Boy do I! It'll be a sweet 16 years ago this June, and seems like it was last week! At the rehersal, the pastor had a fit because I had four different readers. I got this lecture about only two, because he wanted everything "perfect, perfect" as he snapped his fingers. I explained that my readers were also readers/ministers at their own Church and it would be fine. I won. As we went down the isle, you could hear his fingers snapping, making certain that everyone was at a proper pace. My brother would not come to the wedding, and my friends who drove all the way from Phoenix,her husband walked me down the aisle. I was so excited and kept hearing those finger snappings, that I started down the aisle on the wrong song. I forgot to wait for Cannon in D. I walked down to "Today while the blossoms"...I guess I was in a hurry to get to my future hubby, as he stood there crying his little brown eyes out. I understand his brothers told him he didn't have to do this if he was going to cry about it! During the "perfect" ceremony, all four readers didn't miss a cue. Then, the pastor lost his place in the book. He kept turning pages looking for where he was supposed to be. You could hear fingers snapping from my maid of honor. We almost broke up with laughter! He made another boo-boo in the ceremony, and again, Jenny started snapping her fingers! We took off from the church in a red & white vintage 60's Chevy convertible from a friend of ours. What a gas! Plenty of tin cans and hubby's old army boots. The reception was held at a lovely Polish restaurant. Just over 100 people. My friends were all upset because when they got there with hudred of balloons, the hall had not been cleaned from the night before! It all worked out. The food was served family style and didn't stop coming. Roast chicken, beef,ham, whipped potatoe, green beans with almonds,sausage & kraut, and I forget what else. People are STILL talking about the food today. They never had such a good meal at a wedding. So yes, I remember my wedding ceremony...I'd do it over again, but the pastor has since died : ) Wonder if St. Peter snapped his fingers when he arrived? Cheers, Mickey

I agree with Party Music that the buffet line should be on both sides of table & have soup, corn, then stew,(do they make it with flatbread or will they be already put together? I haven't had that so don't know how it's done.. Drinks I always prefer to be in 1 area ,not main food table as a spill can really slow things down. Cake table- cake,forks, napkins & maybe couple of small containers of flowers, any canoes available?? How about a couple of child sized moccasins. Make them out of felt & bead on the front of them(glue or sew on) put a plastic container in where foot should go with low arrangement of fall flowers. Your idea of memories or quotes is good, make that a game where you pass out rough paper in rawhide or beige color & ask them to write something for bride & groom would need pens or pencils to write with but advice, favorite memory about couple or "how to get through the net 25 yrs" would be fun & interesting memory of the party. Only thought is be sure things are pretty secure in case of wind, would heat be a problem, might consider a tarp or 2 to shade some areas if you have trees or house you can anchor them on. Home Depot has brown ones that are nice & last quite well. Also have beige colored 6 ft wide shade cloth that can be anchored with long high wires to higher trees or close to roof so have some shade. It's sold in rolls 100 ft long or shorter 6 ft by 20 ft long. smaller rolls are $29. I think, I shade parts of my yard & makes a big difference. Sounds like a fun party!

That certainly is a photo of a beautiful, happy bride and handsome groom. they even manage to upstage that stunning scenery behind them. Do you have a wall to display all these new photos of married children? and new grandbaby when it arrives? How wonderful to know that your children are married and ensconced in their own families now.

I agree about asking your music people about what they recommend. Also, if you are getting married in a church, ask if there are any restrictions on the music which the church will make. I think too you are expecting entrances and such to take longer than they will. So you won't need all that many songs. General seating - determine about how many pews it will take to seat the groom's people, and how many the bride's. Divide that by two. The first rows of the groom's side ought to have groom's people. Then fill in the remaining with bride's. Or, don't worry about which side is which and just seat most people wherever. All in all it is dreary to see half the pews filled with the other half empty. Your proposed seating plan for grandmothers and step-grandmothers seems awkward at best. If it seems like it will work, great, but it probably wouldn't be my first instinct. I'd have candleabras lit well before the family candles. Candleabras are just set decoration, while family candles are symbolic and should be lit closer to the ceremony.