Ahr Ideas?

[amarie4713]

We are going to do an AHR when we return from Mexico, but i'm struggling with how much like a "reception" it should be.  Should we do our dances again and wear our wedding gear and stuff? Cake cutting and all that? Or just have a dinner and conversation, maybe a DJ?  

what is everyone else doing?

[loquaciouspunky]

We are going to do an AHR when we return from Mexico, but i'm struggling with how much like a "reception" it should be.  Should we do our dances again and wear our wedding gear and stuff? Cake cutting and all that? Or just have a dinner and conversation, maybe a DJ?  

 

what is everyone else doing?

I've been to one where the couple got married in the Bahamas. They had a reception a month after they returned. They had a dj, appetizers, open bar and she wore her dress. She wanted to get as much use out of it as possible.

 

I'm liking the idea of a brunch with breakfast foods, mimosas (so we have an excuse to drink champagne) and bloody marys and people can just stop in when they want:)

[crspoon10]

We are going to do an AHR when we return from Mexico, but i'm struggling with how much like a "reception" it should be. Should we do our dances again and wear our wedding gear and stuff? Cake cutting and all that? Or just have a dinner and conversation, maybe a DJ?

what is everyone else doing?

 

I've been wondering about this too. I think we're going to have a casual reception, like a backyard party, but still include the cake cutting, dances, etc. And I'd love to get another 'wear' out of my dress! Lol

 

Btw, I love the mimosa and bloody mary brunch idea!! Sounds awesome!

[jackshayne0123]

We are going to do an AHR when we return from Mexico, but i'm struggling with how much like a "reception" it should be.  Should we do our dances again and wear our wedding gear and stuff? Cake cutting and all that? Or just have a dinner and conversation, maybe a DJ?  

what is everyone else doing?

 

I think the AHR can be whatever you want it to be, the great thing is there are no rules! I say make it as fancy and elaborate, or as casual, as you like!

 

We are having a "reception" once we are back, but it's not going to be anything fancy. It will be at the pub by our house (location is important!) LOL they have a private room we can rent out, we will order some appis, they have a screen where we can project our photos and video, just have drinks and hang out! I want to put together a slide show of all the vacation/wedding pictures, and just have it play throughout the evening. We will just send out an email/text blast to our friends, no RSVP required, people can drop by throughout the evening. We want to keep it pretty casual. I wasn't going to wear my dress when we first started talking about this, but now I am kind of changing my mind. Even though it's a pub, it's our wedding party and I may as well!! I probably won't get another chance to wear it, and I'm the bride, dammit, so why not?

[amarie4713]

I agree! I wanna wear my dress, but I still want casual and not too wedding like...because then I don't see the point of having a destination wedding. It will be winter time when we return so it ruins the outside park idea I originally had.

 

What do you think of a send-off party instead of an after reception?

[jackshayne0123]

I agree! I wanna wear my dress, but I still want casual and not too wedding like...because then I don't see the point of having a destination wedding. It will be winter time when we return so it ruins the outside park idea I originally had.

 

What do you think of a send-off party instead of an after reception?

A send off party would be fun, I think that's definitely original, personally I've never heard of anyone doing that. The only question I would have about that is what about your dress? Would you want to wear it and let everyone and your hubby see it? Unless that doesn't matter? But that's definitely a cool idea!

[amarie4713]

No, I wouldn't wear my dress. I thought maybe we could forgo the bridal shower and everything and just do one event as a send off party the weekend before we leave. I haven't ran this by my FI yet though and the AHR was his idea. I just do not want my AHR to come off as a ploy for us to just get gifts since we decided on a small wedding away.  And we're getting married at then end of november, so that puts us right in the midst of holiday season when we return, it could get messy and stressful trying to plan another event right after the wedding. 

 

Also, I have read etiquette posts that say you should not invite anyone to your reception that isn't invited to your wedding? But I feel like that advice might be a little outdated.  Everyone we invited to actual ceremony will be coming because we only invited our very close friends and family. However, i still have aunts and cousins and things that I am fairly close to and would like them to be a part of our wedding. I think I just talked myself into an AHR again

[megthomson]

I love the idea of a brunch AHR! Originally our wedding was going to be in July so we were going to host it at our house and get a tent, tables, etc. but we are now getting married in December so that is out of the question here in New England! We are definitely going to wait until January to get past the holidays but havent gotten much further on it! Looking forward to hearing details of others though!

[amarie4713]

@@megthomson we have the same problem with weather, it will definitely need to be indoors because I don't want to wait 6 months until the weather gets nice! 

[megthomson]

Changes so many things, right?!?  I just don't cost to go nuts because of having a venue fee versus our backyard!