Lots of work, but lots of fun putting it together.

We live in a small town, too. My Daughter's Wedding included 450 Guests.

The funny thing is, I paid the Photographer by the hour. It was a relative of the Groom. Guess what? I have hundreds of pictures of the Grooms Family. There were on two pictures of me with my Daughter at the wedding.

So was the caterer. Guess who took all the left overs home?

It was a beautiful ceremony and a really fun reception that lasted 6 hours.

But, it was exhausting.

Relax. Enjoy. And Best wishes to the Bride and Groom.

Gayle

oh it can be done, and on line...first she has the most important things done...firm dates...

go to the local book store..and see if you can find a wedding planner...or stop in at marthastewart.com, even here, i think there's a wedding site...

couple of things NOT to do? think you can remodel the kitchen before a wedding...(and need to be done again!) dh got the bright idea in 2000 that starting feb with wedding in august was plenty of time...HA!

and don't worry about in-laws who are really outlaws...my d1 ended up eloping (i still kick myself for not going anyway)...and dd2 was in tears at the dinner the night before...ds1's forgot to get servers (thanks be for guests who took charge) and dd2's fil doesn't speak to his divorced wife of 15! years so wouldn't come to rehersal dinner....other than that, the 4 weddings were fine, just fine..lol lol lol

Be careful with falling in love with the wedding colors too early. Life will be simpler if she looks first for the bridesmaids dress she dearly loves, and then she picks her favorite color from the color choices the dress comes in. We lived with the vague wish of wanting pretty pastels until the dress was picked, and then the dress came in a silvery sage, so the colors for the wedding were sage and pink. It is surprising how limited the color choice may be in some bridesmaid dresses. And of course you want to pick a color and style that will look good on all the bridesmaids too. Have fun. We had a wonderful time planning and having our wedding, and the key was that we were not rushed because her married friends all advised a long planning period to assure a happy bride. They were right.

I am laughing so hard at Susan.

I she wants a photo video of herself and the groom. They're nice at weddings to show them both growing up, meeting/spending time together, when he proposed, then afterward we can add photos from the wedding. 20 pics - no charge. More pics - half price.

If she wants the video of her wedding edited, w/ special effects and such, I'll do it for half price. We can add pictures to that, too.

I can also do the invitations. We can work out a discount.

Sounds like you have a great start on the details! Just remember to take time to enjoy all of it! It will all be here too soon and you will all be a blur......

LOL..we're going through the same thing here. DS is getting married next October also. We all agreed to put the planning aside until the first if the year. It was just too much with the holidays! They decided not to get married on Hawaii after all....they'd rather have all of the family and friends there and it just couldn't happen in Hawaii!

LOL Gayle maybe I'd better rethink?
Susan I am already thinking of painting inside, and maybe a few other things. But NO remodeling I got that part!
Wedding planner is great, I told her to get a notebook for now and jot everything down! The in-law and out-laws, yep seems every family has to have a few of each! :)
SheilaJoyce, nothing is set in stone yet except the date and attendants! We are going to set aside a date here in January or Feb to go look at dresses etc. She found one online that she loves tho, and she is thinking fall colors, browns,golds,red etc.
Errr Video? Oh lord another thing to think about! LOL
Julie, dear Julie!! Its fantastic to see you here! I know what you mean, the first wedding of DD went so fast, it seemed like it started and was over in a flash. I will get more help this time and hopefully enjoy it more!
Vikki I forgot about that! I hope you handle this better than me! LOL It doesn't take much to throw me into a tizzy! LOL

Maddie is flower girl and Drew and Hunter will be ringbearers! I HAVE to get a family pic taken!! I don't have one!

Here is a link that might be useful: Brdiesmaid dress she likes....right now anyway

The link looks like the home page. No dress to see.
Some sites don't change the name/URL from one page to another. So, the address bar stays the same as you navigate the pages of the their site. To get a link directly to one particular page, right click on an empty spot of the page and select Properties. You can copy that page's URL from in there.

ahhh shoot....trying this Mallory's way.
Thank you!

Here is a link that might be useful: crossing my fingers

Making the invites in not that hard and you don't need to be that crafty. I helped my friend make hers for her wedding last summer. We went to the paper store and picked out colors (she used brown, green, and cream), and she had her sister print up the actual pieces with words on them, and we did alot of cutting and glueing. She bought 2 or 3 stamps online and we decorated them with pretty stamps. I'll try to get a pic to post in the next few days. They turned out beautifully and so many people commented that they were the best wedding invites they had seen. Of course we messed a few up, LOL, but we bought extra paper just for that reason. It took a few days to do it, but it wasn't that difficult. You should go online and look at examples of what other people have done and just go from there!

Both DD and I would love to see what you did Jenn!
She is trying desperatly to do the KISS thing. (Keep It Simple and Sweet)
Other DD put on the whole schmeer, and this DD doesn't want much of what her sister had. Wants the ceremony simple and short and doesn't want coffe/punch servers,gift carriers,candle lighters, someone to do the guest book etc etc. Just wants to get married and no big show.

My friend kept hers pretty simple too. We did everything. The only person she hired was the photographers. She had it at a kid's summer science camp type of place so it was a weekend affair (we all stayed in either cabins with bunk beds or people could stay at the fancy lodge down the street). It was on a beautiful lake, but the facility did provide 2 meals per day for the weekend. She had friends do everything else. We made her centerpieces for tables and put together gift bags for guests, did the invites, I did her hair, she did her own make-up, our friend played the cello, etc. It was the most fabulous wedding I've ever been too. They rented a couple of kayaks so we could go swimming or kayaking on the lake during the day, or hiking. We had big bonfires at night and everyone brought guitars, drums to play. It was so much fun!

That dress is beautiful. Bridesmaid dresses should look just as pretty from the back as they do for the front.

Gayle

I'll swing by and pick up Joan and we'll be there to take pics...maybe by that time, I'll have figured out how to use my camera...

When I got married, my Mom did all yhe planning. SHe lives 500 miles away ( but in the same state). I got married in her back yard on a sunny July day in 1979. Mom had my sister take photos, my cousin was the bartender, my sister's friend did all the food (including serving). It was a grand time! Ask around your relatives. The people who gave their "services" did not need to give gifts. Believe me, I was very glad for the "volunteers" and Mom for asking them! Good luck with all your plans!

Yayyyyy! I knew somebody would volunteer Liz!! I promise you a good time and heck I will even spring for your rooms! Joan will be a wonderfullllll photographer!And if you learn how to run your camera you can be Joanies assistant!

Oh-oh ***making mental note to self*** (yet AGAIN)
Tell Heather to reserve a block of rooms!