Side trip: Midwestern wedding how to

Ok, so the obvious disclaimer on this "how to" is that you have to have an enormous family willing to pitch in to make the event successful.  And also access to a home on a large piece of property in the middle of the United States.  But if you don't have these things and want this experience, I bet I know where you can access all of it to rent out for a weekend!

Element #1:  Gorgeous backdrop.

My parents have a house in the country on beautiful land.  They got this little archway to put up and surrounded it with flowers and bales of hay for guest seating.

This huge planter is an upcycled old satellite dish.  Genious?  I think so. 

If you time it right, you can get some great sunset photos.

Element #2: Mason jars, mason jars, mason jars.

Mason jar lights hanging in the trees, twinkling to light up the pathways and line the property as it got dark.

Mason jars filled with cake.

Element #3:  A family who gets involved in all aspects.

Brothers, sisters, in-laws, cousins, nephews, friends...people willing to pitch in and clean, bake, organize, rearrange seating, make an occasional emergency batch of coleslaw, create table decor, and anything else that needs to be done.

A sister who home brews brought two kegs:  one of Caribou Slobber and one of Breakwater Ale.

A brother who is an A/V genius.

A photographer sister.  In this case, the bride...so she developed an incredible way to capture images even though she wasn't able to be the one taking the images: an outdoor DIY photo booth!  It was a huge hit - these pictures were taken long after the sun set:

Element #4:  A plan for the end of the event.

Since this really was out in the country, my parents arranged for a bus (yes, a big yellow school bus) to drive guests from the hotel about 45 miles away to the wedding and drive them all safely back at the end of the evening.  No worries about people driving after having a beer or two.  Everyone got home safely, and as the bus pulled out onto the country road, the event cleanup got underway.