The game plan

Here it goes; our wedding plans.

As you know, the wedding will take place at the home of my family's close friends Steve and Gail. The ceremony will be in the woods of their property and reception in a field adjacent to these woods. There will be space for camping, a big glowing bonfire and Sunday brunch to follow, of course. In case of rain, the ceremony can be held under our tent. The tent will be built by my wonderful father(with the helpof Josh's groomsman and my brothers). In the initial budget run through, it was realized that renting a tent for $1500+ was absurd, and my genius dad suggested that he could build the tent with lumber that could be torn down and reused after the wedding, for $600 or less. Yipee! This in turn sparked a fire to try and replace anything I initially thought needed to be purchased for the wedding with items that are used or can be borrowed. Thus lowering costs and the carbon footprint our Big Day will create.

We will be married by Josh's father. Rex is the perfect person to conduct our marriage ceremony for three reasons:

1. Rex worked many years as a sucessful salesman which = good public speaking skills. He also traveled with this work doing workshop to teach his skills to others in sales and now does public workshops with his new career in healing.
2. Rex is a skilled healer and spiritual counseler. His insight and intuitive touch will make for what we believe will be a touching and deeply moving ceremony.
3. Josh and I have always wanted someone near and dear to us officiate the wedding. Nuff said.
   

Choosing wedding colors also came easily. My engagement ring contains two sapphires (my birthstone) on either side of a diamond taken from an old ring of Josh's. The day after Josh proposed, I was admiring the ring and realized I would wear the sapphire pendant my grandmother gave to me for my high school graduation. Green was choosen when it was decided we were going with a casual, rustic feel for the day. Blue will be an accent color since green is more evident in nature (duh).

Prior to the engagement I'd always believed that friends and family should have little to no involvement and responsibility beyond showing up, looking beautiful, and having the time of their lives. I just want our loved ones to enjoy the day for what it is; the union and celebration of two beloved people. I have thoroughly changed my viewpoint on this matter. I've realized that if I am to stay under budget and keep my sanity, we're going to have to enlist help from the troops. The key will be to ask everyone, and I mean everyone, to be responsible for one task. This way no one is being overwhelmed with several tasks, and everyone has a role to play. And besides, this union and celebration will be that much more personal and meaningful if all those close to us have contributed in one way or another.

Flowers will be provided by a neighbor of ours who has green hydrangea bushes and we will pick Queen Anne's Lace as they are free and grow wildly everywhere in Michigan. Ceremony music will be played by Matt and Steffan, two highschool friends of mine on acoustic guitar and Mandolin. The day will be documented in photographs by my wonderful, Aja, who has assisted me in wedding and event photography in the past. I'd love to have women from my troupe, the Habibi Dancers, perform at the reception. I'm trying to enlist a friend to do a mini Salsa lesson to encourage interaction between guests and we'll have open salsa, merengue and bachata dancing for a small portion of the reception. We wont have cake, but would like a mini desserts table with goodies made by any talented cooks we know who are wiling to contribute. Josh's old bandmates, Ben and Whitney, will hopefully do an acoustic set to kick off the after party. Sunday brunch will be prepared and served by the entire wedding party.

Go team go!