Ahr Ideas?

[acw271011]

we had an AHR 2 weeks after getting married in Jamaica and it was great! we had a super night and it was worth it!! we didn't have a large group - only 30. we found a restaurant that had a semi private room that worked perfectly for our size group. I wore my dress again, my hubby wore the tux he hadn't been able to wear in Jamaica because it was too hot, we did a first dance again and a small cake to cut and had a DJ. I also got a fabulous deal on a photographer and had all the family and friends photos done that we had missed in Jamaica. we did a dinner, with appetizers to start. there are people that still say that it was the best reception they've even been to, and it has now been just over 2 years! I think it's a great idea especially if you have a lot of people that can't make it to the destination wedding. finances are tight for everyone nowadays. just my two cents worth. hope it helps. and yes, there definitely are no hard and fast rules. you can pretty much do whatever you want. as long as you have fun! that's all that counts!

[nettybon]

Love the brunch idea!

 

I don't want to spend a lot of money for an AHR!

[megan224]

We are doing our reception as a casual wedding reception.  We are wearing what we did for the wedding and the first dance, but skipping the cake part- we are doing a dessert table instead.  we hired a dj too so it should be a fun time!

[Geraldine]

Actually choosing AHR is something that can help us save ample amount of money for the reception charges. We can also do dances and other traditional things at home and we can be flexible with our schedules. The main problem with AHR is the organazing and reorganizing our home to rightly fit for the occasion.

[jackshayne0123]

Hey everyone! I wanted to check back - we had our AHR last Saturday night and we had a blast! As I mentioned before it wasn't anything fancy, at a pub close to our house, we had a private room, we invited whoever wanted to come, didn't do formal invites, just email and text messages, 35 people showed up! We had a slideshow of the pictures and played the video, we got a few balloons to decorate, a cake from Costco, we bought appetizer platters for our group, spent about $300, and that's it! We wore our wedding attire, yes I wore my dress to a pub, classy I know LOL. We had a great night, it was awesome to see everyone, and mostly everyone who came was unable to make it to the wedding, so it was awesome to see those people and include them too. A great time was had by all

[SLetendre]

Hi everyone! You have some great ideas on here. I am torn about our AHR as well. We put on the invites 1-4pm because we want it to just be a casual drop in thing at my sisters place (hopefully outside as it will be July but you never know with Canadian weather). But my FI is concerned about what people are going to do... We will have our wedding photos playing on the TV likely and will have some appetizer foods served and some drinks. We are having a friend there to photograph as well, so people can use the opportunity to get a family photo done as well. Oh and we will have our guest book there for everyone to sign of course. Do you think that is enough? He is worried people won't have anything to do, mostly he means people who aren't family that don't know everyone else. I'm not sure if I should be trying to plan somethng else, but even if I did I have no idea what... Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

Our wedding is in Mexico so maybe we could make it some kind of Mexican Fiesta for those that missed out!

[jackshayne0123]

@@SLetendre that sounds like a fun party! You could do a Mexican fiesta, that would be so fun! I honestly wouldn't worry about people not knowing each other, or not having anything to do. It's a party, there's food, drinks, people to socialize with, everyone will make friends and chat with each other! I don't think you need to worry about entertaining them, if you have the pictures, guest book, you'll be talking about the wedding and all the awesome memories you made, all the good times, people will be happy to hear all about it and they will be so excited and happy for you!

[SLetendre]

@@SLetendre that sounds like a fun party! You could do a Mexican fiesta, that would be so fun! I honestly wouldn't worry about people not knowing each other, or not having anything to do. It's a party, there's food, drinks, people to socialize with, everyone will make friends and chat with each other! I don't think you need to worry about entertaining them, if you have the pictures, guest book, you'll be talking about the wedding and all the awesome memories you made, all the good times, people will be happy to hear all about it and they will be so excited and happy for you!

 

That was what I had thought, now just to convince him it will be okay!

[jackshayne0123]

It will totally be ok! You'll have to play host of course and introduce people who don't know each other, but they will all have a common connection - you and your husband! They all love you and are there to celebrate, so they will make small talk and enjoy the party! Just keep the margaritas flowing

[csho]

We are doing ours a little differently. I know most people have an AHR, however, we are having a second wedding ceremony. My FI really wanted to get married in the Catholic church but he knew that was not my dream at all and that I really wanted to get married on the beach. So we have decided to have our wedding in Cuba with our big reception, dinner, dancing etc there. And then we will also be having a ceremony at home in the Catholic church but we will just be doing a small dessert reception afterwards for 2 hours.

 

I haven't really planned this part of the wedding at all yet other then ordering some cupcakes lol! I am not sure if we should plan to do things, like if we should do a few small speeches, a "first" dance, or cake cutting? My cousin did something similar for his wedding because they were on a limited budget and it was really fun and they did speeches, a slide show and cake cutting, but it was also their only wedding. So I am not sure if we should that stuff or just mingle with people. Any ideas?