Planning a Wedding with Family

Q: I would like to have advice from my family and have my close relatives involved in the planning of my wedding, but how do I cope with different ideas from different people and whose idea should I take?

A: I think it's great that you're open to the ideas of your family. However, I do agree with you... it can become quite difficult to determine which idea to be utilized, and to do so without hurting anyone's feelings can surely prove to be a challenge! Firstly, I think you should hear everyone out. If you're open to receiving ideas, you should make yourself open to all ideas so as not to offend anyone. Without a doubt, you'll hear some great ideas, and some not so great ones. I think the best way to determine which idea to take is to really follow your gut feeling. After hearing everyone's ideas, choose the one that best suits the theme of your wedding and best fits into the "ideal" picture that you've created for your wedding day. The other thing you can do, is to allocate a job to each person. For example, you can ask your mom to help you with the florist, your sibling to assist with the selection of the photographer, etc. That way everyone is involved in some way, but ultimately the decision is yours. Let them all know that you value their opinions, but that you're the one that has to make the final decisions.