A bit of a different slant--Father of the groom shenanigans. When we got married, I bought my fiance a nice navy suit, which was quite the chore back in the day before there were lots of options for tall guys; he is/was 6'4" and 180 lbs. Anyway, I found a nice 3 piece suit in a conservative navy. My father had a nice suit in a conservative navy. I asked my future FIL to wear a nice suit in a conservative navy. At which point he went out and bought a nice suit in a conservative BROWN! I was sooooo angry at him, and since he was the best man I was convinced my dream wedding image for the guys was ruined. So, on our wedding day there was my FIL resplendent in his brown suit. I was still a tad miffed, right till we were all leaving the church and as we walked out the doors, he suddenly gave me the world's biggest hug, with the joyful comment 'now you're part of the family!' and the world's biggest smile to go along with it. He's gone now but thinking of that moment still makes me smile every time. It was a good lesson too about whats important and what's not on a wedding day. Happy memories come from what we do and say, not what we wear...have a wonderful wedding! Ann

I like the plant there, but I don't think you really need anything else. To my eye, the clock balances out the plant. I originally thought a basket or pottery jug might work, but I think it would compete with the clock and risk looking cluttered. However, if you feel you need something else to personalize the space and add a pop of color, a long, low profile sign might work, probably propped up on a plate stand or something. I think I'd try to avoid anything tall enough to obscure the trim, though. Maybe cut out paper to get a visual on what size works, then find an etsy seller who does custom work if you don't find anything you like. Here is a link that might be useful: Etsy sign (only, more colorful, perhaps)

OK.. so we gathered this morning with champagne, wine and spanx-- and tried on a total of 14 dresses all lovingly hand-picked for her. It started out with a bang with the number one pick being the first she tried on. That always makes it easier when the first one fits, right? There were only a few complete misses.. and quite a few wins. Whew! I admit that I had fears of nothing working. The super surprise is the number one pick broke all the rules. It was much shorter than she wanted (in the photo), a shape she was certain she couldn't wear (sheath) and it is a blush pink.. but it was perfect. She was smitten as soon as she saw it... Best of all, it fit her perfectly. No need for adjustments. Next favorite was this one though I need to order a size larger (or she needs to have a rib removed). It is proving tricky to find the right size.. but this also looked absolutely beautiful on her-- better and dressier than in the photo. This also fit her beautifully but the lace on the arms was scratchy. I think we are all in agreement that THIS is the color she needs for the fall wedding. We just need to find it in another dress. And while this one looked stunning (and very slimming) on her-- it's been 100% nixed because it looks like something my mother wore to one of my sister's weddings. It's a shame because it was very comfortable and really looked great on her.. but we also agreed that it's too much bling for a MOG. The hunt is now focused on that dark fuschia color. It really brought her face alive and looks stunning with the wedding colors. There are two other dresses that look great and would be perfectly fine-- but they are a tad "expected" for MOG. We're keeping one of those as a fallback. Thank you all for all of your time and your many suggestions! Oly, I know I balked at the florals but we all agree that it's perfect for the spring wedding.

I would hardly think that the happy folks at that wedding give a hoot about what others think, so titter away although some folks who did wear strapless at 61 might feel a little sad hearing it was gauche . . . I would laugh off such thoughts. I've been counterculture my whole life. My wedding dress was nice but ended up being a tad unflattering. I let it go. I had a blast that day. The worst faux paus at our wedding was we ran out of wine. We had no idea our friends were such winos! We ended up with almost a case of beer left . . . also the buffet servers packed up the leftovers pronto for taking them home themselves, leaving a few folks who wanted seconds unsatisfied . . . that was weirdly unexpected. Our volunteer sound person was kind of off the ball, he didn't utilize well the five hours of songs hubs downloaded. Also our volunteer wedding photographer was a no show. We got by with employing some last minute requests for friends to take some extra shots and share. I was disappointed in the table centerpieces, but finding something affordable was a challenge. We wanted mums but even though they were everywhere a couple of weeks prior, we had to settle for some rather sickly looking celosia. We went to a produce market right before the wedding to save money.