Do We need to have a reception at home after?

[nikkicraig10]

I am so torn between having one and not having one. And my having an AHR is definitely for MY OWN selfish reasons, not to please people that can't make it to mexico. On one hand I'd love to celebrate more, put the dress back on, get my hair done again, dance the night away and be the centre of attention for just one more night of my life. (We don't plan on having kids, so no more showers, no more attention, this is it, haha!) - but on the other hand, it is a huge added cost, and we do want to eventually buy a place. We only invited 52 people to our DW, (didn't want a huge group), so there would be a lot more guests to invite to the AHR.

 

I've tried to narrow it down to cheaper options, a smaller hall for $400, a cocktail reception with appies only and no dinner, a $450-$500 DJ, no photobooth, $2 drink bar, cupcakes (no big cake), minimal decor.... $2000 max? (Am i dreaming?)....

 

I guess I just don't want to regret NOT having one, cuz I've been to one DW with an AHR, and the AHR was a lot of fun!!

[kmk2016]

We aren't having one. Our families are all healthy enough (thankfully) to travel should they choose- and everyone we love is invited to attend our DW. If people choose not to attend, we aren't doing another party at home for them to attend. If something terrible happens and someone can not attend who we a really want to be a part of our day- we will have a love stream webcast made available of our ceremony.

 

 

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[stefadile]

I am so torn between having one and not having one. And my having an AHR is definitely for MY OWN selfish reasons, not to please people that can't make it to mexico. On one hand I'd love to celebrate more, put the dress back on, get my hair done again, dance the night away and be the centre of attention for just one more night of my life. (We don't plan on having kids, so no more showers, no more attention, this is it, haha!) - but on the other hand, it is a huge added cost, and we do want to eventually buy a place. We only invited 52 people to our DW, (didn't want a huge group), so there would be a lot more guests to invite to the AHR.

 

I've tried to narrow it down to cheaper options, a smaller hall for $400, a cocktail reception with appies only and no dinner, a $450-$500 DJ, no photobooth, $2 drink bar, cupcakes (no big cake), minimal decor.... $2000 max? (Am i dreaming?)....

 

 

 

 

I guess I just don't want to regret NOT having one, cuz I've been to one DW with an AHR, and the AHR was a lot of fun!!

 

Go for it, you only get married once, and it sounds like you want to have one:-) we're having one, and it's costing about the same $2000, we budgeted for it in the beginning.

You don't want to look back and think, oh I wish we had done this or that....

[DawnBP]

We feel its important to celebrate with friends back home so we budgeted it in from the beginning.

 

For our wedding day, we wanted a very small intimate wedding with only immediate family, which is wwhat we are having (10 of us in total, parents and siblings). We were both nervous about speeches and all the formal stuff in front of say 60+ people so we decided to have a small tropical wedding

 

However we wanted to throw a huge party when we get back for all our friends and family but without anything formal so a party with a DJ, food, lots of dancing

[BusyBee280]

We origionally didn't want to do an AHR due to the lack of cash also-- However, with so many people unable to make it due to finances, we really wanted to do SOMETHING for everyone else too. So we decided to rent a private room in a bar, someplace that has a projector screen so we can show our wedding video, and a video from other parts of our trip (the resort, day trip etc)

 

Luckily, we found a cheaper way out of it. We went to a local bar, and they are letting us rent out a private room for $150, with appitizers around $1.50- $3 per person. We are still debating rather we are willing to purchase a drink for everyone or not. My FI is against it lol

 

We found another bar that states if our group spends more than 600 dollars in food and drinks, then the room is free! Even if 50% of our group bought one drink, and we purchased some appitizers for everyone, it would only end up costing us around 300 dollars..

[nikkicraig10]

@@BusyBee280 That's a great idea!!

[stefadile]

@@BusyBee280 that is such a great idea, pity there's no bars in Ireland willing to do that!! :-(