FH & I are considering a wedding in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. It's where we took our first weekend getaway, and our first vacation together. We've spent a lot of time there over the years and it has special meaning for both of us.
1. Would you consider this a DW? The ceremony site is b/w 6.5-7 hrs from us. The specific area we're considering is touristy enough (lots of historical & natural attractions, as well as water recreation such as swimming, floating, canoeing, kayaking, boating, fishing, gigging, etc.) for those who want to stay for an extended period to make a full-fledged vacation out of it, but it's close enough to most VIPs (parents, grandparents, siblings, etc.) that if they can only manage to come down for the weekend it's still within driving distance.
2. We know a few people who own property down there - one has a pavilion at a campground near where we were considering having the ceremony, the other owns several thousand acres. Both have been good friends of his family for a long time. Would it be rude to ask them if we can utilize their property? If it is, NBD, we can rent one of the state park shelters for $33/day. (We're currently looking at rain back-up options)
3. When should we send out STDs? We're tentatively planning for June 2012, my thought was early January, after all of the Christmas chaos. Possibly hand-delivering STDs to people we'd see at Christmas. I've read some people prefer earlier for DW, but I'd hate for them to get lost or forgotten about during holidays since everyone is so busy anyways.
4. For accommodations options - would it be weird if we put a campground down? (Invites, I don't think you put lodging on STDs?) I was thinking of recommending 3 options - the nice hotel, one of the motels, and one of the campgrounds with a river outfitter on-site so people have a variety of price points to look at. I could then list more elaborate information on our website. Most people who go down for vacations in the area stay at a campground (tent, RV, or cabins).
5. If we do list a campground, should we put down the closest one to the ceremony site, or the one I think they'd get the most out of during their stay? - It's only a few extra miles.
6. We're currently planning on an outdoor reception, so we'll use tables provided and rent any additional based on RSVPs. For our invites, should our max amount be based on the capacity of our rain back-up plan? (Comm. center/tent) Even if we end up using a national park shelter, we were planning on spreading out into the area directly around it, so we wouldn't necessarily be limited by the posted shelter limits - which I assume are based on the number of picnic tables present (clearing with park rangers well in advance, of course - if they say no then we have to go by what's posted.) Obviously there's also the budget to consider, but I'm referring simply to space at this point.
7. Are wedding announcements gift-grabby? I'd like to be able to let the rest of our friends/family know about the wedding and share moments with them - possibly via wedding website updated afterwards with photos/video/etc. For those who gave cards/gift I was planning on including our link again along with a photoshare site with their TYs. If we can't find other options and if the park won't let us expand into the area around us, the max for the park shelter covers us, FH's kids, our parents, grandparents, siblings, niece's & nephews (and their +1s when applicable) but doesn't even cover all of our parent's siblings + spouses, let alone cousins or friends. I suspect not everyone will be willing to travel that far, but I also know you should plan for 100% attendance because you never know!
Formerly known as flutterbride2b