Overview of the Wedding Concept

So, here's the plan (as it is in our brains) for the wedding.

We want to rent out a large portion of a state park in Mississippi the weekend before Christmas. We'll have cabins for those who want the amenities, RV and camper spots for those who would prefer, and tent camping for the really brave. Then, for the wedding, we'll have a cabin for everybody to get ready in. Oh, and there's a hotel at the edge of one of the parks for those who would prefer (and those who don't fit into the cabins). We're hoping (if everybody's plans work with this) that the wedding will be the Saturday before Christmas, but the festivities will start Friday for all the guests, but Thursday night for the wedding party.

I want to have the wedding party all arrive on Thursday night (but if we find out a lot of guests will be arriving on Thursday, then maybe Wednesday night). That night, I want to have a wedding party gathering where we bribe people with food to help us with the finishing touches on those very last details. Then, I'm thinking maybe some hot cocoa and roasted marshmallows around a fire. I want this time, more than anything, to be a chance for us to show our thanks to the entire wedding party.

Friday, we want to have a few fun events set up for the guests who arrive early. The park(s) we're looking at (Clarko and Roosevelt, but leaning more towards Roosevelt) have mini golf and hiking trails. I'd also like to look into a few of the other local attractions and services. Perhaps we could set up a spa time for the women. (I'll nail down more on this when I get around to the surveys I'll be sending out.) Then, Friday afternoon, we want to do the rehearsal and then have the rehearsal dinner (grilling/fajitas/something to that effect) at one of the pavilions and open this up to everybody who's there, not just the wedding party.

Saturday will be the wedding and reception. Still not certain on the food, but we're working on it.

Then Sunday, we want to do a thank you brunch for the guests who have come in from all corners of the earth before we disappear for a day or so.

Now here's where it gets questionable. When we leave on Sunday, we're expecting the majority of our guests to do the same since it's so close to Christmas. But, we're also hoping to spend Christmas with our entire family. We were originally thinking about letting go of all the cabins except maybe one or two; but we're not sure just yet. We still have to find out if everybody would be content entertaining themselves in the middle of nowhere for, say, three days before we return to celebrate Christmas.