We know several harp players. Their harps fit nicely in the back of a Subaru Outback wagon. Middle seats folded down.
My sister is a cellist, and when we lived in England they had to buy an extra seat on the plane for her cello. 
I am in awe of people who plan on outdoor weddings. D1 is contemplating using a tent, and I am already thinking about what if it is too cold, too hot, windy, lighting…I am wondering if we would need to also book an in door place as a back up, should I rent portal air conditioner or heater?
S’s wedding was outdoors—not my choice, but not my wedding. Michigan weather is so unpredictable, but he lucked out. I did insist on a back-up plan in case of rain, so they did reserve a conference room on the college campus (wedding was on the campus as they both work there).
The chair set-up guy said they should have a canopy on reserve for heat and full sun, and a tent on reserve if the weather was looking less than optimal so they did this. Sounded better to them when it came from someone other than me. Chairs set up the day before for the rehearsal and weather was looking good so the canopy and tent were not needed. Temp around 72 at 10 in the morning, 70% humidity, sun was warm, light breeze, and wedding was short.
And the music was a string quartet—2 violins, a viola, a cello.
DD had an outdoor wedding in a lovely garden and the weather was gorgeous. The next day there was a downpour and I had to drive through heavy rain to the airport, and got soaked walking in from the rental return lot… so DD got lucky. There was an adjacent indoor area where the wedding could have been moved if needed, and the wedding was small enough that I think it would have been manageable, though not as nice.
The music was recorded and DD arranged with a friend to DJ, but DD created her own play list, both for the wedding and dancing at the reception. All was fine… DD did deliberately slow down the pace of the processional to allow time for the pre-recorded song to complete.
FWIW, the processional was Stevie Wonder, If it’s Magic. (We were in tears as soon as the music started & it’s making me cry all over again to listen again)
@Marian I saw this and thought of your daughter’s brunch wedding - the new trend is doughnut walls:
http://www.foodandwine.com/desserts/doughnuts/donut-walls-are-now-thing-weddings
That was the dessert at DILs shower, though on a smaller scale.
@doschicos, a restaurant that my daughter and her fiance looked at as a possible venue makes extremely good donuts. It’s one of their culinary specialties. Reviews of that restaurant on wedding websites say that many couples choose donut displays instead of wedding cakes – even for evening weddings.
Well, I’m done – but for those of you still planning, you might be interested in these survey results on such issues as to who should pay, who merits an invite, and whether it’s ok for an invited guest to request a plus-one:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-ultimate-guide-to-weddings-who-should-pay-and-what-about-plus-ones/
The wedding weekend is here and tonight we have the bridesmaids staying at our house. It is so fun to listen to their chatter as these girls are childhood and college friends. We are all just sitting around along with the best man and groom. Tomorrow, the girls are off to have a day together, and the boys that are currently in town are going in a different direction. My daughter is getting a bit bossy, but that is just her!
Yeah to wedding weekend - hope it is fabulous!
We won’t be doing a rehearsal dinner. There’s no way the groom’s Mom could afford one and we’re already paying for most everything else. I think there will be meals hosted by various “branches” of the family. Groom’s Granddad will probably do something for his Mom’s side (his Dad and the Dad’s family are out of the picture), my FIL for H’s side and my Dad for my side. I guess it will be a matter of scheduling so that the bride and groom can make it to everything. Is this unusual? Is there anything “necessary” that happens at a rehearsal dinner?
@sacchi, congrats on your S’s upcoming wedding! I think you could talk to the bride’s parents about how you would like to host a rehearsal dinner and discuss whether it might be easiest for them to pick a place (within your budget) and make the reservations. You might want to decide ahead of time what your limit is for whose invited to the dinner.
@atomom, and also congrats to your S! My D’s fiancee was going to do a surprise proposal but he got nervous that she wouldn’t like it and ended up telling her, just in case. Of course she did love it and didn’t mind it wasn’t a surprise anymore.
@toledo, glad to hear your S’s wedding went great despite the few hitches. I can’t even imagine a bridesmaid backing out less than a week before the wedding – yikes! It’s hilarious the venue actually had “No sparklers” posted. We noticed when looking for venues here in Colorado, they all say very prominently, “No marijuana.” :))
@bookreader, congrats to your D! (Wow, so many engagements right now). A friend of mine from Germany had to get one of those visa’s and yes I remember her telling me how amazingly onerous it was. I was thrilled I got to attend her wedding which was a huge (big and fat!) Greek Orthodox wedding in NJ. It was by far the fanciest wedding I’ve ever been to.
@snowball, I can’t wait to hear how everything went – good luck!
@snoozn, any way all the principals can coordinate their contributions to one venue for a pre-wedding meet and mingle event(which is my understanding of a rehearsal event, anyway). It seems pretty taxing to have the bride and groom run around to make appearances at each event.
I seriously wouldn’t worry about not having a rehearsal dinner. If others want to get together, that’s great, but I don’t think the bride and groom should try to make it to several events the night before the wedding. Maybe the couple and the parents and maybe wedding party could order pizza or something at someone’s house and just relax?
@snowball Best wishes for a beautiful and memorable wedding weekend.
I like the pizza idea. The night before a Bar Mitzvah, the parents invited guests to a local pizza place. For their next son’s Bar Mitzvah, they had pizza and salads delivered to the hospitality suite in the hotel.
We are in the final countdown of our daughter’s wedding. RSVPs were due August 31, shower is September 11, wedding October 15 with rehearsal dinner the night before and brunch for out of town guests and wedding party the day after. The next 6 weeks will be a whirlwind of final details including making calls to the surprising number of people who blew the return date for the RSVPs. The numbers are still staggering though. Originally 312 invited guests, spouses, and significant others. So far 48 “regrets”. It’s so funny, every time we open an RSVP, my wife and I at this point are almost more excited about the “regrets”. Keep 'em coming, ;). In a couple of weeks, we are going to get together with the wedding couple and the POG over wine and pizza, sit on the floor, get silly and work out the seating chart. Should be a hoot and a lot of fun. FOG, the groom and I still have to figure out what we are going to do during the shower - stick around like flies on the wall to observe the antics at the shower or run away and hide, lol.
MNK, I love how involved and excited you are for your D’s wedding - as you should be! I can understand that “cheer” for a regret with those numbers! Can’t wait to hear the results of all the planning. FULLY enjoy these next few crazy weeks!
abasket, I think a huge factor in making this past year an exciting and fun process is the relationship we have with the groom’s parents. Virtual every aspect of those things that have required or entailed parental involvement has been a collaborative process, particularly with the Moms. (The Dads have demonstrated remarkable sagacity, knowing just to nod their heads in agreement on all of the decisions that have been made .) No territoriality, no egos, just a lot of love for the kids, shared joy, humor and living in the moment each step of the way. The Moms even went gown shopping together and helped each other find gowns that were special and unique for each, something that the store clerks even commented was not their typical experience, lol.