Is anyone not having a traditional wedding reception?

Hello, my FH and I decided that we wanted to do a simple wedding in Hawaii next year. We thought that there would only be a few family members willing to come, so we had decided that we would do a day before the wedding luncheon and pay for everyone to attend a luau after the wedding. I really liked the idea of doing something different like the luau, but now our guest list is already up to 34 and we still have a year to go! I'm afraid that people will be expecting a traditional reception but we both still really want to keep it simple and just do the luncheon and luau. Does that sound cheesy? Is anyone else doing something other then a traditional reception?

Congratulations on the engagement!

To me it sounds great! I would love to have done a luau but when my FI and I went to one on the Big Island (keep in mind it was at the Hilton) it was almost $90 per person! And when I looking into doing a private one for a wedding reception they seemed kind of expensive. Depends on what your budget is I suppose. At the end of the day, it is your wedding and YOU and your FI have to look back and say it was everything you wanted it to be. People will just be happy to be there!

Recently I attended a wedding (in Melbourne Australia) and they did a sort of cocktail reception and then little chinese style boxes of fish and chips (a fav for the Aussie's and Kiwi's) and lots of finger foods. I really enjoyed that and it was the kind of vibe we are looking to make for our wedding.

Your idea sounds perfect to me and not cheesy at all!

Sounds good to me too...

We a having a morning wedding, and will just be having cake/punch reception where we will just cut the cake.

We have a really small group and I don't want to shell out a bunch of money to reserve space or servers for such a small party. We're going to just make reservations at the restaurant at the resort and I'll bring a couple small table decorations, maybe sashes for the chairs that can be assembled and disassembled quickly.

I think for your group size your plan of a luau sounds perfect. Besides, it's a great chance for all your guests to get lei'd!

(sorry-couldn't resist )

We're only having 6 guests, so we're just planning on going to a restaurant after the ceremony and paying for everyone's dinner.

That is perfect. Do what YOU want and it will be perfect. A DW in and of itself isn't 'traditional' so there are no rules about the reception either!

We had a fun beach reception and then partied at one of the bars afterwards .... then a totally informal AHR a month after our return home.

We are having our reception in the early evening... doing a short hour long cocktail hour; then dinner at the buffet at our AI and then off to the disco. We only have 8 people coming outside of our wedding party attending; so we are keeping it casual... It's a lot less stress, expensive and more casual - which fits our wedding.

Do whatever your vision is...

We aren't doing the traditional reception. The point of our DW was to keep it simple for everyone. All of our guests are just happy to be going on vacation and they just chose to take it at our location of our wedding. Plus its an AI so we are planning on having dinner together afterwards but I didnt want to worry about decorating a reception area.

Same here..no traditional/formal reception either. We'll be having a cocktail hour with some finger foods and the cake cutting..then peeps are free to go back to enjoying their trips.

I agree that you should do what makes you happy. One of my girlfriends who had a destination wedding organized dinner for us then we were free to do whatever we wanted. Most of us were so tired from the days events that we went to bed!