The reception will not take place until 6:00pm, and since the ceremony is at 1:00pm, there will be a 4.5 hour gap between the two. In the interim, we (the bridal party, our closest friends, and our family) will be taking a ride in a Victorian-style trolley for approximately 30 people. It is a replica of one of the old San Francisco trolleys. I want everyone to have a good time, not just the bridal party. We will ride around, stopping at some of the historic places for pictures (one is a gazebo overlooking a small riverfront) and a few historic houses. The final historic house on the tour will have a light luncheon for all and old-fashioned music playing on an organ by one of the historical society volunteers, if available. The volunteer will also inform our guests about life in the 1890s and will have clothing and artifacts for the guests to view, along with the furniture, etc.

We will return tothe chapel (our starting point for the trolley), and then proceed to the hall for the reception.

The interior of the reception venue is all in wood, with a crystal ball suspended from the ceiling, 2500 square feet of dance floor (I love to dance and hate a small dance area). The food will be buffet-style (we have yet to decide on the menu). After dinner, the all-night fruit, cheese and dessert buffet will be open.

Centerpieces will be hurricane lamps with teal-colored candles, surrounded by a ring of silk roses and assorted flowers, with a 12"x12" mirrored square to reflect the light. There will be two lighted water fountains with teal-colored water on each side of the bridal table.

The favors for guests are roses made of two Hershey kisses on long silk stems, wrapped with red foil to give the appearance of being actual roses. With supplies from a craft house, the bridal party and I will be making these. There will also be small bells for the guests to ring to signal that we should kiss.

Music will be provided first by a close professional musician friend, who will use his synthesizer equipment to play songs of the "gay nineties" and will wear a red-and-white striped shirt with a red garter and straw hat. From 9:00pm to 1:00am, a DJ will play music from 1900 straight through to 1998, including all the popular tunes from each decade. He, too, will be dressed in "gay nineties" style, as will the photographer.

There will be a photographer, one of my good friends will videotape, and there will be cameras on the tables for guests to take pictures.

The cake will be a three-tiered double Dutch chocolate cake with raspberry filling. (Dan and I are chocoholics.) It will have a gazebo cake top with bride and groom figurines inside. My seamstress even took scraps from my dress and added a bustle, painted the figurines' hair, and gave the groom a cream-colored tuxedo, so they would resemble us. There will also be a bride's and a groom's cake, with a fountain underneath each and a cameo on each cake.

We will also do a grand march to some high-stepping Civil War tunes -- I want my guests to get involved as much as possible.