The Main Event by Memory Makers Event Planning, LLC

This is the height of wedding season. As the big day approaches, couples begin thinking about the rehearsal dinner and how to handle the logistics. The dinner may be one of the first events at which members of the bride and groom's families meet, so it should be planned with care so as not to offend.

I was interviewed by a reporter for the New York Times for an article that appeared on April 4 about the role of the groom and his family in wedding planning. Perhaps it is more common out West, but most of my grooms are involved in the wedding planning process and have been for over ten years. In many cases the couple are professionals in their late twenties or their thirties when they marry. They make all the decisions together, and often they pay for the wedding themselves with little or no help from either of their families. The reporter was surprised when I mentioned the increasing involvement of fathers of the bride in the planning. Again, that has been occurring for the last eight or ten years. The fathers seem to be particularly interested in choosing  the location/locations and the catering. Sometimes they attend a few of our meetings with merchants. In other cases, they attend them all. The increasing involvement of grooms and dads refle...