Big wedding for a small town girl

Having a large wedding was never really a dream of mine growing up because I'm an only child. I had been to two or three weddings in my entire childhood. However, becoming a part of a big family WAS a dream of mine. Entertaining guests and the comfort of a large family has always appealed to me, and lucky for me, Tom has a HUGE family! Tom is one of thirteen kids in his family and he's the youngest (only unmarried) guy. His aunts and uncles are all the same and have large families so the number of his cousins is just ridiculous - in a good way. Having so many families members can be such a wonderful thing because your family (should, anyway) always be there for you. I am going to be lucky enough to marry into such a large family with wonderful people.



At first (and sometimes still) it can be overwhelming though. With such a large family, there is always events to attend. They've got birthdays every month of the year, weddings, etc. So of course in their family everyone is invited to each other's weddings.

My mother is also a child in a large family. She is one of twelve. However, most of her siblings (my aunts and uncles) only have a few kids. Still, my side of the family will bring a good number to the table as well.

More guests to think about are family friends, and Tom and I's personal friends.

This means a big wedding for a small town girl like me. We're thinking around 250 people. It also means additional struggles - finding a venue large enough, costs, and making sure nobody is left out. There will be times where my head is spinning and I'm drowning in stress, but I have vowed to myself never to forget the purpose of this all which is to be married and start my life with the one I truly love.

Have any of you had struggles adjusting to a bigger or smaller family? How has this affected your wedding planning process?