We did this for our own wedding too. We purchased different kinds of orchids from a Trader Joe's store (they could not convince me to use my own orchids hehehe). Besides, I own mostly cymbidiums and no on in their right mind will use a full size mature cymbidium for centerpieces for wedding guest tables. They will occupy the entire table :) We also bought some woven baskets from an arts & crafts store and used them to house the orchids in the center of the tables. The baskets are just a bit bigger than the orchid pots so we had room to put in some extra decorations like ribbons and other cut branches from other plants in our gardens. But even bare, the orchids in a crafted basket looks great. Since we bought different kinds of orchids, each table was unique. And the guests decided to refer to their tables by the orchid names instead of the table numbers. "We are at the purple dendrobium table over there." It also made it easier for them to find their tables after they move about. But it must have been a psychedelic experience for those who had one too many drinks. And since they were not my orchids, we decided to raffle off the centerpieces to the guests at the end of the evening. Even after several years, some of our friends would tell us that the orchids they brought home from the wedding are still doing well. And since we bought them in bloom for the wedding, they bloom around our wedding anniversary too. And I think that is neat. They see the orchids bloom and they are reminded of our wedding :)

Yes, we all need more trees. I saw something in the news that SL County wants to see 1 million trees planted in the next 10 years. I don't know how they plan to promote that, but it's a great goal. Anyway, I think that's funny how you planted in the neighbor's yard. Reminds me of guerrilla gardening (http://www.guerrillagardening.org) where people sneak out at night and plant nice things to beautify neglected spaces. Anyway, you DEFINITELY should be gardening, Sharla! Don't be daunted just because it can be complicated. It's not always complicated, and you'll learn some things along the way as you do it. It's so rewarding to grow stuff and see your accomplishments as they make your yard a nicer place. As for the red maple, just watch it and see. It may be fine, but if the leaves get pale or yellow, it is getting iron chlorosis from our alkaline soil. It's not that we don't have enough iron, but it can't be used very well by some plants when they're in alkaline soils. These are usually trees or shrubs that came from back East or some other climate that has rich, acid, forest soils. Anyway, if that happens, post back here, and we can help you deal with the sick tree.

Rental center is a really good idea- they not only have columns, fountains and stuff, but they do this all the time, so they probably have a ton of ideas and you don't have to re-invent the wheel. If you don't live near a rental center- go to a website and get ideas. Your florist may have some sources for decoration ideas as well. I don't know if you like balloons, but a balloon arch is a very quick way to make a large, colorful statement. You can also float them as a kind of false ceiling, with silver or gold mylar ribbons on them that catch the light and sparkle. Nothing says "party" like balloons. I recently went to an outdoor wedding where they wanted to keep insects off the wedding cake, so they rigged a tulle "tent" over it- gathered tulle onto a tree banch and let it fall gently all around the cake table. It looked really nice (and also gave the message to stay away from the cake until it was time to cut it.) Good luck and enjoy your wedding day!

Thanks so much for all the responses! Here's my specific situation: I'm the bride-to-be. Fiance and I live on west coast, immediate family lives on east coast, extended family lives all over the country. In a perfect world, we would have a ceremony immediately followed by a reception with all of our close friends and relatives. The logistics of distance, young children, elderly parents, expense of travel, etc, are going to make this nearly impossible, so we've decided on what's really important to us. Fiance and I are thinking of a very small ceremony on the east coast with my parents, his mother, and our brothers, sisters and children. Maybe 20 people at the most. To us, these are the people we most want to share this occasion with, and it's more practical to have the ceremony take place where everyone else lives than to expect everyone to travel out west to our home. Then within a month or so of the wedding, when we're back home, we'd like to have a party with our close circle of friends, simply to mark the occasion and share our happiness with them. We wouldn't expect our east coast parents, brothers or sisters to attend, although they'd certainly be welcome to. I like the rituals of the reception (toast, dinner, dancing, cake, etc) but feel a little awkward having all the rituals at the west coast party without having had the actual wedding ceremony there. But a big party at our home sounds like fun, with perhaps the only wedding ritual a formal wedding cake baked by a friend who's an expert pastry chef. And perhaps some toasts by friends who have been asked ahead of time. In our case my soon-to-be-hubby & I would be hosting the west coast party. No family (except my teenage sons) would likely be attending, although all east coast relatives would certainly be invited. So it sounds like just throwing a regular party, with the general knowledge that we'd just gotten married, is the way to go. On the one hand I like the idea of having the party invitations omit references to the recent marriage because my preference is for no gifts. On the other hand, I feel it's awkward to throw a big party and include some of the reception rituals (well, the gorgeous cake anyway) without letting people know ahead of time that we're celebrating our wedding. A related question: since the wedding will be very small and won't include extended family, and since the extended family won't be invited to the west coast party (they don't live nearby), is it proper to send out wedding announcements to extended family? Alternatively, is it proper to not send out announcements to anyone not at the ceremony or the party, and assume that extended family will hear of our wedding by word of mouth, annual Christmas letters, etc?