Involving the family

Mine haven't shown any interest at all. Only my grandma who lives out of state has shown interest. I just keep her in the loop via text and email.

Some of the out of state family were interested in the planning, and they are the ones I kept in the loop. We had to make several adjustments due to us assuming certain people would want to participate, and they didn't. The ones who did, all gave speechs at the reception. Each had a special task too. Like my husband's best woman participated in tying our Handfasting cord. It depends on your style and how much interested they show.

My mom has passed but I do have a stepmom (she & my dad have been together 30 yrs) plus his mom. I’ve included his mom in as much of the planning process as possible (food tastings, venue tours, etc). However, I completely forgot to include my stepmom- I felt like a complete idiot when it dawned on me! So I asked her to help me shop for fake flowers to help make bridesmaids’ bouquets & an arrangement for the top of the gazebo where the ceremony will take place. I’ve also sent individual texts to get opinions on dress colors for bridesmaids.

My parents live out of state, so we just had a lot of talks and emails.

It's a balance of keeping them in the loop and not inundating them.