Mother of the Bride
We are honored that your daughter or son has selected us as a wedding venue. With our truly all-inclusive packages, we will enable your loved one, their friends and family, to be able simply to enjoy their weekend. They will all also be able to enjoy the engagement period as well. Because of our all inclusivity and our process, we take the stress out of wedding planning. For those of us who have gone through this already with our own weddings, it’s difficult to imagine perhaps that it can be as easy as we say it is, but it is. For us moms who are used to having a lot of responsibility or have dreamed of the day our daughters get married, our packages can also be a bit off-centering because there just isn’t that much we have to do in order to make our loved one’s dreams come true.
There are, however, many ways that you can help make your daughter or son’s wedding special. Before we list some “tasks” or “things” that may be helpful to ponder, let’ just ponder what THE most important things are for you to remember:
- Your adult child may be having a lot of varied emotions, so staying positive and offering emotional support is always key
- Offer Hugs and verbal words of affirmation as to how beautiful or handsome they are because they may be uncomfortable being the center of attention
- Reminding them that the most important thing of all is that they have each other and that this is the beginning of a LIFE together, not just a day in their lives
- If other people in their lives are bringing drama to their day, such as family members or bridal party members, find direct and nice ways to help diffuse those situations on their behalf
- Keep a great attitude if the weather is less than optimal. If everyone stays upbeat in advance of such an occurrence, the couple will get through it and find, later, that it was actually very enjoyable if they had to alter their plans at all.
Here are some suggestions of things that are not included in the package but that many moms/parents find special:
- Gather family photos and memorabilia from both sides of the family to be placed out at the wedding
- Finding memorable items that can be blended into a bridal bouquet, i.e. lockets, pieces of fabric from older wedding dresses or clothing
- Asking your daughter or son to get up early the morning of the wedding for a special time with just the two or three of you: a walk, breakfast, presenting your beloved with a gift, etc.
- Making gift baskets for the houses so onsite guests have some welcome packages. Some people do just one big basket for each house; others do a small folded box per person per bed.
- Making or providing table favors for the guests. Ideas for this: jars of honey or jam or apple butter, beeswax candles, natural lip balms with the couples’ names on them, family recipe books that bring together recipes from both sides of the family, cards that highlight a charity to which you have contributed in honor of your couple and that invite others also to contribute if they so wish
- Putting together individual s’mores packets that can be used as table favors or put out at the fire pit
- Organizing a cookie bar (getting relatives to make special desserts that have been meaningful to your family)
- Throwing a “lingerie” party the day before the event
- Organizing yoga for the bridal party the morning of the event either onsite or off site, depending upon availability
- Working with the other mother or parent to make an heirloom quilt (either making it or having it made by a professional) or having guests create artistic squares at the event OR making individual cake squares that guests can decorate and then put together for a great photo before eating!
Working with an artist to create a decorative scroll and having their vows printed on them, or some sort of unique guest registry or ketubah (Jewish tradition). - Surprising them with something they thought they’d like to have but couldn’t afford: a photo booth, an artist to create a live drawing of the event, musicians for cocktail hour, a donut wall, etc.
Whatever you end up doing, remember it’s important to take care of yourself as well, i.e. get enough sleep, stay hydrated, etc. Come prepared to have fun. You will not leave a wedding at Hidden River with any war stories (sorry!)
We Specialize in All-Inclusive
At first, we thought all-inclusive meant just having all the infrastructure ready to go for the couple, so what looks like such a simply beautiful, largely outdoor wedding could be as clean and simple as the lines of the tent. There should be no hassles about getting in all the infrastructure and having it ready for your wedding. We did not want to witness a rental truck showing up at the last minute and a mom or bridesmaid, or the couple themselves, setting up chairs and tables–even mowing the yard–on the morning of the wedding. These were all things Jeanne witnessed repeatedly over the years. No wonder people were exhausted before their wedding even began…