How Receptiony Does a Post-Elopement Party Need to Be?

[katamari]

FI and I are eloping and then having a party for our friends and family to celebrate with one another as a "reception." In your opinion, how reception-y do these parties need to be.

What we know: 100-150 guests, outdoors but under a tent in a secluded location, likely late summer or early fall.

Wedding elements we are including: catered dinner (but likely a southern BBQ theme), cake (but a sheetcake), booze, dancing, a white dress, favors, fun galore, centerpieces (but probably not floral)

Wedding elements we are excluding: bouquet and garder toss, all traditional dances, wedding party, the ceremony, flowers for the most part, announcements, DJ

Obviously all of this could change because it is very preliminary, but is this enough to make it feel like a reception for those of you taking your ceremony in a different direction? We are taking "it''s your day, do what you want" and running with it. But, we also want people to remember it as our eloping party and not just some time we got together to hang out.

 

[neatfreak]

As reception-y as you want it to be! I''ve seen them like a cocktail party and I''ve also seen them where the bride wears a dress, they have a cake, the whole deal.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

Most post elopement parties are whatever you want them to be...I worked with a bride hosting one of these just this past summer, and her theme was FUN! Thats all she wanted--and thats pretty much all people expected.

However, she did have a video of her beach wedding played at party...and people loved that, big time!!

 

[katamari]

Date: 11/10/2008 8:08:45 PM
Author: Italiahaircolor
Most post elopement parties are whatever you want them to be...I worked with a bride hosting one of these just this past summer, and her theme was FUN! Thats all she wanted--and thats pretty much all people expected.


However, she did have a video of her beach wedding played at party...and people loved that, big time!!

Thanks for the suggestion about the video! That will be a good thing to do during dinner or dessert. And, fun is absolutely the theme we want to go with, too!

 

[honey22]

I saw do what you want!

We are semi-eloping in Sept 09 (destination wedding with parents and siblings only). We are thinking of doing a party at the venue we had our engagement party this past Saturday (it was that much fun!!!). I am going to put my gown on again (!!!!) the BMs are going to wear their dresses and the boys their suits. We won''t have the garter toss, bouquet toss, more like a big cocktail party with us wearing our wedding gear. We will have our pro pics playing on a big screen TV on a slideshow for everyone to see. I am thinking lots of drinkies, and lots of dancing. Maybe a cheap cake, but we would stipulate no pressies, just come along and celebrate with a few drinks and see our pics.

 

[MishB]

Ours wasn''t ''wedding-y'' at all, catered cocktail party at home, we asked specifically for no gifts, we had a semi-professional take some nice photos, but no cake, white dress, formal speeches (although some were made). I don''t see the point of eloping if you are just going to go through the whole rigmarole at home anyway, I don''t really get that.

 

[honey22]

Well, I guess we wanted to have a very private, intimate ceremony where we could say our vows and make the most special intimate promises to each other without a million people watching. We are both a bit shy when it comes to things like that, and we wouldn''t feel comfortable saying our vows in front of 100 people or anything.

We also know that many people couldn''t afford to come to a destination wedding, even if invited.

So, we want to have a big celebration when we get home. That way, we get to celebrate with all our friends and family, and they don''t miss out on sharing our marriage too. We can have a video/slideshow playing but we won''t have to feel uncomfortable on our wedding day.

 

[J2K]

We''re getting married in Jamaica. We will have somewhere between 20 and 30 guests with us for the actual ceremony. When we return home, we are having a reception for the rest of our family and friends (probably about 150-175 people). The reception will be beach themed, where people will be encouraged to dress casually. The DJ will play reggae music during the cocktail hour and dinner. It will be a partially typical wedding reception because it IS a wedding reception, in a reception hall, with a caterer, bar, DJ, etc. We just won''t be doing the wedding dances, grand march, garter toss, that happen at most receptions.

So to answer your question... as "receptiony" as you want it to be

 

[katamari]

Date: 11/12/2008 4:14:44 AM
Author: MishB
I don''t see the point of eloping if you are just going to go through the whole rigmarole at home anyway, I don''t really get that.

I see your point, for sure. But, FI and I see them as two separate events with different purposes. Our ceremony is about our commitment to one another and we want that to be private and intimate. We see the reception as a chance for us to celebrate with our friends and we want that to be loud, fun, and crazy. So, we want to separate them completely to try to pull that off.

 

[katamari]

J2K: That sounds awesome. I love that you are able to plan it around a theme--and one that really screams fun, too.

Honey: I love the synergy of having it where your engagement party was. We also considered a destination wedding, but we fell in love with the idea of separating the two events. Plus, a great chance to wear the dress twice!