The Party Thai

   When I started planning my wedding and reception I was really surprised at all of the selections for accessories and supplies that were available. From the wedding items available today I could have any type of wedding I want. There are accessories for seasonal themes, ethnic themes, and even country western themes.  I looked at all of them and ran a few past my fiance. We even discussed the possibility of a destination wedding, but decided against it.  There are just too many people we would have to leave off the guest list, so we had to stick close to home. We started talking about all of the different wedding scenarios and weighing the options on prices, and discovered we could get by very well financially if we have a country western themed wedding and reception. We thought about all the accessories we would need for the reception, like, picnic type tablecloths, some bales of hay, barbecue grills and mostly odds and ends for a good old fashioned country wing ding.  The more we talked about it, the more excited we both became.  None of our friends have ever done a wedding like this, and we thought that it would be a lot of fun. So, that was it.  The country wedding and reception was on!

   We made arrangements to get married in a little country church not far from home, and my fiance’s boss has a ranch that he agreed to let us use. He also said to feel free to use anything we might need. I knew he had horses, so I was thinking maybe a hayride would be a novel idea.  Now that we had the place and time, I had to start getting out the invites.  Then I went online and starting checking out all accessories from wedding cake toppers to bridesmaid gifts, and they had them all. I was really surprised at how many country western accessories they had available.  This was fantastic. There were frontier cake toppers, bride and groom cowboy hats, glass mugs shaped like little cowboy boots and so much more.  Everything was just falling into place for this reception. I was able to get everything I needed for a great western reception. There were also some pretty nifty ideas for wedding favors, groomsmen gifts and unique bridesmaid gifts.

   The ceremony was pretty traditional with our bridesmaids and groomsmen, flower girl and ring boy.  We decided to have just a normal wedding ceremony before going to our super different reception. The ceremony was beautiful and everything a bride could possibly want. But, there was one thing that wasn’t too traditional.  Instead of the bride and groom leaving the church in a limo, we left in a horse drawn buggy, and the limo driver was the best man.  Everyone then left the church and headed for the ranch where they could get ready for the reception.  We told everyone to bring a change of clothing, something appropriate for a barbecue, like jeans.

   The reception was an absolute blast, we had a country band playing, ribs, steaks and burgers grilling and long picnic tables set up with little metal buckets of wild flowers for centerpieces. The best part is everything was so affordable. This reception wasn’t gonna put us in the red. With all the great suggestions for wedding favors, decorations, and the cheap bridesmaid gift ideas, it didn’t cost us near what we thought it would.

   Everyone kept telling us all through the reception what a wonderful idea a frontier reception was and what a great time they were having.  I have a feeling people will talk about this reception for a long time to come.