Sharing the day with family

Part of the driving force behind who I'm inviting to the wedding is thinking about who in my life I need to thank....and I have a lot of people I want to thank. It's a mixed blessing, for sure.

I'm not a very expressive person unless an occasion calls for it, so I'm making my wedding an occasion to recognize those people in my life who have made a significant impact, especially during the really rough times in my life when I needed their friendship and support the most.

The only problem is that I can't actually SAY the words out loud. I am a big crier and the words would never make it out of my mouth. Instead, I'm trying to think of subtle ways to include them in the day...small ways of showing them how much I appreciate them and how fortunate I am to have them in my life.

The wedding slideshow is one way of visually showing my progression in life and the people who've been involved along the way.

But I've also thought about printing up a bunch of pictures, at least one of me with each person I'm inviting. On the back, I'll write their name and a little message to them, or one of my favorite memories of them, and of course a thank you. I'm thinking about stringing up a clothesline across the windows and hanging each picture up with clothes pins.

It would look a little bit like this:

http://www.thingsworthmaking.com/2009/04/making-original-art-for-big-event.html

This couple used the clothesline idea for a photo timeline....which is another good idea too...hrmm...