Attendants have all been picked and asked. Other DD will be maid (matron??) of honor. The flowergirl will be adorably beautiful and the 2 ringbearers will be the handsomest little boys ever! LOL

One thing I recommend is to use the same flowers from the Ceremony to be placed in the reception hall. The Ushers can be in charge of moving them.

Also, I would recommend black and white balloons at the reception. We had to toss all the flowers from my Daughters Reception, because our cars were so full of stuff.

I bought white toile by the bolt, the "cheapest" kind. LOL! BTW It comes in handy to be reused at friends weddings and Christmas Decorations. I have lent it out several times. You could use black and white toile to decorate.

Know anyone with Artificial Topiaries? Use battery operated christmas lights. We couldn't find electric outlets in convenient places.

I have 5 black table clothes if you want to borrow them. They are Damask.

I have to say I would go with red flowers rather than Autumn Colors. Just me. I love black, white and red.

What fun, I wish I was there to play.

We got married at Niagara Falls. All of our immediate family came along, minus my SIL who was going through a divorce and 'wasn't up to it'. It was a great weekend. The kids enjoyed spending time together and the weather was beautiful. Everyone arrived on Friday and I had the front desk give everyone a gift basket when they checked in. We all went sightseeing Saturday and then came back for the wedding at 5pm. There was no wedding party but my oldest sister and DH's nephew were sort of the Matron of Honor and Best Man (technically witnesses I think). Then we had dinner (off the menu) in a private room at the Red Coach Inn. Our family had time for more sight seeing and gambling afterwards too. Even my sister's dog was able to be there for the wedding.

MIL was thrilled because it was the only vacation she's ever been on since getting married at 19, besides spending time at family cabins and trailers.

I wouldn't have done it any other way. It was intimate, fun and relaxing. We aren't very close to our extended families and doing it this way just suited us. It was economical too. I love our wedding pics and I think they were only $130 for the basic album and the prices for the enlargements were reasonable. I wore a $34 dress that I wore several other times after that. No, I didn't have a bridal shower or rake in the cash from distant relatives but it was a good trade-off as far as I'm concerned.

So my only advice to them is not to worry about what a wedding is supposed to be or what frills it's supposed to have - they should do it however it suits them.

My brother and sister were married in a double wedding of sorts. In the reception hall they both had separate short ceremonies, one after the other and then one big reception. Well it wasn't huge. DS and DB had a moderate amount of friends and family and their new spouses both has smaller amounts to invite so all in all it wasn't that big. There weren't any big bridal parties, just MOHs and Best Men.

I had a cousin who got married in the fall. They had a really simple ceremony since they were both in their 40's. The only thing that really stands out in my mind is that they made up little thank you for coming cards which had a poem about fall printed on it that she had wrote when she was in high school.

I think it'd be a good idea for your DD to join one of the wedding forums for ideas. There is a good one in the link below. I had found another forum that had lots of photos, but I can't find it now.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wedding Forum

I got married in a funeral home, so you probaly don't want any advice from me! LOL! We were going to get married at the court house, becausse we didn't have money for a wedding, but wanted Alyssa (who was 9 months old) to have parents that were married. When my grandparents heard from my mom that we were getting married at the court house, they suggested getting married at the funeral home that they worked for. They have a very pretty room with a fireplace that my grandparents chose for us to get married in. It turned out that the day we got married, they were having a funeral in one of the other rooms. People kept coming into our wedding by accident. That brought a smile to their faces at least!
My mom told me later that the room my wedding was in was also the room that my dad was shown in when he died.
The wedding was pretty though, and I'm glad my grandparents suggested it. It was certainly unique!

wedding #1...dd2 wanted to be married on a beach..so off to florida! hauled decorations in the car...(and had to leave them all) upside: no shoes, lol, light casual clothing, brunch reception (no cake, they didn't want one)dd's dress was lovely, found it in the prom section of dept store!
downside: drive, weather (hot), accomodations for us, (my fault)

wedding #2 ds1's backyard of family friend of the bride. they rented a tent, had a decorated garden arch, catered dinner (and great food) flowers were from a street vendor at the farmer's market. bride wore formal dress and the men, tux. upside: the friends had relandscaped the yard, sprayed for mosquitos(aug in mi)few decorations other than tons of christmas white lights (think they still have some, lol) downside: weather...again hot, and then rain! at least almost all the guests were gone...

wedding #3 ds2's...unique location. greenfield village at henry ford's museum, chapel. formal attire for the bride and groom. few decorations as the chapel really discouraged it...(back to back weddings) but the setting with turning trees and the park being decorated for halloween with pumpkins was perfect. the kids had great photos taken as the wedding was late afternoon...upside: limited seating, park setting, and althogh "generic minister" he was very kind and gave us copies of the service, which wasn't rushed. few flowers used from costco at huge savings. downside: from service to reception (and time gap)menu, wasted the entire wedding cake (no one to cut and serve)and leaving early (me alone! with car full of sleepy grands, lol)

dd1 was my runaway bride...not by choice, but lets say uncooperative "out-laws"...she wanted a destination wedding (las vegas, at the time my mom lived there) but quote "who gets married in las vegas...only gamblers and bad people"... they went to washington state where dd had friends...regretted not catching a plane and going anyway....

with a few computer skills, you can save tons from the days of printed invatations. use the facilities of local parks, chapels, churches, homes. david's bridal was the best for 2 of the weddings...the other 2 from dept stores.
work as best you can with groom's family. use places like costco, and sam's club. the decorations i had to leave were all from wal-mart, with the exception of the sand from home depot (glass vases, shells, and candles)

Nicest weddings I've been to have been the ones where everything (ceremony and reception) takes place at the same venue.

One was a garden wedding on the grounds of a beautiful historic mansion. Rows of chairs in one area for the wedding, then another area was set up with tables, chairs, buffet, dance floor, etc.

The other was a commitment ceremony at a lodge-like venue. We all stood around the roaring fireplace for the ceremoney, then the buffet table was at the other end of the room, ready to go. There was a lovely deck by the lake, great dancing--such fun to watch.

It's so nice for the guests to go to one place, and not have to drive around the countryside, and then have to wait an hour or so while the bridal party takes off for a park or someplace to have photos done.

Seems like most of the caterers around here are putting in nice chapels, or gardens, or gazebos for the ceremony to take place in.

If you haven't already booked your place, you may want to consider the convenience of the 'one stop' type of wedding. DD has been helping a friend, and the caterer they've found (who is one of the best, foodwise) has a wonderful garden with a waterfall, etc, and is LESS expensive than many others that offer less, so it may not cost all that much to do the wedding that way.

Another nice wedding we went to a few years back was one where the bride's family made all the food. It was nice, casual, really a comfortable, family-type atomosphere. I figure, when DD gets married, it would be cheaper for me to buy a spare freezer, make all the food myself than hiring a caterer, and then they can have the extra freezer for their home.

These all sound like beautiful and lovely weddings!!
I do have white tulling. No more white lights left tho from DD#1's first wedding. I asked this DD and she doesn't care about lights etc. She said not a lot of decorations, simple ones would be best because someone has to set them up and move them or tear them down. She wants as little hassel as possible.
She is sorta thinking gerbera daisies for flowers, in the deep burgundies, golds and maybe yellows...what do you think? Her bouquet also of the same and bridesmaids maybe carry just a few, not a bouquet.
I dunno, she may change her mind once we get out there shopping too, who knows it may all go out the window!

I agree with the one venue -- we went to a wedding @ a KY State park lodge -- wedding was on the deck & reception inside. They had a small cake to cut & then several varietys of cheesecake & toppings for the guests..
Also, lots of white lights [on sale now!], tea lights & tulle can make anywhere look good! With a huge variety of mums -- I'd think you can find something appropriate & pretty!..
Besides the forum -- I'd go to the library & get some bridal magazines -- just to help narrow down what she really wants things to look like...
But nail down your photographer/video person early [and get references!]-- and spend most of your money there.

"Whose Wedding Is It, Anyway?" is a show on cable TV if either of you have cable. I've only watched it a couple times and not all the way through, but those wedding planners have good ideas and ways to get around obstacles. Hope you're all able to find great stuff and great prices.

Years ago i was in a wedding where all the kids at the reception had the option of getting a Happy Meal for dinner. This of course was all prearranged. The brides uncle was incharge of going to McD's after the ceremony with the food list.
The next wedding i was in we took that idea i step further. We made "Marry Me Meals." We bought nice boxes from Hobby Lobby and stenciled each childs name on the box. Some kids wanted lunchable and some just wanted PB and J. We then bought inexpensive toys to go in the boxes(dora figurine, little pet shop). We spent about $5 per toy. Which is still a big savings compared to the catered plate price. No child was forced to get the marry me meals. Most kids are sooooooooooooooo picky that parents were happy to know that there will be something for their child to eat.

There's a website called www.beau-coup.com that has some really cute favors.

DS and DIL got married the end of Oct and had a beautiful outdoor wedding! Of course, it was still warm here!

Congratulations!! My youngest son just got married on New Years Eve, so I'm still really fresh on wedding stuff. This could be a long post. But I will just say a few things. They were engaged in August and really wanted a particular venue,(Asilomar, in Pacific Grove,CA) that was totally booked thru all of 2008. In Oct they heard that the Christmas/New Years week was open, so we had 2 months to plan a wedding for 167. We made and did all the decorating, flowers, accessories ourselves. I made the flower girl baskets, ring boy's box, her veil, and tiara. They were determined to stick to a budget and by doing so much ourselves we stayed in budget. A few things that I think stood out, The wedding was at 6pm NYE. The chapel was FULL of candles, (I bought over 100 different vases, at garage sales since Oct.) which made the ceremony so romantic. The rehearsal dinner was open to all guests, we had 120, so we kept costs down by having a 'soup and salad' dinner, they chose 3 soups and a salad bar,& 3 breads, we received great feed back on that. Then there was a bonfire, (luckily the weather was clear, the rain did not start till we were all home) with smores, cookies, hot cocoa, & cider. Again very fun and inexpensive. This could work for you too being a fall wedding. At the reception the 2 of them sat at a cabaret table in the center of the room, everyone really liked that,they were close to all the tables,and approchable, so greeting guests was very easy for them. I'm just now uploading pictures but here is a link to some. (I hope it works, I seem to have problems linking things)I could go on and on about wedding stuff, I'm having wedding let down. Good luck, any questions just ask,

I did black/white and gold for my wedding. My girls wore a basic black dress that we got from Penney's for about 40.00 and it was perfect.

My daughter gave here flower bouquet to the longest married couple at the reception.

Everyone was asked to the dance floor.

Then singles were requested to sit down, next peeps married less than 24 hours, less than a year, less than 5 years, and then up in 5 year increments. The last couple got the flowers. Married 55 years! WOW

Moni... feel free to use any ideas you can get out of Lori's wedding pictures.

DD's wedding was quick and simple. She and her intended came to me early in Sept. of 1984 and said they wanted to get married and they wanted it to be quick 'cause they didn't want to do what all their friends were doing (ie shacking up) I really don't know where this came from, as neither family has any religeous convictions. Anyway, I said ok, I will get busy.

They picked the date of Oct. 14 and the site of the wedding and reception to be at the Y.M.C.A. camp where they had met. We got the invitations out to 70 friends and family on Sept 13. Then future son-in-law took me to the wedding site so I could see what I needed to do for decorating. That is when I found out that the Chapel that they were talking about was up a long hill and in the woods. Beautiful site, but a wedding out doors in mid October in northern Ohio! I had reservations about this, but I contacted all the invited guests and told them that this was going to be a rustic event and to come casual. I took the filmy fussy dress that I had bought and opted for something less fussy. DD ordered her "wedding gown" from Penny's catolog. It was 100% cotton, street length, white with a stand up eyelet coller and cuffs on the long sleeves. It was perfect for DD. We decorated with pots of colorful mums, even the bridal bouquet was mums and she wore a crown of mums in her hair. The reception was in the activity building at the bottom of Chapel hill. A very large room with a beautiful covered deck on the back that overlooked a lake. We didn't have time to plan on a big meal, so the wedding was at 2 pm, the reception immediately after. We had assorted cheeses and crackers, nuts, punch, wedding cake of course and on the tables out on the deck we set baskets of apples. The fall colors were at peak, the temperature in the low '70s. It was a perfect day. Everyone said it was the most beautiful wedding they had ever been to.

OMG more ideas!
The weather is one thing to be worried about up here! Neither of these two like hot weather like I do and wanted cooler weather. LOL
Mums are another great flower I'd forgotten about. Love the kids meal ideas! One of the ringbearers is a fuss budget when it comes to eating. Thats a good idea.
Going to check out the link Stephanie posted and all the wedding pics too!

Yep we gotta get a photographer! Wish Lori lived here! LOL
We have the Minister, church and reception/dance place and DJ taken care of.
Happytime I can't get in! I will keep trying though. It says due to high volume right now.
Moni I know you made Lori's gown, did you do the little flower girl? Sasha was it? That is adorable.
Stephanie my gosh there are tons of favors there!
Thanks all! Now off to check out the rest of the links.

hmm, sorry about the link. here is a link to my webshots page, maybe you can acess it there. (Wedding Dec 31 album)
I think Gerbera Daisies are a great flower, so colorful, and easy to work with, and it opens up your color palate, You seem to already have alot done. now come the details, those are the most time consuming.

Nodakotagal,

I made the Brochure with Participants Names for my Daughter's Wedding and printed it out myself using Pagemaker. It was time consuming, but worth the money I saved.

Gayle

My daughters best friend was married this past October and she/my daughter was a brides maid. The bride had 6 attendance (way too many IMHO). I wish she would have let the girls wear dresses of the same color but let them pick out the style that fit them best. My daughter is, very busty (is that a word?) and the strapless gown she had to wear just wasn't a good pick for her. I have seen weddings where they did this and it is just as pretty as all the girls all wearing the same dress.

To go along with Cherbo's statement. My boss's son got married 1-1/2 yrs ago. She picked out the color number...a sage green...and then the girls went and chose between a bunch of dresses. There were 4 bridesmaids and all Very different body types. When he was talking about this...I figured it would look pretty silly in pics...it DIDN'T! It looked very nice! I thought that was one of the best ideas I had heard.

When my oldest neice got married, it was a rushed wedding. We (family) did all the food, I made the 3 bridesmaid dresses, 2 flower girl dresses and the flowergirls' baskets. The bride was Very preggers, so I was making alterations on her dress the night before the wedding! LOL I was working from home in alterations at that time, so I backed off on my work and worked on the wedding more. It was really a fun wedding.

When Dean and I got married, we did everything ourselves. We had lived together before, so we didn't want my dad to pay. Dad bought my dress, and we did everything else. With ALOT of help from our family. Deans sis made all the attenedants/flowergirls flowers, we had potted daisy mums and apple blossoms around the Church. My SIL made our beautiful cake, my aunt made all the buns, we had a mint making night, salads were made by family, meat was a roasted hog from the farm. It has been almost 26 years, and there isn't a thing I would have changed about our wedding. Everything was so well planned, we were able to really sit back and ENJOY!

My DD's bridesmaids wore black to her wedding. They were beautiful dresses. Cocktail length, black crepe with cape type collars and sleeveless. I think all three of the girls wore their dresses later to various functions.They wore black heels of their choosing and it saved a lot of bridesmaid "angst"! LOL

I got in Happytime! It looked beautiful.

We know we can do the flowers, did them for DD#1's first marriage. They were beautiful silk that looked so real you couldn't believe it. Lots thought they were real.

We are thinking of doing the invitations.

Programs I am not sure yet what she wants to do.

She thinks I can do the food! I am not sure yet! It doesn't take much to throw me into a tizzy! She can get the meat for no cost basically, since she gets a generous meat credit at work. (beef or bison) We are only thinking around 200-250 people but oh gosh what if I goof up something? I am not sure who I could get to help me either!

Centerpeices I think we can do. She wants simple so gourds or pumpkins and fall leaves, I have seen some cute frosted votive cups.

If she can come up with which favor she'd like we might be able to do something. She is between the fall leaves maple syrup bottle and a flower packet type thing. She also likes the beverage packets, they have cider,hot chocolate, ummmm in packets with names and dates.

Also Hershey's Minature bars come out in the fall with fall colors, but I dunno if she wants those on the tables too.

She doesn't want cake, but minature cheesecakes on a tower thingy what are they called cupcake tower??

Doesn't want the unity candle but the sand.

We are trying to find a date to go wedding shopping. Can't get one where we are all free! (both DD's and I)

Ahhhhhh it will come together, a little at a time.

nodakgal...forgot to mention depending on the time of year for wedding, my kids could have saved plenty if they'd shopped for easter dresses for flowergirls. i bought (at target, no less)
dresses for the 3 little girls not in the wedding that were adorable...and i paid $100 (davids) each for my 2 grands who were...(couldn't convince them i found the same looking dress for less on line...grrr)

nodakgal; besides flowers, doing all your own printed things save so much money, and really personalize everything. Son & DDIL did their invites, and programs, and printed menues for the buffet tables. Think twice about cooking food, that is really stressfull, even though you are able to do it, hire someone, that will be $$'s well spent. Perhaps your dd can purchse the meat, and a caterer can do the rest. You will have so many other things to do, and you will want to enjoy the wedding, cooking will not allow you that luxury. We had a cupcake tower, they are alot of fun. Your fall centerpiece ideas sound very nice. Remember favors tend to get left behind alot so don't spend to much time or money on them. Sounds like you are well on your way.

DD married in August of 2005. Her number one request--She wanted to be able to see the ocean from the wedding and reception site. So that limited us. We decided on the hotel's lawn on a bluff overlooking the harbor and ocean. With the warning from other MOBs to get the location a year ahead of the date to be sure to get what she wants, we booked that right away.

She wanted simple but fun, and since she lived several hours away from our hometown where she wanted the wedding, I did most of the planning, leg work, and booking after consulting with her. Since we started the planning so early, I was able to combine her usual trips home at holidays and birthdays with wedding chores to save on airline tickets. As a result, she flew home for a wedding chore only once--the fitting.

We kept it simple with the goal of being hosts to a delightful evening for the bridal couple and for our guests. Therefore, we had no slides, no favors, no printed programs, no bouquet toss, no garter removal, no receiving line. We invested in a fabulous band that came highly recommended. I left the band and music choice up to the couple, but I have to say that band made the reception very successful. The dance floor was FULL all night.

The guests were mostly from out of town, so they stayed at the hotel where the wedding and reception were held or at nearby more affordable hotels, which we publicized in a welcome packet mailed to each RSVP. Since most of the guests were visitors, I encouraged the couple to marry at the same location as the reception. (We have very busy streets and it would not be easy for visitors to find their way around here.)

I discouraged the Sweetheart Table and encouraged them to have one long table for the wedding party and their dates/spouses. Turns out that is the latest thing here, though that's how we did it mid century eons ago. They call it the Royal Table. They loved sharing the night with their close friends-all the bridesmaids and groomsmen and their SOs--at the same table, though for most of the night they all were dancing.

The guests were seated at tables that circled the dance floor. Over and over, her father and I heard from our guests that they had never been to such a delightful wedding.

The groom's parents also contributed to a memorable weekend. We live in a tourist destination area and with most of the guests coming from far away, we decided to do a special rehearsal dinner the night before. They rented John Wayne's boat the Wild Goose from a company that does weddings and parties. We sailed Newport Harbor for 4 hours on a balmy night, toasted the couple, had a lovely dinner, and enjoyed the local scenery. Instead of being at loose ends the night before the wedding, all the out of towners had a lovely dinner and cruise to fill the evening.

We used 2 catalogs for supplies such as cake cutters and couple's toasting goblets. They are online, but I recommend that you order their hard copy catalogs. The first was recommended to us by 2 wedding consultants--
1) jeanmessentials.com
2) www.exclusivelyweddings.com

Should have put the site in blue for you--

and this one too

No, Lori made all the dresses, even her wedding gown. I just got to do the decorating on the flower girl dress, and the hemming and other hand work. Even the veil. LOL, that even so the first one got scorched by me.

Moni

Wow! SheilaJoyce its sounds like a memory of a wedding the guests will never forget! (your family also of course) I remember you talking of your DD's wedding, what a lot of work for you!
Thanks for the links.
I have been sending them all to DD that everyone has posted.

I have absolutely nothing to contribute but have so enjoyed reading all of these ideas! I love the bonfire, cider and s'mores! :-)

I would agree about not trying to do the food, though. We had my folks' 50th anniversary a year ago, and there is no way I'd have fixed the food...or the cake... Just doing invitations, motel arrangements, a PowerPoint slide show, table decorations and punch was enough to stress us kids out! :-)

OMG Rita said motel arrangements!
Yikes, gotta email DD and tell her not to forget to have the motels set aside a block of rooms!
Geepers something so obvious and no one has done it yet! LOL

Oh, so I was helpful! Gee, I feel so worthy of taking up space on this planet. LOL! We want to hear all about your plans as they unfold. Weddings are a wonderful affair so whatever you do will be great.

"Only thinking around 200-250 people" Only! That's a lot!

Just don't get too carried away doing too much yourself. You want to be able to enjoy the event too.

Everyone helped lots!
I LOL'd at Paula, there are more friends than family here!
It might be 200 by the time we get to October. I wonder what the average number of wedding guests is? I think we were somewhere around a couple hundred for the other DD's wedding. I know we planned 225-250 and there wasn't 250. There wasn't a lot of food left over but oh my cake there sure was! I am glad Heather is going with mini Cheesecakes. They are cute and good and can be frozen!

When I worked weddings back in the 80s most weddings averaged around 150-200 guests. It was a moderately-priced venue - you could do fancy but most people stuck to the basics (stuffed chicken!). Family-style meals were also common (and probably the least expensive option I think). We didn't do buffets for weddings. There were weddings in the 200s but over 300 was extremely rare. Anything larger couldn't fit in our building so that's why we didn't see the really big ones. There could have been plenty of those big weddings at other venues for all I know but I doubt it

Now, I feel really dumb...I thought you were serious when you said "simple". LOL. To me anytime the guests number over 100, "simple" just gets swollowed up. I am sure it will be a wedding to be remembered no matter what you do, because it is your daughter and that alone makes it special. May all your hopes and dreams (and the happy couple's) for that special day come out even better than planned.

LOL Gazania don't feel dumb! I do recall mentioning a small wedding, like family only to her, but they have soooo many friends! Thank you for the good wishes!