is anyone not having an AHR???

[sunstarsmoon]

We are not having one. This is the 2nd marriage for both of us and could not justify spending the extra money. We are planning on using that money to extend our stay to 2 weeks instead of 1

[BeautifulBridetoBe]

Not having one either, but it evolved that way.

 

At first, we thought of having what I called a "pre-ception" - I envisioned a Jack and Jill shower prior to the wedding, inviting only those who could not make it. We thought of having it at a museum or small restaurant...we pick a set menu and pick up the tab.

 

Then we started getting our RSVPs back...and realized that those who weren't coming to the wedding were really courtesy invites....we realized that the majority of those we invited to the wedding period were courtesy invites! A destinaton wedding is a hard sell...so we invited many people out of respect, knowing that they would not make it.

 

At the end of the day, those closest were coming...so we decided not to incur the added expense.

 

So no AHR...and I am quite happy about it!

[sarafish81]

We aren't having one either, much to the disappointment of some. Our wedding is very small - only 15 people including my FI and myself. For us, a factor in having a DW was the cost savings...to spend money on an AHR kind of defeats the purpose. My family threw us an engagement party (for those not invited to the wedding) which was kind of a pre-AHR I suppose.

[jennierin]

No AHR here. One bonus of FI and I having a DW was to save $$$; and seeing as though the reception is usually what costs the most, it would be pointless to have one. We are planning on having a party back home at our house...more like a Christmas party but with the extra added bonus of having everyone celebrate our marriage. My MOH has already mentioned that she will be throwing us a Jack and Jill this summer...a pre-celebration! It's not to say that I wouldn't LOVE to have an AHR, but, it's just not in the budget!

[PaddleAddict]

Nope, we are not doing an AHR. For us, the whole point of getting married away was to keep it small and intimate. We have no desire to have an AHR.

 

However, after the honeymoon, we will probably host a casual BBQ at our home for those who couldn't make it (grandparents, etc.) and show them pictures from the wedding.

[Erika J]

My FMIL family is mostly in Maui and my parents were not exicited about having the DW there. Due to the large amount of them being there and so few Haolies (us). So we settled on a more nuetral DW in Cabo.

 

So for the Maui fam who can't make it(flights are $1500.00 alone and it is farming season for them), FI and I decided to travel there for a few days of the honeymoon (about 6 mo after wedding) have a family BBQ. We will then island hop for some alone time.

 

Nothing for an AHR acutally back at home in Colorado.

[nickicolb123]

We aren't having one either. We usually have a big birthday bash for my FH so i think that we will just do that and have our album for people to see if they want

[binzer]

My FI and I originally planned on having one b/c there are about 10-15 people who aren't coming that we really wanted to include in some way (our DW is about 20 people). However, my FI has a lot of family (cousins and such) and we feel that if we had an AHR we'd have to invite about 150 people. It doesn't really seem worth spending tons of money on an 150 person AHR when we only actually care if 10 of the people are even there.

 

I just hope no one hates me for life! I'm going to my friend's wedding this summer (in my home town) and I feel terrible because she wasn't invited to my DW (and we've been friends since grade 3). I didn't invite any friends except my BMs, but it still feels awkward :S

[Carolyn]

We aren't having a AHR. We just couldn't afford. We need to purchase a home after the wedding. A home is more important to us.

[kiki317]

We were oroginally planning and AHR- we both have big extended family but only our immediate families are coming to the DW. So we would have had about 100 people for an AHR, so after i started planning it, we realized we just don't have the money. This really, really upset me at first but it's sinking in now. I am thrilled to be having a DW. We didn't have an engagement party, and i'm not having a shower- pretty much my entire family is broke so I don't want to make any body break the bank for parties. I figure making them go to Mexico is enough!

we'll probably have a BBQ/ pool party at the house over the summer.