Looking for ideas for after the wedding...

JR0430

My FI and I are getting married in November, planning it for late morning/early afternoon and the reception would be ending by 4pm (as long as all our plans go how we want them to haha), but I don't just want to leave the event and not do anything with family or friends for that night.

We are not leaving for our honeymoon afterward (it's actually going to be delayed until the middle of next year since he will be deployed), so I would like to get everyone together or at least some of them since we will all be there all weekend (it is a Saturday wedding). I've thought about maybe having like a backyard barbeque or something, but I am lacking in other ideas.

Are any of you guys planning an early ceremony/reception and planning on doing anything after? Half of our guests are coming from all over the US and we don't really get to see them very often, which is why I want to try and get together for more than just the ceremony and reception. Or does anyone just have ideas that they've heard or seen others do?

Amaryllis619

we have alot of OOT guests as well.  After the Saturday wedding, we are having brunch at my parent's house on Sunday morning/afternoon.  Just so we can see everyone while they are in town.  hope this helps! GL

Spim7

Our reception will be over at 5pm. We are going out with our wedding party and some of our OOT guests later that evening for an impromptu after party. Than on Sunday morning we will be hosting a breakfast open house for anyone that wants to stop by before they head out of town.

Kmartella4

FI and I are having a Saturday wedding and my parents are hosting a breakfast/brunch at their house Sunday morning because we have a lot of OOT guests, family, and my FI is from South Africa where some guests are traveling from!

Since your wedding ends at 4pm (or so you have planned for it to ), you could plan a get-together at  a local pub or bar for guests to go and hang out so you can spend more time with them.  You could also do a dinner but let guests know you will not be paying for it.

whitneykaye87

You know your crowd the best.  I've seen a lot of people do an afterparty with dinner/bar kind of things.  I've also seen people gather in a hotel meeting room to hang out and chat.  Breakfast or brunch the next day is also very common.  Just pick something that you and your guests would like to do together.

Are you planning on hosting?  If not, make sure you think about how you invite people so they're not expecting you to pay.  In that case, something casual like 'we're going to xyz after the reception- anyone is welcome to come wtih us.'

glam70s

We're having about the same wedding day timeline as you. The plan is to go home, maybe grab some sleep, and then go out for dinner later that evening.. We'll just be telling everyone "we're going to Failte (our favourite Irish pub) tonight to celebrate, anyone is welcome to come along!"

I don't know if we'll do anything the day after - FI and I are very private people and I know we'll be really looking forward to spending our first day married on our own. My parents are the only people who will be coming in from out of town, however, and they're pretty cool, so I'm sure we'll see lots of them when they come out drinking with us after the wedding. Not to mention all the time we'll be spending together in the week before the wedding..