As expected, there are a couple of last minute changes for the weekend plans. We're scaling back the number of people who will be involved in pictures at the home of the Salters' family friends, the Rosenbergs. Originally we were thinking of having as many as 15 people there, but we decided that was too many people to ask the Rosenbergs to host. So we're keeping it to the wedding party and parents and Larissa's Gramma (9), and having the rest of the pictures with family at Lakelands.

The change means that my house will be a bit crowded on Friday. We'll have the wedding party and parents and Gramma getting ready here (9), and Sandy Southern to help with hair and Shana Hobbs to help with makeup (2). My step-brothers, Roger and John, will be staying here by then, and Roger's wife Sharon will be arriving Friday morning (3). I'm also expecting my step-mom's god-daughter, Grace, and her husband, Steve, to arrive on Friday (2). It's also possible that my brother's family (3) will be hanging out here. So there could be as many as 19 people in my little house on Friday. Feeling like the old lady in the shoe! :-)

My parents also want to do a breakfast thing on the Monday morning after the Chinese banquet in Columbus. Fortunately, Larissa's parents hadn't made any plans to be back in Michigan early Monday.

To be honest, none of these "surprises" were really unexpected. There are ALWAYS last minute surprises in a wedding, and as far as last-minute surprises go, we're getting off pretty easy (so far!).

One twist that we've added on our own is how we will mark the path of the bridal processional. We've intentionally kept our wedding party very small - only a best man (my brother Gene) and a matron of honor (Larissa's good friend Amanda). No flower girls, no ring bearers, no other bridesmaids or groomsmen. However, we do want to mark the short path that Larissa and her father will follow as they leave the clubhouse and walk out onto the grounds of the golf course for the ceremony. For aesthetic reasons, and to minimize the impact on the grounds, we chose to use rose petals to mark the path. But how to do that without (1) having the guests walk all over them as they are seated, or (2) adding a flower girl to the bridal processional? Our solution - have small bags of rose petals on the aisle seats of each row, with an invitation to be a part of the ceremony by scattering those rose petals in the aisle just before the bridal processional.

So all of you loyal readers of this blog have heard it here first - if you want to have a small (but very appreciated) part to play in our wedding, get there early and get seated in one of those aisle seats!

We're still excited, we're still pretty calm, and we're looking forward to seeing everyone very, very soon!