Pergola? Whuzza Pergola?

This is a basic pergola:

Here's an especially beautiful pergola:

Ours will probably fall somewhere in between these two on the fanciness scale. We're thinking 14' x 14' is about the right dimensions. We're also planning on a floor of some kind, probably with pavers or bricks. For the actual wedding, it will be decorated with some ribbons and flowers and that sort of stuff. If we get it built early enough, I'll probably plant some fast growing vines on it, maybe scarlet runner beans or tall sweet peas. If necessary, we can tack some plastic or something to the rafters for rain protection.

After the ceremony, we'll set the band up under the same space and party on.

And after that, the long term plan is to grow hardy kiwis on it. Yum.

No more passwords

Yeah, so that whole logging in each time thing? Super annoying. So as of today, there's no more restrictions on who can read the blog. There are enough restrictions on life already, without me adding one more. I'm a little concerned that TOTAL STRANGERS might read some big private wedding secret on the blog, so I won't be linking up to any big wedding planning blog rings or anything. I figure there's few enough people who are gonna be interested in reading my wedding planning blog as it is. Plus, unless I e-mailed you the URL, you'd probably never have found the site in the first place. Ah, the privacy of being just another semi-anonymous blogger...

Time of Day

Anyone have any input on what time of day we should set for the ceremony? Originally, I was thinking ceremony at 3:00, Dinner at 5:00. However, my Dad pointed out that many of our relatives may want to come for the ceremony & dinner, but head home before the all-night party wraps up (or perhaps even gets raging). According to TimeAndDate.com, Sunset on 9-8-07 will occur at 7:36 PM (and sadly, there will not be much of a moon). If we had the ceremony at 2:00 and dinner at 4:00 there'd be a little more daylight left for the non-partiers to enjoy with us before heading home, even if they wanted to leave before dark. On the other hand, 4:00 seems kind of early to eat dinner... although a lot of special occasion type feasting tends to happen earlier than regular meal times, so maybe thats OK. Whatcha think? Earlier, later?

Welcome to Wedding Madness!

Hi Folks! If you are reading this, it means you are a very special person. So special, in fact, that I am going to ask (and if that doesn't work, I'll beg!) you to help me plan my wedding!

So, here's what we have so far...

Location: Our house (more specifically, the soon-to-be-created back yard)
Date: 9-8-07. It's a saturday, the weekend after labor day.
Time: afternoon ceremony, evening dinner, then party all night. We'll get more specific later.

Guiding priciples: Abundance, Sustainability, Fun!
Colors: all of them
Decorations: fruits, veggies & flowers. We've gotten some big ceramic planters to plant, and then we'll have bowls & baskets of fruits & veggies strewn about. Plus cut flowers informally arranged in mason jars. Also lots of white christmas lights in the trees, probably some tiki torches & candles around too.

Master of Ceremony: Marty Ripp
Ceremony: Short & Secular
Brideguard:
Tombi Ericson
Charlotte Sather
Janet Marino
Melissa Whitman
Miriam Kahn
Groomsdudes:
Gabe Taylor
Nick Ericson
Bo Davis
Eric Mapes
Brian Mapes

Guests: about 180 on the list right now (!)
Invitations: Henrietta is going to help design a crafty invite, then I'll need some volunteers to help me make them and send them out.

Parking: in the pasture
Accomodations: camping in the pasture, plus a couple spare beds

Food: We'll do beef & salmon, probably a green salad. Guests will bring a potluck dish to add to the buffet.
Cake: I'm thinking cupcakes, actually. Carrot.
Cups & Plates: I'm thinking secondhand, thrift store mis-match. People can pick their favorite & take them home afterwards as a wedding favor.
silverware: probably rental
tableclothes: flowery secondhand sheets
bar(s): open & generous. We'll probably need to hire a bartender.
toast: Mead

entertainment: Howlinwood (Kris Rothenbuler's band) plus all our musical friends will hopefully sit in and jam. We'll probably also have a laptop or an ipod and some speakers on hand, so those with the inclination can DJ if the live music stops. See also: ceremony, food, bar(s)

Infrastructure rented:
1 - 30' x 60' tent canopy
1 - 4' round table for the cupcakes
17 - 8' rectangular tables
112 folding chairs

Infrastructure Planned:
Pergola (to be built by Dave & Cary) for ceremony, band.
Lawn (to be leveled & seeded by Me, Cary & My dad)
Bridge & path (for crossing the creek between the parking pasture & the wedding site)
Hay Bales for ceremony seating
Fire Pit for hanging around late at night
Porto-Potties for, well, you know

So, thats all I can think of right now. Actually, i'm pretty impressed, I didn't really think I had anywhere NEAR this much figured out until I started writing it down.

I know you are all shy and reluctant to give your opinions on stuff (ha!) but I'm ready to hear what you think of all this... AND your suggestions for making it better... AND the things I might be overlooking... AND the things you've seen at other weddings that you liked or didn't like... AND DEFINITELY any ideas for how to keep myself sane through the next 6 months!