Anyone have AHR before the DW?

[beach2009]

My fiance and I are having a symbolic ceremony at the DW.

 

We are planning on having the legal ceremony at home in our backyard with 40 guests the weekend before the DW. This way we can have our closest family & friends present when we exchange vows for the first time.

 

Has anyone done this sort of AHR? I'd love to hear how it went. Could help us decide on catered event vs. casual BBQ.

 

We're thinking of renting tables/chairs etc and BBQing for the meal. Might consider having it catered if the price is right and doing a BBQ would be too much work.

[BachataBride]

That sounds like a really nice idea!

I'd go for BBQ...but then again I'm a pretty casual girl!

And you're right...catered might be easier if its going to be a burden & a lot of work for someone when they should be enjoying your party!!

[Bisha]

We started out with wanting to do just a ceremony and a small AHR which turned into a full blown wedding of 100 people about 2 weeks before our DW! Although I swore we would never do such a thing, it wound up being loads of fun and looking back, we're both glad we did it since most people couldn't join us in Cancun.

[beach2009]

Hi Amanda, congrats on your wedding!

 

Yes, I'd like to keep it casual with a BBQ. However having it also being the legal ceremony, makes me wonder if we should have it semi-formal with catering... Of course, with less than 4 months to go we may not even be able to get a good caterer... poor planning on our part.

[GracieBebe]

We are having our AHR before our DW. Although we will not be having a ceremony, we rented a picnic area and are going to have a casual bbq. Someone else commented that it is like a Send Off party which I thought was a great way to describe it!

 

Definitely look into catering options. One of our friends found a place that does a full pig roast with sides dishes and all for approx. $20/head. I think that's a great deal! If you decide to do a bbq, I don't think you want to be cooking the whole time during your AHR so maybe hire someone for a couple of hours to do the grilling/cooking if you provide the food and prep. Hope that helps!

[blushingbride]

We are having an AHR or more like a party when we get back from the honeymoon. We opted to do this since it will just be the FI and me going off to get married, no guests so we figured having a small party when we get back will keep everyone "happy."

 

We will be having about 50-75 people (fam & friends) total and we opted for a casual BBQ in his friend's backyard. Sometime during the night, we will also play the wedding ceremony so that they can all feel like they were part of it. We budgeted at around $500, most of it going to food and drinks. We are not having favors or decorations because there will be no time or money for that. Also, we are not requiring guests to bring any gifts. Although knowing our families and friends, some will want to give us money!

 

Times are tough, so any way you all can save money the better.

[beach2009]

Thanks ladies for all the great ideas & suggestions.

So far we've gotten quotes for the table/chair rentals, and we've arranged for a minister. Hopefully we can finalize those details shortly and move on to organizing the meal!

[Geralyn]

We had our AHR/engagement party in November. It was about 160 guests and we had it at a catering hall. After that I am so glad we are getting married away with only 40 guests. The night went so quickly, I barely got to eat or dance, barely got to talk to anyone for more than 5 minutes. Everyone who was there had a great time...I just felt I was running around the whole night having pictures taken and saying hello to everyone.

[August2010Bride]

My fiance and I were going to have a send-off party before the wedding, but decided to go with an AHR after the wedding so that we could show the video and pictures from the wedding.

 

Otherwise, I would have had it before so I could focus on being married once we got back. Either way, I thinks it's great to able to share your day with people who couldn't come.