Did you mention chosen colors or a theme? Nature inspired actually covers a lot of ground. Budget will play a huge role... sometimes, do-it-yourself weddings end up nickel and diming you to death... if you do it right, though, you can save a small fortune! My advice would be start making lists. Get all your important ducks in a row first. When, where, how many guests, colors, theme... You'll need to book a minister, invitations, music/entertainment, food, cake, bar/drinks, photography... you'll need alternate arrangements in case of rain or bad weather... you'll need to think about parking for guests, powder rooms (bathroom facilities) for guests... And remember, you're the bride... so you won't have time to do anything on the day of the wedding, except get ready... you'll need lots of help. And you'll need good rest the night before. You'll need seating for the guests during the wedding... then there's the reception... tables and seating. Are you doing buffet? Or large sit down catering? Dance floor? The wedding will be outdoors by the lake, and will the reception be indoors, or outdoors? Timing... you want everything timed so it all goes well, and there are no large gaps where guests don't quite know what to do. Just a few questions to ask yourself, and keep in mind... weddings are often hectic, and the better you can plan ahead, the better prepared you'll be in case something comes up you weren't expecting. You'll sort of want the theme to carry through... from the bouquets and boutonnieres, to the table decorations and any hall decorations... bridal table, cake table, gift table, card box, etc... a word of caution - gift table and card box should be near the bridal table or where there will always be someone to keep an eye on it - as far from an exit as possible. You mentioned dish strainers above... and I just recalled seeing small pasta sieves at a large store in really nifty colors... those could be lined with moss and planted with succulents or annuals... then the guests could take them home. The ideas are so endless that when I did my own wedding, I hardly knew where to begin! I began using Google, and using key words that helped me locate pictures of what I sort of hand in mind... I ended up at a second hand store buying about 50 coffee cup saucers, spray painted them white, sprinkled on glitter while still wet, and I found a sale at Hobby Lobby on tall white scented candles at 50 cents each. I hot-glued a ring of matching flowers to each saucer, and it turned out fabulous. It was a November wedding with white and burgundy as colors, all silk flowers for ease of prepping ahead, mostly roses. Everyone has contributed such nice ideas... and if you spend a few days going through wedding how-to books, magazines, the internet and its many wedding sites and blogs, craft magazines... you'll have so many ideas, I know you'll find the right one for your wedding. I think key for you will be keeping lists... keeping a budget... and checking things off your list as they are accomplished. In fact, I know some of the wedding sites have lists you can print to help you out a bit. Candy bars are really popular right now, but if it will a summer wedding, that might not work out. Photo booths are also popular... where you hire a photographer, and they set up a booth like you see at malls, and you get to take 4 snap shots, then they go right into a wedding album, and the guests can write a personal message. My son and daugther-in-law just did that and it was so much fun! Centerpieces... depending on when the wedding is, there should be plenty of flowers available in a rainbow of colors... once you've chosen your main colors, you shouldn't have any problems matching up potted centerpieces in any container type you like... baskets, shells, boxes, colored plastic flower pots, clay pots, anything can be a container as long as it holds some soil. And don't forget keeping a list for gifts, and sending thank you cards... it's the personal touches that mean the most. :-) I wish you the best! Here is a link that might be useful: One Link of Many...

Gorgeous pictures Brenda! I can hardly imagine how much work that was put into that wedding. My sister was married last October(indoor wedding) and I know how much work we did for that with growing our own flowers, but when it's outside, you've got a whole new bunch of things to worry about. Glad everything turned out well for you, even if it was a bit hot, but it's better than rain ;^)

I love what I call a "country elegant" look - tablecloths to the ground, maybe table toppers or runners in one of the wedding colors. The last wedding like that that I coordinated, the bride used Mason canning jars filled with daisies and greenery for centerpieces. She used semi-sheer light purple toppers over white tablecloths. She tied a purple ribbon around the neck of each jar. I have another country wedding coming up. We will use ivory linens to the ground (round tables). For the centerpieces, she is using large flat sunflowers. A votive candle will be set into the center of the sunflowers. They will be surrounded by grape vine. As you can see, there are numerous things that you can do to reflect the location and not look too country casual.

Thanks for the encouragement (sushipup and ColleenOZ) and the warnings (Scarlett). Could I ask you all to describe how you think I should do it? The ceremony is off site, so people will be arriving at our house around 1 (after hiking up a long, steep driveway). There they will be offered some cool drinks which I think have to be passed on trays in glasses. Maybe those drinks could be water, lemonade, iced tea, sparkllng rose? Then I'm thinking lunch will be put out as a buffet, maybe from several different stations, for people to take plates to eat either at a table or a blanket, or anywhere else they want. Do you think the bottles of wine and interesting beers (small bottles or larger, for sharing?) should be chilling in some big barrels, next to a pile of blankets? Or should servers be assigned to circulate with them, pouring a glass or leaving the bottle on a table? Help me picture the whole scene, and how we can be gracious and casual, but not wasteful. When do toasts occur at a wedding like this? Our property is very spread out so once people take off it will be not be until cake time (inside) that we will be corralled back to one place. By the way, the bride and groom are Californians, so I love the idea of having a west coast vibe for this east coast event!