Anyone do AHR at a private home?

My fiance and I are looking into having our AHR at his parents house, cuz they have alot of property. Our families are huge and we have 267 MUST have people on our list. This doesn't include the friends that I cut but really didn't want to. Ya know, the friends that you go down the shore with in the summer, but don't hear from all winter. They are still my friends, but we don't see each other all the time. Anyway, we decided to have it at Matt's parents house cuz we could possibly add back people that we cut. I was wondering if anyone has done this type of party and what the cost was. We want it to be nice, but not formal. Matt is supposed to be finding this info out, which is why I don't know, and I am trying not to step on his toes and let him do it, but it's driving me crazy. Sorry, this post is kinda all over the place.

Hey there Carly! We are also having our AHR at my parent's home. They just built a new house and have a great yard that would suit our needs. We are not having nearly as many people as you are but we are having a caterer come out and have a pig roast as well. Good luck planning!

Have you made sure his parents were OK with hosting? I'm having 2 AHR's. One in texas where all my family is & one in North carolina where I live now. A friend offered to throw us the NC AHR at her house. I was so excited, because our place is too small. I plan on helping out with stuff like buying a keg of corona, making salsa, etc. It's a mexican themed party. We are even getting a pinata. I'm really excited about it, because it will be really casual.

I'm worried about the texas reception. I don't want to have to plan a traditional reception. I'm trying to avoid that stuff with a DW. I want something casual & a house party would be great, but I'd need someone to volunteer their house. We may have too many people coming to the texas party for anyone to host. We'll probably rent out a place, but I'm just really hoping it doesnt turn into a full blown reception. We've also talked about a BBQ in the park. I'd rather do something like that. But, I really want to show the video. So, I don't know what to do. For some reason the thought of a big formal reception with 200 people make's me feel sick. If I could have it at a family members house who had a lot of land, I'd be thrilled.

Tom is part-owner of an oyster bar here with a huge rooftop deck, so our SC AHR will be there ... very casual, with open bar and low-country boil. Our MD AHR will either be at someone's house or we'll rent a military base hall since they are so cheap ... and we can still bring in our own stuff. So both should be relatively low-cost regardless of our guest list.

You know, I will have probably emailed out the video before the AHR anyway. We are most likely having it 2 months after the wedding. I like the idea of having it on a CD. We can make DVDs too for family without computers. It would be cool to project it onto a wall or something like those outdoor movies. I'll look around for places where we can do something like that. My FI's mom works for parks & rec so she'll know more about it. Sorry, not trying the threadjack.

Yes, a nice picnic sounds like fun. If catering seems too expensive, there are other options. My cousin bought precooked food from sam's & reheated it for her wedding. It was just as good as catered BBQ. I think there were more like 75 people. Over 200 may be too hard to do without catering. Maybe you can just cater the main course & do your own sides. What about places like boston market where you pick up cooked chicken? I have no idea how expensive they are.

yeah, I think it just depends on what you want to do. What kind of "theme" you're going for.

Monica's AHR is going to be at my FIL's winery out in the country. It's a pretty good sized piece of land. Huge outdoor deck etc. They are renting a tent (which I think is unnecessary - but her parents really want it) as well as all the table and chairs. I think that's about it for rentals. The tent is the most expensive item at just under $500. And after some serious shopping around they found a fairly good deal on the tables/chairs & tablecloths. Don't know the exact numbers on that though. They are not renting dishes, glassware etc.

They are catering in bbq, having a fairly traditional wedding cake (another non-negotiable w/ the parents) serving beer (kegs) and wine that my FIL is giving them as their wedding gift. They also have a small band (3 piece I think) playing for a few hours and a photog for a couple hours for some good family pics and such.

This is a rough estimate - but I'd say they're probably spending about $2500 (give or take - more likely give! lol!) on the whole thing with about 75 guests. They've lucked out not having to pay for the wine, the venue itself and a few other items but it's still turning out to be a fairly big deal.

Think long and hard about what you want, what you want to spend and all that before you decide anything. Over 200 people is a lot to have at someone's home. Think about the line for the bathroom! lol! j/k! That being said, I think it's a great idea, adds a personal touch and certainly does save you the large cost of renting a venue.

Yeah, I was hoping we would probably rent port-a-potties or something, cuz the bathroom would be ridic. People would be sneaking off to do their business in the woods! I can't beleive they got a tent for under $500! I am researching it now and to rent one for the amount of people that we need is WAY more then that! Oh well. I guess I will jsut price it all out and then decide what we will do.

Carly - there's a party rental place in Chalfont that is reasonably priced....we used them for my brother's wedding a couple years ago. I think we got chairs, tables & tent - don't remember pricing info. Check them out though - Bucks Mont Party Center. Here's their website: Welcome To Bucks Mont Party Center Party Rental and Tent Rentals