A Country Inn Wedding Celebration

A country inn (bed and breakfast, inn, etc.) is usually a place filled with history and designed for comfort. Inns come in all shapes and sizes and are situated everywhere - town, country, old farm house, mansion and everything in between! Some used to be taverns, others converted private estates. Your job is to find the right inn and determine just what you want to do.

If you are inclined to celebrate your wedding at an inn, you are likely to experience a highly creative, warm and cozy event - whether formal or casual - since the owners of these inns generally have a flair for design and love to entertain. They own an inn after all! They will help your wedding planning and keep it simple and stunning!

(Hint: When you decide what inn to use, go and stay for a night and see how it feels. Compare several.)

If you are interested in just hosting your wedding reception at the inn, you don't have to worry about accommodations - except maybe a room for the night after the reception. However, if you are making a weekend of your wedding, you need to think of taking rooms for the bridal party and other guests. You will also need to determine, depending on how many guests you plan to invite, what other accommodations are nearby.

Some inns require you reserve the entire space or a large block of rooms as part of your wedding weekend package. Get all your information up front - pricing, requirements, restrictions. Make sure you read your contract for details. Don't be afraid to ask questions about local vendors, florists, bakeries and even caterers. The inn owners should be able to accommodate you and they do know their area better than you do.

Book early if you want a particular weekend for your wedding. Like any other wedding venue, popular inns are reserved early. Negotiate a weekend package price. Since most inns are privately owned and operated, they may be happy to offer you discounts for a series of events - rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony, wedding reception and post-wedding brunch.

Make use of what the inn has available - an antique table to hold your guest book or placecards, eclectic china for your tables, special arrangements with florists in the area. Mix antique linens and prints with different textures for your tables to carry out your eclectic theme.

Create a welcome gift basket for all your guests that features local snacks, a nicely designed itinerary for the weekend, a wedding program, and a list of other suggested activities for them to do in the area. Ask the inn for help in coordinating sightseeing, golf or even an antiquing trip for guests.

Include a photo print of the inn with your wedding invitations, wedding programs, or welcome cards. Personalize your celebration and focus on your stunning venue!

Wedding Stress Management

Between money, time, and general expectations, weddings make most couples want to pull out their hair at one point or another. If you can break down where that stress is coming from, it will be easier to deal with. It's a given, from the choice of invitations to the seating chart, you are going to be stressed out. But here are some tips to help manage it.

* Everyone has an opinion – and wants you to act on it!

From day one, everyone – from your grandma Sue to your hairdresser Bruce, will want to know all the details of your wedding and will, without any hesitation, offer you their suggestions and opinions. If you don't follow each and every one to the letter, they will be mortally insulted.

Not.

Just remember - and repeat it to yourself whenever it just gets too much – "This is our wedding. This is our wedding. This is our wedding." It doesn't mean you can't listen to what they are telling you, just take it all with a grain of salt. And go your own way!

* Parents – Gotta love 'em -- or do you?

Parents have been honing their abilities to stress you out for your entire lives! It's one of the perks of parenthood, but to keep them from getting to you during the wedding planning process, head them off at the pass. Ask early if they are giving you money for the wedding and how much. This eliminates any confusion later when you hand them a bill and they go ballistic because you spent $5,000 on wedding favors.

Make the planning process fun. It is a wedding after all and supposed to be happy. Invite your parents (both sets if you like) to attend a formal dinner and planning session. Talk to them generally about style, location and when you are planning the wedding. From the outset – and do this with both sets of parents – determine how many people they will be inviting for your wedding.

I knew one bride whose mother invited over 200 people to her daughter's wedding. The couple didn't have any room for friends. They got to spend their entire wedding reception with septuagenarians who really didn't enjoy the rock band that the couple hired to entertain their friends.

Don't promise your mother something without running it by your fiancé first! One good way to get your parents involved and to get you out from under is to ask them if they would be willing to do some specific tasks. They can do price comparisons, organize hotel discounts, even help with color schemes and favors if you are willing to give up control.

The key to managing stress with the parents is to make them feel that they are part of the process and not a wall between you and your wedding vision!

Tomorrow – more stressors! Can you handle it?

Keep it Simple and Stunning 3 - Some final tips

Over the past several days I've been talking about keeping it simple and stunning -- that is, your wedding, of course! Here are a few final thoughts on focusing on simplicity in your wedding design.

Simple weddings should have a unifying theme.

Whether you use color, a culinary focus, ethnic customs, a Celtic knot or a Zen garden, choosing a central theme that works in your setting is a guarantee of a more harmonious mood for your wedding celebration.

A wedding focused around a Celtic knot may have all sorts of variations of a Celtic theme. You could carry out your simple 1-2-3 colors in various shades of green, serve Irish soda bread hors d'oeuvres and concentrate on Celtic music.

A Zen-style wedding might feature an invitation printed on rice paper, or a sake and sushi cocktail. You could have floating orchids on the tables and wedding party favors of Asian candles, and packages of green tea.

When all the design choices fall into line with an overall theme, from fonts to foods, the result is not only more appealing, but it also simplifies the planning process.

Know your design priorities.

The possibilities in designing a wedding setting seem endless. Too many choices and you can go into design overload! Make wedding checklists of the things that are MOST important to you as far as your wedding is concerned. Flowers? Music? Food? It is sometimes really hard to choose and every couple feels differently about which details are most crucial.

(Hint: The wedding planner book may look whimsical, but it is the contents that are key. Have one for your spouse and another for your main assistant and that way you are all on the same page!)

Write down your priorities and stick to them every step of the way. Discuss your priorities up front with each of your vendors at the very first meeting! Make sure they understand what you are seeking, and are willing to provide it for you. If not, find another vendor!

Use your setting as your reference point. Don't try to make it something it is not. If you are holding your wedding reception in an industrial loft, don't try to have a botanical garden wedding. Trying to turn the loft into an English country garden defeats the purpose of simplicity. If you want the botanical garden wedding, go to the botanical garden site. If you are inflexible about your setting, be prepared for complications - and for things not working out the way you envisioned them.

Simplicity is well-planned.

Knowing your priorities is the key to maintaining your design and your sanity, but be open to new possibilities along the way. The best way to keep glitches from happening is to evaluate these priorities from the start, review what you really want and then make your changes early on. Once the invitations are sent, and the wedding linens are ordered, your flexibility becomes limited. If you set these priorities first and tinker with them then, you will likely avoid any major changes and huge expenses!

Simple is better.

Take the time to apply these KISS principles. Focus your budget, preferences, and approach on smart details and gracious warmth, rather than stiff pomp and circumstance - it's not a royal wedding.

You will be rewarded with a simple, stunningly beautiful wedding day free of headaches and stress. And in 50 years, you will be able to celebrate your anniversary looking back on a treasured memory and toast each other's good sense to go simple yet stunning!