AHR - I need some advice

We are going back and forth on having an AHR, I want to, FI doesnt want to bother. I feel since we are having a small number of guests actually attending the DW that an AHR will make everyone else happy. I have had so many friends and family ask, " you are having an AHR reception right?" So here;s my dilemma...I wanted to have it about 2 weeks after the wedding, which makes the date Dec 29th. Being that it is winter and we tend to get a lot of snow, FI thinks we should wait and have it in the spring!! I am just not sure..Any thoughts suggestions?? I would love to hear what everyone thinks!!

We are having our approx 5 months after the wedding.

We are doing a backyard BBQ style (catered), but still inviting all 250ppl!

I don't think that are any rules or etiquette you need to worry about, just do what you want to do!

Another option for you is maybe a new years eve drop in, if you want your AHR to be close to your wedding.

We are having ours 4 months after the wedding and it is a backyard BBQ style as well. I wanted to have mine sooner but I wanted it in my backyard so we had to push the date to June for warm weather. We are inviting 150ppl. I really like J and G suggestion of having a new years reception but if you want to wait that works too! I also agree and don't think there is any rules that you have to follow it is what ever you and your FI want!

We are having our first AHR on December 30, 9 days after our wedding I did not want to wait till it gets warm
 

We are getting married in Punta Cana on November 4, 2011 and our AHR will be on November 19, 2011. I did not want an AHR but FI, my parents, and his parents did so I was out voted. It is going to be a full blown wedding reception. The only thing missing will be the ceremony! LOL. I don't think it matters if you wait though, I originally wanted to wait till spring or summer & do a BBQ type of thing but again I was out voted! LOL.

Thanks girls...We have decided that we are going to have ours on December 29, 2012 and instead of a full-blown wedding reception we are going to have a Welcome Back Cocktail Reception for all the family and friends that couldn't be with us on our special day!! I appreciate your words...thanks again

Honestly I don't think there are any rules, you can do what you feel like doing. We will have our AHR when we come back from Mexico, probably 2 weeks after. I would like to have it outside but it is too cold in Chicago in October and I didn't want to wait until May.

We did our AHR a week after we returned home from our honeymoon, but we made it more of a party than another wedding reception (we figured we did the whole shebang while we were away, and so we would celebrate it but not replicate it).  We had 200 people, and we did a Sunday afternoon cruise on a yacht with cocktails and a lot of food.  We had toasts, and that was it.  We didn't even have assigned seating, except for limited mobility guests and the wedding party.  All of the wedding party was identified by corsages and boutonnieres, and that was pretty much the extent of it.  I didn't even wear my wedding dress; I wore a short ivory dress instead (I guess it could be classified as a "short wedding dress").

Here's my thought on the AHR: if you want the experience of having a larger reception, by all means have at it.  The way I felt about mine, however, was that it was more for my parents.  I was perfectly content with my DW reception (as was my husband, but he's actually glad we did the AHR now).  In fact, I barely remember my AHR because there were so many people and I was busy running around trying to make sure I spoke with all of them.

Everyone did rave about it though, so it's nice that so many people were happy.

I didn't want any more planning to stress about after our wedding day, plus we return a few days before Christmas, so we had our "AHR" before the wedding, more like a party shower, engagement celebration.  I think with destination weddings, you can do just about anything you'd like.  If you prefer to have something months later, that's okay, it's all in how you word the  invite!

I love that idea of a welcome back cocktail reception!! My FH doesn't want any sort of AHR...but maybe he would be agreeable to something like this, immediately following the wedding...