Before Reed Manke was ever in the picture, Janie Peckham began planning her wedding the moment she watched Father of the Bride as a little girl. It must have been her calling, because Janie made event planning her career. “Having orchestrated many weddings, it has always been my dream to have my wedding reception at my parents’ home in the country—and having two sisters who had already had their weddings at home, we ultimately had this down to a science,” says Janie. Thanks to the bride’s special eye for detail, guests swooned over the gorgeous floral displays, antique accessories, a sparkling-with-lights tent ceiling, and intricate five-tier white wedding cake.
The romantic day turned out to be the picture of perfection—but the bride’s fondest memory of wedding planning had nothing to do with the movie-inspired touches she’d planned to incorporate. She recalls enthusiastically telling a friend all about her plans for an “elegant wedding” with a “homey backyard feel”—then she paused for a brief moment, realizing for the first time the details didn’t matter. “I simply said, ‘I just want to marry him.’ ”
