To follow up with Chris’ philosophical post last week, I thought I would lighten it up a bit and do a post about our wedding plans thus far. It’s funny, we’ve been engaged for a year and a half now so plans have been moving pretty gradually (this has been nice!) and now we’re coming up on 5 months till the big day and everything’s coming together nicely.

As we mentioned in our first post, the wedding is in late June and will be held in my parents’ backyard. My sister had her Bat Mitzvah party in the backyard under a tent and since then (I was 14 at the time) I’ve wanted to get married in the backyard. Since the ceremony will be non-denominational, we figured the front yard would be the perfect ceremony venue and in the back we will have a tent for the reception (Chris likes to refer it as the ‘Mullet Wedding’–business in the front, party in the back). The front will be set up simply, with a small platform under the chuppah for the ceremony and chairs for about half the guests and the backyard will have long, farm-style tables for dinner and a modest dance floor (which we anticipate will be full throughout the night).

People often ask me if there is a theme and the simple answer is…no. The theme is ‘Backyard Wedding’. We will decorate with rustic decor, homemade decorations, handmade table numbers, and other such items. Dinner will be served family style (and kosher style—meaning no pork or shellfish), to go with the ‘laid-back’ theme. Chris and I decided long ago that we wouldn’t have a large wedding party; my sister, Julie, is the maid-of-honor and Chris’s brother, Patrick, the best man. Our niece Ava will be the flower girl and will likely be accompanied by Chris’s sister Erin (Ava’s mom) because Ava will be just shy of 2 years old.

The biggest stress so far in the planning process has been the guest list. We both come from massive families; my dad is one of six children and Chris’s parents’ are one of four and one of five. Between both sides we have about 160 family members to invite, and that’s after doing some serious guest list shaving. Including friends, our final invite list was close to 250. We can fit 220 under the tents, so we’ll have to wait and see!

With love, Dana