10 people up to over 100 people. You can either sail just outside of Barcelona, with departure from Port Olímpic harbor with Barcelonas skyline from the sea as a backdrop. If you are based in Sitges for your wedding, there are also boats available there, but in case of it’s also possible to bring the Catamaran from Barcelona to Sitges for an additional fee. If you start your activity from Sitges, you would be starting from the Aiguadolç port, and sail along the Garraf coastline which is very beautiful! You will also be able to have music, free bar and BBQ onboard on some boats. As an additional, you can have a banana boat which is really fun.
I find that boats are the perfect leisure activity, you really get to enjoy the Mediterranean from another perspective than just the beach. People LOVE it. Be ready to have a lot of guests signing up for the activity.
Visit a bodega
Both Barcelona and Sitges are close to the Penedés wine district, where you will be able to visit a vineyard with your guests. There are plenty of bodegas to choose from. Small, more family oriented ones and also bigger, more well known producers. Choose between wines, or cava. Many bodegas actually produce both.
For smaller bodegas, I recommend Bodegas Parès Baltá located in Pacs del Penedés. It’s a family driven relatively small wine and cava producer with ecologic and biodynamic produce. The chemists who make the wines are by tradition always the women of the family. This bodega is a great option for small to medium sized groups, and has a really welcoming atmosphere. They also offer activities such as biking or segway in the vineyards between their bodegas, many types of different tastings, you can also have a typical Catalan brunch on their courtyard together with the wine tasting. Some other activities that they offer are “make your own wine”, or “make your own cava”.
For larger groups, you have Cavas Codorniu, which is a world known Cava producer. It’s located in San Sadurni de Noya. When you arrive there you will be wowed by the environment. Modernist buildings designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch and built between 1902-1915. This place is great for hosting cocktails, or lunches/dinners because there is plenty of room for that both outdoors and indoors.
Guided tours in Barcelona with private guide
A really nice way to let your guests to get to know Barcelona is by having a guided tour. This is very nice if you have many guests who are visiting Barcelona for the first time. Let them discover the beautiful old town with the gothic quarters, the Gaudí architecture, and hidden gems that only locals know about. It can be completely tailor made according to your needs. You can opt for a walking tour in the old town, or have a combined visit done partly by foot and partly in a bus. That way you can also include sites like Parc Güell in your visit, since this site is not located in the city center.
For smaller groups, a tapas tour is a great option. It allows them to enjoy guided tour and some local cuisine at once. The areas I recommend for the tapas tours are a mix of the gothic quarters and El Born. Another different way to do the guided tours is by having a bike tour. These excursions are great for smaller groups of up to 15 people, and there are many different routes to choose from.
There are also great companies who organize really fun team building activities, but they work well also for leisure groups. For example there s the option of having a city treasure hunt in competing team, which is really fun if you are a group where people know each other well because it’s fun to compete and at the same time explore the city. These type of activities are really fun because they usually also have tasks that will make the participants to interact with locals to be able to solve tasks.
How to organize the activities
OK, so now you know a bit of what is possible to do in Barcelona. But how do you actually go ahead and book any of these activities?
I recommend you to book the activities through a local Destination Management Companies (also known as DMC’s) who specialize in activities for groups and companies. Just google “DMC Barcelona” and you will find some options. The same way that you have a wedding planner planning your wedding, you should see them as a planning company that specialized in activities and land arrangements. They will make your day so much easier, they know the area and will make sure everything runs smoothly. Having worked at various destination management companies myself I can give you great and trusted contacts so you can start planning your activities with them. Just ask me, and I will be happy to give you my contacts.
The other option is to book directly with the activity providers. It can be done, but it will require more efforts from you. I also have contacts to companies who organize activities that I can give you if you prefer to contact them directly.
So that’s it for today! I hope you found this post useful! If you need more ideas you can always message me!
