Including Others

My previous post discussed the seasonal challenges of event planning, but another challenge is how to plan your event so that it reflects you while also including and accommodating other special people.

Most brides have spent at least a few years thinking about and planning the details of their special day, but many brides often forget the fact that they will have to include input from others, specifically, the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom.

A friend of mine faced two challenges.  One challenge was that her mother and the groom’s mother were not friendly with each other.  The other challenge involved the fact that the groom’s mother wanted the wedding to be a large, formal, church event.  In order to circumvent inevitable tension, the groom planned the entire wedding, and he planned it as a Vegas event.  However, his mother was allowed the opportunity to plan a special post-wedding reception in the couple’s hometown.  This same friend has a brother who is currently planning a destination wedding at Walt Disney World.  In order to include guests who are unable to make the trip to the actual wedding, the bride’s mother is planning a special engagement reception.

It is inevitable that with all of the planning a wedding entails that someone is bound to feel ignored or even offended, but the truth is, with compromise, most interested parties can be involved as much as they want to be.  It is also important to note that the compromise does not have to be a costly one.  The mother who is planning the special engagement reception is planning an informal backyard barbecue which is a less expensive solution to the engagement party issue.