2013 At Home Receptions (AHR's)

[abbacaddaba]

Hey everyone! In two months I will be having my at home reception and I'm turning to you ladies for some guidance and advice! No one in my family or that we even know has done a destination wedding or AHR so I'm kinda going in blind. We rented a pavilion at a local park that holds 120 people and it's right by the water. The park offers a lot of fun stuff to do, paddle boating, canoing, volleyball and basketball. I need tips on fun stuff we can do together and tips on food and keeping everything cool. We thought about buying a kiddy pool and filling it with ice and water bottles/two liters. Were doing BBQ food and salads and snacks. As to specifics on food, we haven't gotten there yet. I've never thrown a party like this before so any advice you guys can give will be appreciated! We will have a slide show, guest book, and Cancun post cards for guests to give newlywed advice. I though about playing the shoe game but am undecided. Do i tell guests on the invite to byob/chairs/coolers? I just feel like the day is going to come and i'll be unprepared/unorganized but i really want it to be just a laid back and fun day for everyone.

 

Any advice you can give will be much appreciated.

[Peach]

Originally Posted by abbacaddaba 

 

Hey everyone! In two months I will be having my at home reception and I'm turning to you ladies for some guidance and advice! No one in my family or that we even know has done a destination wedding or AHR so I'm kinda going in blind. We rented a pavilion at a local park that holds 120 people and it's right by the water. The park offers a lot of fun stuff to do, paddle boating, canoing, volleyball and basketball. I need tips on fun stuff we can do together and tips on food and keeping everything cool. We thought about buying a kiddy pool and filling it with ice and water bottles/two liters. Were doing BBQ food and salads and snacks. As to specifics on food, we haven't gotten there yet. I've never thrown a party like this before so any advice you guys can give will be appreciated! We will have a slide show, guest book, and Cancun post cards for guests to give newlywed advice. I though about playing the shoe game but am undecided. Do i tell guests on the invite to byob/chairs/coolers? I just feel like the day is going to come and i'll be unprepared/unorganized but i really want it to be just a laid back and fun day for everyone.

 

Any advice you can give will be much appreciated.

 

This sounds like exactly what I wanted... before family got involved. Hahaha!

Since the vibe you are going for is casual, you will want the invite to set that tone, so I think it is definitely okay to mention on there that they bring whatever you would like them to bring. What about some simple games, along with the ones the park provides? You could even go all out and have a couple contests (maybe have the prize be something from the destination). Just keep your vision in mind, and it will work out.

Can you have a bonfire? You could do smores. Keep the food simple - salads, BBQ, maybe even squares. Have fun with it!

[soontobeorozco]

Brides I need help!! I want to do an ahr soon after the wedding due to holidays coming up. We are getting married on oct 16 and was thinking 1st or 2 nd week in nov. when do you send invites out.... How far in advance? I we are doing will laid back more like an open house reception. I was gonna use engagement photos for invites due to our wedding photos won't be here yet. Is that cheesy or should I do more formal invites??

[Peach]

Originally Posted by soontobeorozco 

 

Brides I need help!! I want to do an ahr soon after the wedding due to holidays coming up. We are getting married on oct 16 and was thinking 1st or 2 nd week in nov. when do you send invites out.... How far in advance? I we are doing will laid back more like an open house reception. I was gonna use engagement photos for invites due to our wedding photos won't be here yet. Is that cheesy or should I do more formal invites??

Your invites should set the tone for your event. So, if you want a more casual, laid-back reception, casual, laid-back invites should be perfect!

I am sending invites to our AHR in May; it is in August, so I could wait until late June, but I wanted people to know before they took off on summer vacations. So keep the holiday season in mind when planning your AHR. The dates you suggested should sound fine, but I would recommend letting people know a couple months in advance, since schedules get busy shortly after that.

 

Hope that helps!

[SamIAm85]

Our wedding is May 11th and our AHR is June 8th.  Ours will also be more of a laid back open house and party.  I'm sending my invitations out the first week of May (so 5 weeks before)

[sfox4214]

Our wedding is May 29, (we'll be in Jamaica till June 7th) and we're having our reception June 14th. We sent our invites out the first week of March with a RSVP of May 1st. Seems kind of early, but we didn't invite anyone to our wedding besides immediate family and we wanted to get the invites out so that everyone knew we were having a AHR before the bridal shower and bachelor/bachelorette party invites arrived. Plus, we need to have our numbers to our caterer about 2 weeks in advance, and we'll be in Jamaica then ... so I figured, an RSVP of May 1st, gives about a week or two for stragglers and then I can get my final details in order before we leave for the wedding. I used Vistaprint for my invites (with an engagement picture on it btw) and we've gotten tons of compliments  

[sfox4214]

Our wedding is May 29, (we'll be in Jamaica till June 7th) and we're having our reception June 14th. We sent our invites out the first week of March with a RSVP of May 1st. Seems kind of early, but we didn't invite anyone to our wedding besides immediate family and we wanted to get the invites out so that everyone knew we were having a AHR before the bridal shower and bachelor/bachelorette party invites arrived. Plus, we need to have our numbers to our caterer about 2 weeks in advance, and we'll be in Jamaica then ... so I figured, an RSVP of May 1st, gives about a week or two for stragglers and then I can get my final details in order before we leave for the wedding. I used Vistaprint for my invites (with an engagement picture on it btw) and we've gotten tons of compliments  

[soontobeorozco]

Our wedding is May 29, (we'll be in Jamaica till June 7th) and we're having our reception June 14th. We sent our invites out the first week of March with a RSVP of May 1st. Seems kind of early, but we didn't invite anyone to our wedding besides immediate family and we wanted to get the invites out so that everyone knew we were having a AHR before the bridal shower and bachelor/bachelorette party invites arrived. Plus, we need to have our numbers to our caterer about 2 weeks in advance, and we'll be in Jamaica then ... so I figured, an RSVP of May 1st, gives about a week or two for stragglers and then I can get my final details in order before we leave for the wedding. I used Vistaprint for my invites (with an engagement picture on it btw) and we've gotten tons of compliments  

What template did you use on vistaprint? Did you use a booklet to hold invite and RSVP card cause what you did sounds exactly like what I'm trying to figure out

[soontobeorozco]

Our wedding is May 29, (we'll be in Jamaica till June 7th) and we're having our reception June 14th. We sent our invites out the first week of March with a RSVP of May 1st. Seems kind of early, but we didn't invite anyone to our wedding besides immediate family and we wanted to get the invites out so that everyone knew we were having a AHR before the bridal shower and bachelor/bachelorette party invites arrived. Plus, we need to have our numbers to our caterer about 2 weeks in advance, and we'll be in Jamaica then ... so I figured, an RSVP of May 1st, gives about a week or two for stragglers and then I can get my final details in order before we leave for the wedding. I used Vistaprint for my invites (with an engagement picture on it btw) and we've gotten tons of compliments  

What template did you use on vistaprint? Did you use a booklet to hold invite and RSVP card cause what you did sounds exactly like what I'm trying to figure out

[hezmshaw]

I'm thinking of having a party at our house the weekend after just so everyone who missed it can come watch our video if they like! We wanted to do a hotel or venue but its soooo expensive!