Post Wedding Reception

Will the buffet be open the entire time (and refilled) or will there be a set time (dinner is 6-8, or something like that)?

If it's open the whole time I don't necessarily think you need assigned seating but you should still make sure you have enough chairs for every butt in case everyone wants to eat at once.

I'd also recommend hiring a professional bartender instead of serve yourself. It saves you from liability and they know how to handle pours and cutting people off (if necessary). It's a very good idea.

The DJ can just play all night, start whenever you want dancing to start. You could also do an iPod if you have the proper speakers, but I'd prefer a DJ who can judge the action and keep people dancing.

I would not assign seats as it sounds like it may be more of a party feel than a formal reception. If you want it more formal, do consider assigned tables. If you want people to mingle and dance more than sit and there won't be a formal dinner time/dinner seating, there is no need to assign, just let people sit and eat as they feel. As for the DJ, I can't help you there- maybe talk to your DJ/possible DJs and see what they might suggest. Trust them to know how to get the party started and to gauge the feeling of the room.

Sounds like a more open seating kind of event to me.

P.s. - Change your avatar so people don't think you're a troll.

Thank you for the advice! it will be open food with a dessert table on the side. We have servers for the food but trying to cut some things and keep basic since we are spending the main portion of our money on the destination. For alcohol, it will be just beer and wine, possibly a keg for the beer

We are doing sort of the same thing, getting Married in Antigua and then having a "celebration party" 3 weeks later when we get back. We will play our video from Antigua then come in after the kiss in the video and have our first dance again. Our party is going to be a buffet, we are supplying beer/wine only, DJ etc. We will most likely have seating arrangements since we have about 125 people that are all from very different groups. We plan on doing some of things that you would do at a typical reception but NO apron dance, no garter/bouquet throwing... we thought doing a destination wedding was going to be somewhat cheaper, but then when you marry into a large Irish Catholic family, and the groom is in a Motorcycle club... well, the guest list for the "celebration party" keeps growing... at this point we are kinda like whatever... only doing this once so make the best of it!

We are in the same situation.. our "home" party is now about 100 to 130. Just want to ensure the guests are occupied, but not sure what else to do besides having the DJ and some good food. We were making it a little more casual and were thinking about having ladder ball, corn hole and a few games outside as there's an outside deck area for guests to hang out at too. The destination wedding will only have about 40ish people, it def wasn't as budget friendly as we would have liked either

Wow, 40! We have 13 including us. Having it in Antigua made travel arrangements difficult for some, my sister would have had to travel 19hrs to come from Austin due to the way the flights leave the US and arrive in Antigua so she is not coming to the Wedding but is coming to our Party... She is a prime example of why we are having a party because we knew a lot of people who would have wanted to come to our wedding cannot make it. I think your idea sounds great with the games. I haven't put that much thought into ours yet since it is still 6 months away and we just booked our Party site. I am hoping the DJ has some ideas too since he has done this a lot. Since probably 30 guests will be coming on motorcycles, our party is going to be anywhere from casual to semi-casual for those who just want to dress up. I am wearing my dress again too :-)

I think i'm going with a more casual dress, just something bought from a regular store and cute, at least i'm hoping.

we ended up with more than anticipated for the away part b/c of some immediate family being ok with travelling. My bridesmaids are using it as a vacation, so they were actually pretty happy