Reception party back home?

[destinationbride07]

Quote:

Originally Posted by host maui will be fun for you!

And relaxing

[bonbon78]

We are having a AHM only because the only people coming to our DW is our parents and my brother. I still want to be able to party with my friends! I didn't invite friends because I didn't think they would be able to afford the wedding. But now my mom and I are constantly butting heads on the AHM.

 

For people that are having a AHM, what are you doing about gifts/money?

[KARLA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonbon78 For people that are having a AHM, what are you doing about gifts/money?

Our AHR was pretty much treated as a regular wedding. My husband's mom put the gift registry info on the invitation. Now that I think about it, we got about 75% of our gifts from this reception, either mailed prior to it, or when we were there.

[kay726]

I was not going to have an AHR at first, but after reading all of these posts we decided to have one. It will be an informal crab crack/bbq where people can come and our families can meet each other because for the most part only our parents and a few friends will be attending the wedding. I still wanted to celebrate with my sisters and other people that live locally.

[VALERIE]

We did the AHR thing, and I really wish we wouldn't have. We loved it and had a blast, but it was so not necessary.

 

My biggest mistake was planning it so close to the wedding! We returned late on that Sunday night, and the party was that next Saturday. We hardly had things unpacked and people were at our house ready to stay the weekend!

 

Like I said, it was fun... we did the whole get dressed back up, provide dinner, gt a DJ and dance. Maybe I'm biased though because our DJ sucked! It was also below 0 outside, so people wanted to get home.

 

We were packed up and leaving the reception hall by 11:30 pm and in bed by 1:00 am. If I were to do it again, I would have waited until the summer and had a backyard BBQ.

 

One thing that we did have (that people enjoyed) was a photo slideshow of the entire vacation playing as people walked in and during the cocktail hour. After the dinner, we showed a cut version of the wedding ceremony.

 

We also did the whole gift registry thing. Didn't get much off the lists, but it was still helpful setting up the house.

[tob1kanobe]

We are having a bon-voyage/paper signing party to see us off because I can not even imagine coming back from the wedding and having to oversee another party. My parents have always wanted my grandparents etc to see us get married so we are going to have an informal moment in the party where everyone can watch us officially sign the papers - then we are just doing heavy apps and beer wine sangria and margaritas - possibly a tequilla shot bar - and we are having it at a friends house. About 100 people or so - this was the only way my rent's would let me have a destination wedding and leave the majority of my family out of it. So this fits everyone - and I am having my mom's wedding dress made into a white casual short cocktail dress. Only thing I am making sure of is that the cost stays down and I have to figure out how to word those invites...hmmmm

[MelissaH]

We're having an AHR because there are way too many people we want to celebrate with who won't be able to make it.

We're kind of up in the air about when it's going to be though - I had the same Cinco de Mayo idea, but FH wants to wait until June or July so we can have a big BBQ.

[matty-g]

We are actually planning to have a Sunday Brunch to celebrate with the people who could not make it to the Bahamas. It won't be as expensive as renting out a catering hall instead we are just going to have a brunch in a local classy restaurant.

[BrittneyD]

We are plannign to do something super casual. We will probably have it at the lake with hamburgers and hot dogs. We bring out volley ball nets, and have everyone bring their bathing suits. I did not want a big formal party, so this is the only way I would agree to an AHR.

[Spazz]

We always planned to have an AHR, but it seems like everyone that we want to be at our wedding is definitely coming to Jamaica, so I don't really see the point of stressing myself out and paying a lot more money to have an AHR. It would be different if my best friends or siblings couldn't make it to Jamaica; but since they're all there, I'm happy with just having a DW and no AHR.