Pizza at after wedding celebration?

jmieksztyn

My fiance and I are having a very small private ceremony and reception with our immediate families, but want to hold a casual post wedding celebration lunch a few weeks later for extended family and friends. We are half jokingly referring to it as a "marital open house", as we want it to be relaxed and casual. We found a cool microbrewery to serve as a venue (brick walls, exposed ductwork, wood floors), and while they serve more traditional luncheon fare like chicken and fish, we are gravitating toward the pizza, pasta, and salad menu. I loved the idea at first, and think that it fits our casual theme, but now I am nervous that guests will be disappointed or think it is tacky...even though we are hoping to be very clear that it will be casual.

I am thankful for any opinions you all have!

LondonLisa

fitgirl1234 said:

My fiance and I are having a very small private ceremony and reception with our immediate families, but want to hold a casual post wedding celebration lunch a few weeks later for extended family and friends. We are half jokingly referring to it as a "marital open house", as we want it to be relaxed and casual. We found a cool microbrewery to serve as a venue (brick walls, exposed ductwork, wood floors), and while they serve more traditional luncheon fare like chicken and fish, we are gravitating toward the pizza, pasta, and salad menu. I loved the idea at first, and think that it fits our casual theme, but now I am nervous that guests will be disappointed or think it is tacky...even though we are hoping to be very clear that it will be casual.

I am thankful for any opinions you all have!

I'm not the biggest fan of wedding consolation parties. Especially so close to the event. Throw a pizza party, by all means, but I'm not a fan of making it about your recent wedding. But that being said, as long as you are paying for everyone's food and drinks (no cash bar), who doesn't like pizza and beer? Throw a fun party, but I wouldn't make it about your wedding.

southernbelle0915

Ditto Lisa.

It's not the pizza and beer that I find tacky. It's the fact that you're trying to make this a sort of second wedding party.

Don't make this about your wedding. It basically sends the message that you didn't care enough or want these people as the actual wedding, so here's a second rate prize. I'm not a fan.

MollyandD

I had pizza for dinner at my wedding reception itself. If anyone thinks it's tacky, they can get over it. I had more than enough food for every guest, and we had fruits and salads as well. It fit in the budget, and it tasted great.

This isn't even your wedding, so you shouldn't worry about making it any fancier than you want a random party to be. That's all this is. It's just a party you decided to throw. 

Jen4948

I think the party idea itself, with the brewery and the pizza, is cool.

But I agree that you shouldn't connect it to your wedding.  Inviting people to a wedding-related celebration who weren't invited to the wedding, when the wedding wasn't a DW, isn't cool.

Nymeru

I like the idea.  Beer and pizza/pasta are always good, and hosted parties are always fun.

Is your wedding a destination wedding?  If it is, then having an at-home reception is fine, but if it's not, I agree with everyone else that it might be seen as a little insulting to those who weren't invited to the wedding in the first place.

Out of curiosity, is there a reason that you're opting to have the party so much later after your actual wedding?  Why not just have the reception at the brewery right after you get married?  If you want everyone to celebrate with you, why not just have a bigger ceremony and do it all at once?

LondonLisa

Nymeru said:

I like the idea.  Beer and pizza/pasta are always good, and hosted parties are always fun.

Is your wedding a destination wedding?  If it is, then having an at-home reception is fine, but if it's not, I agree with everyone else that it might be seen as a little insulting to those who weren't invited to the wedding in the first place.

Out of curiosity, is there a reason that you're opting to have the party so much later after your actual wedding?  Why not just have the reception at the brewery right after you get married?  If you want everyone to celebrate with you, why not just have a bigger ceremony and do it all at once?

I disagree. I think AHRs are really tacky. Throw a party, fine, but don't make it about your wedding. I really hate this idea that everyone is SO desperate to celebrate you (the general you) and your wedding that they need to throw multiple parties. Have a small wedding- great! Have a destination wedding- fine! But don't do these strings of parties/ wedding tours. Actions have consequences, and if you want a DW or a small wedding that is perfectly acceptable, but that means everyone can't make it, so consolation parties are rude. 

Maggie0829

I just don't understand.  So you want to celebrate your recent wedding with these additional people a few weeks later instead of just inviting them to your actual wedding?  So these people are just not good enough to get an invite to the main event but are good enough to get a consolation party? This type of thing never makes sense to me.  I mean, it can't be about budget can it?  Because apparently you have the money to host them a few weeks later, so you must have the budget to be able to host them on your actual wedding day.  So I am going to assume that it comes down to your wedding vision that is more important.

Oh and I agree with everything that @LondonLisa has said.

MyNameIsNot

Nymeru said:

I like the idea.  Beer and pizza/pasta are always good, and hosted parties are always fun.

Is your wedding a destination wedding?  If it is, then having an at-home reception is fine, but if it's not, I agree with everyone else that it might be seen as a little insulting to those who weren't invited to the wedding in the first place.

Out of curiosity, is there a reason that you're opting to have the party so much later after your actual wedding?  Why not just have the reception at the brewery right after you get married?  If you want everyone to celebrate with you, why not just have a bigger ceremony and do it all at once?

It doesn't matter if the wedding is destination or not. AHRs are for people who couldn't make the destination, not for people who weren't invited. It's rude to invite people to a wedding related party if they aren't invited to the actual wedding. 

OP, beer and pizza is fine. I would add in a salad or something else for a healthy/dietary restriction option.  Just remember that this is an open house, not a wedding reception or celebration of marriage.