We have the bulk of our wedding weekend plans set, with room for a few tweaks if necessary. We can't really "budge" on the budget, but I think if any changes need to happen, it's in the coordination of events. Here's the run down and I hope you all can pick it apart nicely and point me in a better direction if necessary:
Venue/ Lodging: Our venue is out of the area for us and 90% of guests (Same state but 90 minute drive to the mountains) ... All family on his side and half of mine has to fly in from out of state and my other half has anywhere from a 3-6 hour drive. The venue has lodging as part of the wedding package for 2 nights. We reserved an additional 2 nights on our dime. All wedding party and family who have to travel AND a few friends who are helping with key parts of the event are being given free lodging.
Rehearsal is the night before the wedding at 4pm. Wedding party includes all OOS family, so they'll already be there. One BM who is local will have to take off work (her choice, if she can). The rehearsal dinner we are having at the venue, catered by a taco vendor, cooking/serving on site, very casual, and we're inviting all of the guests and family who are staying with us to be included, in addition to the wedding party.
Wedding day: wedding party members will have the morning thru about noon to themselves, then guys will meet in one room and girls will meet in my room to get ready. We have nothing we are demanding of them that day (set up, last minute DIY projects, dessert table).... everything will be done by the moms and friends who have offered (which is in part why we're putting them up for free).
Guest arrival / pre-wedding cocktail hour: We have a limited bar (beer and wine) planned for the reception dinner and I'm afraid if we fully open the bar for the arrival hour, we'll run out of drinks at the reception. My idea is to serve only a limited amount of beer and soda/water/tea for the arrival hour.
Reception: To allow maximum use of seating since we're at the limit, we're going to create 2 picnic areas for all of the kids ages 8-16, all of whom know each other. Girls area separate from boys. This will free up 2-3 tables for adults and allow the kids to run amok. There will be games and things for them to do before during and after dinner. The entire itinerary for the afternoon is relaxed, so kids running around won't cause any issues.
Registry: We have already lived together and this is not a first wedding for either of us. We were not going to register anywhere but we got tons of grief from a few people early on at that idea, so we decided to do a small registry at 2 places, but we are not including that info in any part of the wedding website. They'll have to ask directly and then we extpect that detail may spread by word of mouth.
In any of this, is there any glaring mistake that should be pointed out? We're trying to have a very relaxed fun non-wedding event feel to our day. No bouquet toss, no garter toss, no father daughter dance. Just BBQ, music, lost of desserts, open bar, etc.
Any suggestions are appreciated. 