AHR blues...

nscaper · May 3, 2009

I too am in a predicament about whether to do the AHR or not.

We recently (April 21st, 2009) got married in Jamaica. We originally said no to AHR because we wanted to put that money towards wedding things and have the best wedding down there we could since our guests (26 people) travelled so far. We thought about doing a backyard BBQ but even that was a maybe.

However, while the wedding (ceremony) was fantastic, the reception and rest of day were not my "dream" wedding (I haven't done a review yet, but I am working on it). We skimped on things down there to save money that made me unhappy after the time. I was left wanting more.

So upon arriving back home, DH said we can do whatever I want (within limits) since he knew I wasn't 100% happy with the reception in Jamaica, I think he was thinking about just a backyard BBQ relatively soon (we even started thinking about menu - Jamaican jerk chicken, appleton rum and rum cake!), but the more I think about guest list, the more I realize my backyard is too small for what I picture! And I don't know if I could wear my dress again in the backyard! (although I really want to wear it again!)

So now I'm thinking about going bigger, and more formal. But that comes with a bigger pricetag, which defeats the whole purpose of doing things cheaper down south! I'm a student right now and money is tight.

I love BDW but it puts too many thoughts into my head sometimes :S

I'm torn.

seaprincess · May 3, 2009

I had similar feeling after our wedding....although I loved our location, ceremony, dinner etc. We missed out on the dance and I LOVE to dance so that was a bit dissapointing. Our AHR totally made up for that part and was alot of fun b/c there was no stress surrounding it! I partied my butt off and wore my dress again. The only reason we did it though was b/c my mom insisted and paid for it. It cost about $3000 for a cocktail reception with host wine... not free but it was worth it!

August2010Bride · May 3, 2009

I think you could do something affordable. Ours is going to be around $2000 for a semi-formal reception at a hall we are going to rent. We will serve heavy hor 'devors and dance the night away.

You could even push your AHR back another month in order to save up a little bit...

Don't get discouraged.