Need some candid opinions here......our wedding (in April) will be on a Saturday evening and while rather "traditional" (at our church with reception at a hall), we are both 2nd-timers with a total of 6 kids between us and are trying to come up with creative and personal touches to our wedding and reception that will keep the feel elegant/formal but not stuffy or uncomfortable. We are doing things like incorporating personal items that are memorable from special points in our lives into our decorations, invitations, music, etc., having a small table with special items of loved ones that have passed (both our dads, my son, etc), and we were thinking of doing a very eclectic buffet style spread later in the evening after the wedding (8pm-ish?) in lieu of a full course sit down meal. We are thinking of serving favorite family recipes and the like to make it totally personal and yumm-o for our guests who mostly will know and recognize the foods as these items are typically what we and our families get asked to bring to functions, etc. So far we've come up with "Uncle Joe's sweet n sour meatballs", my FI's "Calico Beans", "Aunt Michelle's Corn Casserole", "Granddaddy's Green Beans", "Grandma's Fruit Salad", and maybe a Build-Your-Own-Taco setup (this was our first meal together with both our families). Anyway, how weird and potentially awful does this whole thing sound? Basically my main MO is to have the whole she-bang be personal, meaningful, fun, a lil off-beat, but still keep our guests happy and comfortable. So gals.....let me have it......weird? wonderful? would it turn you off if you attended a wedding like this? I need fearless opinions and clever ideas.....a BIG THANKS to anyone who RESPECTFULLY replies! Hugs to all my fellow brides and brides-to-be!!!!