Have you attended an afternoon reception?

[little miss sunshine]

So, we are having a Saturday afternoon reception (12 - 5) at a country club in the suburban philly area. I chose a daytime reception because it was way less expensive and most of our familiy is within a 2 hour driving radius and I thought it would be nice for them to be able to make a day of it without having to leave early or get home super late.

However, the problem that I am running into is what to do afterwards with our college friends who will be coming from either nyc or philly. Part of me doesn''t really care, it''s going to be an exausting day and I would be more than happy to just relax. But another part of me (the 25 year old part) wants to plan something for Saturday night, informal and relaxed, to just celebrate with my friends.

If you have been to an afternoon reception, please share if you did anything that evening with the bride and groom (or if you have any thoughts/ideas)... Thanks!!

 

[iheartscience]

I went to a brunch reception at a country club last year. I think it was from 11ish-2ish? They served breakfasty food which was fun-I had never been to a brunch reception before. I don''t think they did anything afterwards, but it got out earlier than yours will, so it''s not like everyone could have gone out for drinks at 2 o''clock. (Well, they could have, but you know what I''m saying!)

If you think your friends would be doing something anyway, I think it makes sense to make plans with them to meet up after the wedding and hang out. Maybe you can make it informal? Like you''ll meet up if you feel like it?

However, I would imagine that you''ll be beyond exhausted! Getting up early to get ready, the wedding itself, a 5 hour reception...going out would be the last thing I would want to do! I think if you make it informal you won''t feel obligated if you just aren''t up to it, though.

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi LMS,

We''re getting married on the same day! So is Sabine. Anyway, I''m in a similar position as you and I can tell you what we''re thinking of doing. Our ceremony is at 11:00 and the cocktail hour and reception are immediately following (everything''s at the same venue). Our reception needs to end by 4:30 so the venue, a restaurant, can set up for its regular dinner schedule. There''s a restaurant that happens to be on the same property that the hotel is on. I think we''re going to have an after party there, again, maybe 1-2 hours after the reception ends. I''m not sure if it''s customary to have an after party immediately after the reception ends but I know we''ll want to relax and change out of our wedding attire before heading to the restaurant, and we figure maybe guests will want to as well. We''re just going to provide bar food for guests to munch on. People will be on their own for drinks.

We''re getting married in a popular beach community and we had wanted to tie in the area''s attractions with the wedding somehow. We were originally considering going on a cocktail boat cruise after the wedding (maybe 1-2 hours afterwards so guests could return to the hotel and change). We went on one of these cruises over the summer so we could see what it was like. I''m glad we checked it out because I felt sea sick the whole time. I can''t remember where you''re getting married, but if there''s something around you like this and you''re not prone to motion sickness like I am, I''d recommend looking into it. I love the idea and wish I could do it.

The only "problem" I see with hosting an after party at a restaurant, etc., is that it''s one more thing for you to plan. There''s the matter of booking and paying for a private room (we''re going to do that but I suppose it''s not necessary) and planning what food you''d like to have. Sound familiar? I thought being responsible for planning these types of things was supposed to end after the wedding.

 

[Munchkin]

We attended an afternoon reception a year ago. We didn''t do anything with the couple, but we were ''work friends.'' If it were a family member or close friend''s wedding, I am sure we would have hung out after. I don''t think it would have to be anything formally planned, however. We would be thrilled to go to someone''s home for a cookout and board game fest. Likewise, simply planning to meet up at a local bar would be a blast.

Some additional plusses to an afternoon reception: NO ONE drank as much as at an evening reception. (Huge budget helper!) People ate fewer apps. People still danced and enjoyed themselves. Everyone stayed until the end. The bride and groom had some time to decompress that afternoon and had extra time to say good-bye to guests.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed myself. It was strange to walk out of a wedding reception and be greeted by daylight!

 

[partyjewels]

FI and I attended an afternoon reception this past July. We didn't stay for too long as we actually had another wedding we needed to rush off to attend (the first wedding was a friend of mine, the other a friend of his, we didn't want to split up but we also didn't want to miss one so we managed both Anywho, if we had stuck around I'm sure it would've been a nice time, and I know that the bride and groom had their families and close friends over to.. I'm not sure where it was exactly, someones house.... for a night of bon fire, a hot tub and drinks. The pictures looked like lots of fun!!

I was contemplating having an afternoon reception because I didn't want to have to deal with dancing because I know people are going to accuse me of being a party pooper at my own wedding when I don't want to dance. That and I thought it would be fun to have a little get together with everyone, and then do what my friend did, have our close friends and close family that we see all the time could come over for a bonfire afterwards and drinks and snacks... because thats what FI and I do when we've got nice weather in wisconsin! We aren't going to be doing it that way though, but I still think it'd be lots of fun! Also, if we HAD done it that way, I would've tried to work it out so I had the money to also cater in some BBQ for the after party, or lots of pizzas!

ETA: Board games would be great too! Basically our afterparty would've ended up being like the b-day party we try to have for my FI every year. Fire, Drinks, Snacks/Food, games and good conversation! I'm hoping we can have our reception end up like this (minus the fire cause it's indoors!).

 

[monarch64]

We had an afternoon reception on a Sunday and the event was finished by 5:30 p.m. A lot of our OOT friends and even local friends had taken the next day off, so we all headed to the hotel nearby where DH and I were spending the night. There was a beautiful lounge and piano bar on the main floor, and not much going on hotel-wise since it was a Sunday evening. We took advantage of that and spent a few hours there post-reception...some people left, and some stayed. Those people who stayed ended up talking us into going out to a club nearby that same night...we had SO much fun. None of this was really planned, but once the cocktails started flowing things just sort of grew from there. Fortunately we were smart enough to call a cab company who provided a couple vans for us to get to the clubs and back. I don''t think we could''ve planned it any better...it was the spontaneity that made it all so much fun.

The rest of our family and friends who had come from OOT (we found out in the next few days) had gone back to their hotels, changed clothing, and either dined out or enjoyed the pools/hot tubs in their hotels. There were really only a few people from OOT who hightailed it back home that same night and didn''t enjoy post-reception festivities.

 

[Keepingthefaith21]

I attended an afternoon reception. It was a local venue so after the reception most of us headed back to our homes to change into warmer more comfortable clothing. We then joined the bride and the groom back at the hotel they were staying at where we hung out togehter for the night. It was pretty low key...just a small group of us celebrating in our own style. It was also a great way for the out of town guests to get to know the "local" friends.