Question:

Is it necessary to host the walimah (feast) the day after the nikah (marriage)? A man traveled overseas the day after his nikah, returned two years after and then hosted the walimah. Is this correct?

Answer:

The masnoon method of the walimah is to host it the day after the consummation of the nikah (i.e. after both husband and wife meet in seclusion). Hazrat Anas (رضي الله عنه) narrates that when the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) married Hazrat Zainab bint Jahash (رضي الله عنها), he invited people the next day and fed them. There is also a leeway in feeding on the second or third day. To delay it after that is not established (in the Sunnah).

(Hazrat Maulana Mufti) Khalid Saifullah (May Allah preserve him)
Kitaabul Fatawa Vol.4 Pg.420