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I’ve been very busy these last several weeks Planning a Simple Wedding at Home for my daughter. It’s been wonderful spending the extra time with her planning and shopping for her wedding. They decided they both wanted an intimate wedding at home with just immediate family. 

March 10th is the date they picked to have their wedding ceremony. At the time it gave us about five weeks. My daughter Jen wanted it stress-free. To me, stress-free means keeping it simple, so that’s what we did.

1. Marriage License: I suppose this would be the most important part of the planning. In our, state we go to our county office for the license. We live in Montgomery County our Marriage License Bureau is located on the Second floor of the Montgomery County Courts Building, in downtown Dayton, Ohio. The fee is $75 and it is valid for 60 days.

2. Minister, Justice of the Peace, or an elected official who performs marriage ceremonies. Most marriage license bureaus will give you names of people willing to perform weddings. My daughter chose Paster Bottles, Him and his wife are dear friends of mine.  It made the ceremony extra special.

Paster Bottles and Chris (the groom).

3. Choosing a Dress for the bride and the remaining wedding party: My daughter wanted a simple long white dress. We checked out a couple local bridal shops. She couldn’t find anything she liked. We decided to go to the mall and see what we could find. We looked in a couple department stores and didn’t find anything she liked. As we were walking around the mall we came across a store I had never seen before. Not that I ever go to the mall, it’s been years since my last visit. Anyway, we came across this store that looked like a fairy princesses closet. Seriously! They picked all the guys clothes up at Kohls, getting unbelievable deals like you can always get at Kohls! Love that place!

I did Jen’s hair and makeup. We splurged on getting a manicure.

First time for me. It was quite an experience. They lasted several weeks, it was amazing. It was a colored powder, not a gel. Afterward, it left my nails pretty in pretty rough shape, so I’m pretty sure I won’t do it again.

My pretty granddaughter Katie, Chris’s sister Holly, and my son Sean.

My cute little grandson Tyler peeking out from behind his now step-brother Nik. Tyler adores Nik more and more each day. Nik gives him so much quality time when he’s home with them. I’m constantly being amazed at what a blessing the joining of these families truly is. People come into our lives for a reason, sometimes only for a brief moment or some may last a lifetime.

4. Flowers, we went to a wholesale flower shop and got fantastic deals on beautiful fresh flowers the day before the wedding. We went to The Flowerman.  

The Flowerman doesn’t look great on the outside.

We are inside the big cooler.

You can pick up flowers

5. Decorations: The first thing we did was look up any party store in the area. We found Party City, they have a huge selection of matching tableware and much more. It’s a good size place. We bought simple gold trimmed white plastic plates with matching napkins. We also purchased a simple blue plastic tablecloth to cover the cake table.

6. Cake: We ordered a simple round cake from our favorite bakery Ele. My daughter didn’t want to spend a fortune but wanted a delicious cake. She chose a medium round white cake with whipped white frosting. Light blue trim and several blue flowers with green stems. I placed the cake on a white pedestal cake plate surrounded by baby’s breath flowers. Nice and simple.

7. Choosing food and drinks were another easy choice. My daughter loves City Barbeque. We ordered Pulled Pork and Shredded Chicken with a couple sides. It was perfect. Simple to serve and clean up.

That’s how we did it. It was a special day and it turned out perfect. Nothing makes a mother happier than her child happy, safe and loved. Plus they still live within a mile of my home. Life is good and I am blessed.