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...

Looks like you've got a good start! I agree, something larger than the candle ring under it. Fabric, place mat, mirror, charger, silver platter.. something to 'anchor'. Have you thought of trying that cellophane stuff you put in gift bags to fill them out? its all strips and curly and fluffy.. I've seen the iridescent kind in water and its pretty nice, if you little votives down at the base to reflect light off of. You'd have to use a wider anchor for the whole thing if you used the votives and cello stuff. or find one of those submersible lights to drop in the bottom and shine up through the cellophane stuff, or use one of the lighted 'ice cubes' for drinks instead. You can still use the floating candle if you want to.

Thanks for the additional ideas! The caterer tells me that we shouldn't use the "horse stalls" to house the buffet stations (will restrict the line flow too much), so those areas will be open for us to decorate as well. I'm definitely going to keep searching out horse items - harness collars and hames as mentioned above would very cool! Also love the idea to use grapevine in the mix. And those articulated horses ... Yes, I'm definitely going to be ordering several of those guys! Annie, I'm unable to open the link (blocked from work computer), but the place card holders sound quite pricey from your description, so maybe it's for the best. ;-D

Thanks for the further suggestions. There is a lot more sun on the right end. Lilies do well. I think delphiniums would be fine there. On the shady left, I just had to cut down an overhanging branch due to the trunk cracking in a heavy snow, that may make the left end more sunny than it has been before. Hopefully my gold hostas will not get fried. I’m thinking about a monkshood in the shadier end too. I think the path idea, though it appeals to me, will be dependent on whether I can get at least 2 of the bushes behind it dug out. Though I love the way it looks, I can’t keep frosted Brunnera alive. I was slowly getting some to expand in the backyard, but the lack of snow cover seems to have done them in too. They would be up by now if they were alive. A plain green one in another bed is up. One silvery plant that came to mind is pulmonaria. That does well in one bed around a tree (same location where the silver Brunnera croaked). I have one I got in trade (so don’t know that name) that is almost all silver, with just a fine green edge, rather than spotted. Since I have not done much planting around the gate location recently, I don’t know how the drainage compares to the adjacent hosta bed at the left, which is at the base of a very slight slope. Since I have a lot of gold and purple, the easy route would be to just use Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola’, since I already know I can grow that. Though where I have it now gets a lot of sun, conditions for both areas would be comparable. At least for now, I can’t extend the stepping stones. It will be a while before I can kneel well. It was a marathon of kneeling to prepare the base, paver base, etc., and lay the stones 2 years ago. The gate color I’m keeping. I matched the original paint, which a friend told me was a very traditional shade for garden fence in France where this came from. I have an outdoor metal/wood bench on the patio which I will paint to match. It also goes well with my house trim.