OK, all, thank you for some great tips from the PROS that you are :) I have since found out she chose the bolder color scheme of hot raspberry pink and lime green with accents of tangerine. Very tropical and vibrant ! I agree with your suggestions about using the tropical "colors" in decorating with locally available plant material, not necessarily the with "tropical" plants. That is a good money saver. I can envision the impatiens in hot pink and orange with cascading sweet potato vine, and the beautiful caladiums in hot pink and cool green and white, and the rich tapestry of coleus in the green/hot pink range. I am getting tired of my 2 patio pots right now, so I may try to recreate some "wedding ideas" now to see how they'd look. That would be fun ! I want to rent fuchsia table linens (would an orange cloth with a fuchsia overlay be too strong ?) I see your point in renting enough chairs and will do that. I guess I need a full # of tables then too. We plan on renting the glassware, dishes, etc. as well. I was in a restaurant and saw a very simple but chic "centerpiece" int he lobby. It was a tall square glass vase with black river stones in the bottom, with a stem of 8-9 orchids in it, submerged 3/4 of the way in the water, so that most of the flowers were underwater. It looked just beautiful, almost sculptural, in it's simplicity. I would like to recreate that on each table with some votives surrounding each vase. That would save some $$ on flower centerpieces, although I love that lush flower look too. Remember, strict budget :) I have to keep telling myself that. They said they DO want a dance floor, so that will have to be incorporated in somewhere too. I don't think the tent will fit the tables and a dance floor, so is it OK to have the dance floor next to the tent, yet uncovered ? We could put potted flowers at each corner to dress it up. I think the signature cocktail will be rum punch, yum :) Should that only be served the first hour, or - since this is a cocktail reception - should we plan to serve it the whole time ? Since the party will be from late afternoon thru early evening, I was going to add white Xmas lites to the trees and the gazebo, and accent the gardens and outer edges of the tent with tiki torches. I am looking into a steel drum duo for the reception, I think that would add a ton of ambiance and get people dancing ! Still up in the air is the catering. The bride's neighbor owns a restaurant, so we may be able to strike a deal there... Since this is both their second wedding, it is going to be more of a celebration of family than a formal shindig. However, the groom's first wedding was at the courthouse and he didn't really have a "wedding" so to speak, so we are doing this mostly for him :) Heck, I'm just happy to be involved !!! Thanks again for being my sounding board to bounce ideas off of, keep your thoughts/advice/ideas coming !!!! Sincerely, Amy

Hi everyone -- Just thought I'd post an update and a thank you! Reception went off with nary a hitch on Saturday. Final menu consisted of: Veggie and fruit trays Shrimp Cocktail Sweet n' Sour Meatballs Mini Egg Rolls Small Turkey/Ham Wraps Sausage and Cheese Biscuits Burgundy Mushrooms Deviled Eggs Assorted Cheeses and Crackers Brie with Fig Compote Topping Tortilla Chips and Cowboy Caviar Potato Chips Pickles and Olives Coffee, Punch, Iced Tea and Water The 85 people that she confirmed actually ended up being more like 65-70. So, we had a fair amount of food left over. I made an ice bowl to display the shrimp -- it turned out beautifully. I was so proud! LOL I agree with Linda that Brie can get rubbery if left out too long, but past experience has shown me that it usually doesn't last long enough to get cold. And, true to form, people just gobbled it down. Could have made a lot more eggs -- those went quickly as well. I'm not an egg person myself, so I forget how much people love them at parties. People were definitely hungry and went through the line several times -- no one was shy, thank goodness. I did use the small plates, and some people used two at a time, so I'm glad I planned for extra food. Everything else was good and our one minor fiasco was that I burned the egg rolls when heating them up. Not sure if it was the strange oven I was using (should have brought my own oven thermometer) or that they'd thawed out slightly so cooked more quickly, or a combination of both. So, about half of them did burn and I didn't put them out, but we did okay anyway. So, all in all a successful event and I received loads and loads of compliments which was nice for the ego. ;) I stayed at budget, which she actually upped to $600. I think I came in around $550, but still finishing up the totals and taking a few things back to the store that weren't used. Took me all day to recover on Sunday, though. I'm getting too old for this stuff! LOL A big thank you to everyone -- your tips and advice were incredibly helpful. Thanks so much!

Jude, the groom's family decorated the hall and cleaned that all up except the kitchen. They actually like to drink and dance. I don't drink and I don't dance, and I was trying to avoid the "reserved" table as I'd rather wander around, sit with my friends and do as I pleased. The groom's family did come back the next day and finish cleaning the rest of the hall. I made all the desserts and 27 dozen dinner rolls ahead of time, so those just had to be taken from the freezer and plated on serving trays. Appetizers were nachos at a make your own nacho bar, so that was done ahead of time too. The dinner was a pig roast and the rest was pot luck with family members bringing items, so they just had to be put out and dishes kept full, but all the roasters and serving dishes needed to be washed afterward and most of them came from my house because the hall came with no cooking utensils. I did hire one friend to help me with that and my cousin Patty helped by scrubbing pans, but 300 guests kept us hopping. I hired a bartender, so I didn't have to do that, but we went through 19 gallons of punch and finally at 10:30 I tore the punch fountain apart because the kids were just playing in it. I haven't even washed the iced tea container yet! I don't sit around well and I'm pretty hyperactive, so I'd rather be doing something, anything. The groom's mother even went to the bachelorette party where they took salsa dancing lessons then went to a comedy club, I begged off because I have absolutely no interest. So, did I enjoy the wedding? Not much but I usually don't attend receptions because I don't like parties. I did what I was comfortable doing, and the alternative was to sit around and do nothing, which makes me crazy. The person who was supposed to make sure the coffee urn stayed full didn't and the one that was supposed to run the CD player for the wedding march was no where to be found so I quickly pressed an ex BIL into service because he is in a band and I figured he could run the blasted thing. Everyone comes to me with the questions and problems because I'm usually the one solving them and making sure things happen. Amanda was sitting in the foyer of the church in her dress and veil as the guests were coming in. She was passing out string cheese to the 6 children in the wedding party (all under age 8) while her sister Ashley was polishing Amanda's toenails, LOL. It was pretty relaxed. At the reception, Ashley sang a song for them to dance to, although it wasn't the song they'd picked out for their first dance. Then they had the "official" first dance, then Amanda danced with Bud while Dave danced with Makayla, then Amanda had a father/daughter dance, first with Bruce, then with Elery. So, it wasn't structured, it wasn't a sit down catered meal and everything went fine. I avoided my ex-husband and his girlfriend and was home in bed by 11 pm and got to visit a little bit with Sherry and Peppi, so it was all good. And I'm back at work today to rest! Annie

Since you mentioned this is your forever home, it's really worth taking the time to think this through and come up with the best possible plan. There are some real shortcomings right now. On that note - I think if you're going to have the current dining room become the everyday eating area, a doorway from the kitchen isn't enough. I think you need to open that space up so that it's all one room. That way, you are still getting an eat-in kitchen, but it will be an L shape, larger space. Kids can be doing homework at the table and still be in the same space. I am really having a hard time imagining any scenario where it would be okay to have the step down to the family room totally open without a railing. It certainly doesn't work with a table anywhere near by. I think you could instead use this space for a kitchen island/peninsula which would straddle the drop down. Picture having maybe a sink or cooktop on this space - it would be facing into the open family room. There could be stools on the family room side facing into the kitchen. This would leave a much shorter step down area, basically like what you have now. Which looks natural and not weird.