At home reception?????

That is a good idea. I have not looked into caterers yet but have heard from a few friends of a few places that quote reasonable prices. I am just worrying about having a place for everyone to sit if we do a full meal.

We'll be hiring caterers for an afternoon BBQ at our place, nothing fancy.

HappyGilmore, I love that card box. The scratch and dent is a great idea!! You could totally decorate it the way you want. So cute!

I was wondering how far after the wedding you all think is appropriate to have an AHR. We need to have two - FI is from IL, and since we live in WI, we can probably do that one right away after getting back, but I'm from MA. Due to our work schedules, the earliest we'd be able to get out there to do an AHR would be November - our wedding is in July! Do you think this is too late??

KennyNicole, I was just going to invite family. Make them very small. Friends who want to see the video or whatever can just come over for dinner and see it. We aren't really wanting gifts, so we're not going to make it a formal things where our friends and family feel pressured to shell out. I'm kind of looking at it - especially the MA one, as more of a family get together than a reception - I think we'd even make it a bbq if we could.

My fiance and I agreed to plan the AHR when we return from Mexico. The planning for the wedding alone is a tad stressful. One of our friends actually suggested it and it seems to make sense and ease loads of stress. Just a thought.

I don't know what to do about that either. We actually have about 40 people attending our wedding. I think in our case most people are coming (surprisingly). So now we are spending a lot more money. I don't think we can swing an ATR. Maybe we can have a small party at our house for the people who can't come?

We actually changed our mind on the AHR. We decided a couple of months ago not to do after all. It's too much stress, and most importantly too $$. We have more important things to save for(HOUSE!). If anyone wants to congratulate us, they can stop by our place. I'm so happy we decided not to do it because I was stressing out bigtime about it. Just not worth it to us. The most important people to us will be there in Mexico, so that's really all that matters.

Good Luck everyone!

i think this is a great post! we are also having a AHR although we're calling it a welcome back party. that's exactly what it's going to be! we both come from Hispanic backgrounds so our families love to party hard! so really...i'm just getting the wedding that i want at an affordable price and making everyone else "happy" with offering them "free food and drinks" for one night. i know it sounds horrible, but i do have quite a few family members who who just attend these kinds of events for the food and liquor.

but anyway...we also want to be able to share pictures and video with all of the other people who actually care and just could not afford to make it. we are def not spending a lot of $ on it. i think we're going to spend like $3,000 for AHR.

To everyone planning the AHR

Just had mine on the weekend.. We were married on Feb 6th, got home Feb 16, had the reception March 7th for a 130 people

(church blessing - catholic at 6:30, toast/speeches at 8, dance with late lunch)

Honestly I though I was gonna go nuts, it was WAAAYYY more work then the wedding.. and I did it ALL myself. My FI helped when asked, but I am bad at asking for help, I'll just do stuff myself...

When it was all said and done... IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!! It was the best time! Some of the bar details came up all night, but I had given my FI & his family that headache, so everytime anyone asked, I told them to talk to my FI... it was GREAT.

So girls don't worry they stress and the heachaches and then never ending list of CRAP TO DO!! it will be worth it. Wearing the dress a second time was more fun than the first.. We are all getting married twice!! To the same guy!! who gets to do that!

So to everyone who is stressing... don't sweat the small stuff, and delegate the night of the AHR. All I know my AHR was more like a house party with 130 of my closest friends... (I think the $2/drinks helped.. hee hee)

We are doing a AHR just like a normal wedding reception. I will wear my dress, we will have a DJ. It won't be decorated fancy....we are doing fiesta theme..taco bar, beer, margaritas. Cactus for decoration on the tables with chips and salsa.