I’m home… (and exhausted). Everything went well – rehearsal dinner / wedding/ reception… but things got rather stressed out after it was all over. DD had an evening wedding, ceremony at 6, then photos, then reception all at the same location. I think it went well but the ceremony did not start as promptly as DD would have liked, leaving the outdoor post-ceremony photo shoot somewhat rushed in DD’s mind. (I think it will be fine).
DD looked absolutely amazing & gorgeous in her wedding dress. Bridesmaids all looked lovely in navy blue dresses. My grandson performed his role as ring bearer with aplomb. His newly acquired 3-year-old cousin (husband’s nephew) was also in the wedding, equipped with a bubble gun… but he forgot to shoot the bubbles during the ceremony… but we had plenty of bubbles afterward.
My daughter & son-in-law left yesterday evening for Rome, and got lucky at the airport - they got upgraded to business class for the trip. So I think they must be having a lovely honeymoon.
Thank you, @raclut, but it was not my idea. It was one of the choices offered by the venue the bride and groom chose, and they went for it. The person at the venue who told them about it said that demand for brunch weddings has increased recently, so they’ve started offering them as one of their regular options.
Once you get past having to do very early morning prep (hair, makeup, etc.) a brunch wedding sounds very nice! Is dancing still a thing at an earlier time wedding? No real reason why it shouldn’t be, but mentally I think of dancing for night events.
Calmom, glad all went well! I sometimes think the photos of a wedding are overrated. I mean, we all WANT photos but at what cost $$ wise and time wise? You can have 50 great photos or 500 - you will love the 50 as much as having more!
@abasket, yes there was lots of dancing in the early afternoon. H and I are not dancers and DIL’s mom is ill, so we had mother/son and father/daughter. Then the DJ moved into parent/child, married couples (longest married was the last one standing), GF/BF, open floor. There were the usual line dances and then a whole mix from many eras. I was surprised how good the DJ was (a guy in his 50s who S/DIL met at a wedding fair). He nicely kept the music from being too loud, one of my biggest peeves at weddings. He also did the bouquet throw music; DIL nixed the garter stuff. He also acted like he was enjoying himself the whole time!
We enjoyed watching the dancing in the last hour. S and DIL have friends who dance very well! They had bought blowup props (bongos, guitars), glow sticks, flashing rings and their friends recreated some music videos/lip syncing that really entertained the guests.
I have a question about meals for out of town guests. We are flying east for a wedding in October, and have just rented a house with my siblings 40 minutes from the venue. We never heard anything about any meal for out of town guests, or we would have tried to find a place closer to the venue. When should we or would we have heard about any plans for out of town guests?
@calmon, I’m glad to hear everything went so well! <:-P
If a bit of a late start and shortened photo session were the big downsides, that’s quite a success. Funny that the wee one didn’t shoot his bubble gun – you’d think someone would’ve had to restrain him until it was time!
@calmom I was thinking of you and waiting to hear how it all went. It sounds like it was beautiful and just as your D and her new spouse had wanted. I am sure there will be plenty of lovely photos. For my D’s upcoming wedding, the formal shots will be prior to the wedding ceremony/guests. I wish your kids lots of joy in their new marriage and I am sure they will enjoy the honeymoon!
@martharap , one idea is to send a message to the relative inviting you asking for restaurant suggestions and which other family members might be in town that day.
Thanks! I’ve received emails from son-in-law and they are doing fine. Just a little shaking in Rome… scary for the mid-west born groom, no big deal for his California-raised bride. But sad for the death toll in the more rural area where the quake was centered.
I can’t believe I just booked our airfare for D’s wedding in March. Was able to get a non-stop RT fare on Southwest from Midway for $267/each! This may be the least expensive part of the wedding!
My S just got engaged, and they are planning an Aug 2017 wedding. The wedding will be in the town where the bride grew up and her parents live, but the bride herself doesn’t live there now. She has just moved to a new city, after graduating law school in yet another city, and is about to start a new job. S has one more year of law school, and plans to try hard to find a job in bride’s new city.
The bride’s parents seem to be getting into the wedding planning. The selected venue is one that the bride’s Mom recommended, and is much fancier than I would have picked. However, her parents have offered to fully pay for the wedding. It seems a bit awkward to me to just let the bride’s parents pay for the wedding without offering for us to help, as we could afford to, but I thought that it would be much less likely to lead to conflict this way, as they can just make all of the decisions.
We did offer to pay for the rehearsal dinner. Now I have to figure out what to do for that. Do the groom’s parents typically actually plan and host the rehearsal dinner, or just pay for it? I don’t think I’ve ever been to a rehearsal dinner before. Back when I got married, we had a very low-key wedding, and didn’t have a rehearsal dinner. Plus, I’ve never even been to the city where the wedding will be, and live quite far away.
I’m very excited that they are getting married. They have been together for 3 years, after having been friends for several years before that. I like her a lot, and think she’s been a great positive influence in his life.
@sacchi - D called me a couple of weeks ago, after a rather stressful couple of weeks of wedding planning glitches to tell me that she’d turned the rehearsal dinner planning over to her fiance’s dad and stepmom and she was absolutely thrilled. She and fiance did pick the place out, and his parents had already agreed to pay for it, but she just didn’t want to deal with the decisions and logistics anymore; she’s pretty easy going and is very comfortable with future step-mother-in-law’s taste, so knows it will be lovely. So it can go either way… you can pay for it as they plan it, or they can turn it over to you if they wish (and you are willing). If they just got engaged, give it a few weeks before you even start pressuring them on the rehearsal dinner. Unlike the wedding, they will probably have a few more options and probably have some time to check out a few places before committing.
Joining up as S just got engaged yesterday. Trying to pick a date is going to be a challege because of siblings’ conflicting events/schedules… It will certainly be next June or July. And will be held in the bride’s home city–which is far from where we live, and very far from where the bride and groom now live. Just happy that S pulled off his “secret” proposal plan–and it turned out funny/romantic/surprising–better than he’d hoped. And she loved the ring (at least she said she did). She is not the type to gush, but apparently she was amazed that he virtually read her mind on her fantasy ring.
I mentioned this before, but 2 people I know used Mangione’s for rehearsal dinner. They have rooms to accommodate different numbers of guests, serve family style. We have a local restaurant, and in each of the 2 cities, this chain restaurant was also cin nvenient. So, it could be planned locally. However, since this wedding is taking place in bride’s hometown, I’m sure her parents will have suggestions. You could offer to pay for honeymoon or flowers, or cake. Lots of options.
MOB here…I am going to leave it to the groom’s side to plan the rehearsal dinner. If you are going to invite everyone then I would include it in the wedding invite, as a separate smaller card. My sister, MOG, from the very beginning told the bride’s family they would be happy to contribute. The bride’s family wanted to pay for the reception. My sister ended up paying for the photographer and transportation to and from the reception.
Congrats to all the newly engaged couples, and their families. S1 and DIL just celebrated their 1st anniversary.
We were in the same position re:rehearsal dinner. Wedding was in bride’s hometown, but she no longer lived there, and it was a 4-5 hour drive from where we live. I researched rehearsal dinner venues and their menus/prices online, asked CCers for advice, and ran my final choices past the bride and groom for their opinions. I also let the bride and groom choose among the menu options for the chosen venue. Ultimately, DH and I had the final say over how extensive the menu was, what alcohol was served, etc.
We didn’t consult with the bride’s family directly since those kinds of celebrations/events are not things they’re familiar with. Because of financial constraints, they would’ve opted to do something at home, and we didn’t want them offering their home to do so.
