Bridezilla & Color Questions

It is official. My dad is a Bridezilla.

Yesterday afternoon he offered for me to just make a few choices on the things I definitely wanted input on (the dress, the colors...the groom), and then he and my sister would just take care of the rest.

I'm not kidding.

In all seriousness, I know that my dad says these things out of love. He always thought I would be the daughter to 'break the bank' with my wedding. Turns out, he thinks I want a Wal-Mart wedding. Yes he used that exact descriptor. Wal-Mart. His concern now, is that I'm going to be to cheap on the wedding and he "doesn't want to be associated with a half-ass event".

Apparently the thought of having my wedding and reception on the Air Force Base, makes it Wal-Mart....Or in my father's words, "just not what I had pictured for you".

My father has something like this pictured for me.

I've been to and in a lot of weddings. I enjoy them and I totally understand the appeal. But my dad and I are coming at this from two different perspectives. He is more concerned about what people will expect coming to a wedding of his daughter, and less about what actually works for *R* and I.

I would be willing to concede on a lot of the issues, except he keeps expanding the guest list. *R* and I wanted about 75 people to attend. My dad upped it to 150, and now he keeps saying 150 to 200. Neither *R* nor I even live where the wedding is going to be! Sure I will invite my high school friends, and a few from college. And my closest friends from Texas will travel in to be with me, but I'm not someone who feels the need to invite every girl I've ever known. My dad however, sees it necessary to invite every business associate he comes across.

I don't want to seem ungrateful because honestly, it's a pretty great problem to have. But it feels as though my wedding is being used as an excuse for him to throw a huge party. Which, in all actuality, is basically what they are. That being said, they are usually an excuse for the bride and groom to have the party. This however is not the case. He is looking at our wedding as his "last chance to throw a great big party".

We wanted a small wedding with about 75 people, my dad has now upped it from 150 to 200. We wanted a DJ, he wants a band. We wanted to have it on base, he is now researching the cost of tents because he wants to have it in his backyard. (An excuse to show off his house)

My dad is absolutely wonderful and beyond generous. He DOES have great taste, and I do want him to be happy with our wedding. But it's just really starting to frustrate me.

If he wants to plan a wedding so badly, why doesn't he just get frickin' married again!
Grrrr....

Anywho, I DO have some ideas of my own, as follows.

So *R* is going to wear his mess dress which is Navy blue and white tuxedo shirt with a black cumberbun. I'm not sure how many groomsman will be military or civilian so it will probably be a mix-match of tuxes and uniforms. So I was trying to come up with a color scheme that works with a lot of Navy.

Here is my favorite thus far: Navy & Coppery tones

The wedding is probably going to be late this summer or early fall, and my concern for the Navy & Copper is if it's to dark for a late summer wedding.

For flowers, I would do mainly white, put with a few pops of color to keep it bright and make it stand out against the dress.
Same idea, just a bit brighter: Navy & Rust

My main concern for this color palette is that my sister told me she would execute me if I put her in a yellow dress and orange is SO not a color I would every force someone to wear. Also, Navy isn't easy for a bridesmaid dress either, especially since I would never find the "right" color Navy to match his uniform. But still, the color palette in general is very pretty.

I don't want the wedding to be too matchy-matchy. But to feel like everything just kind of flows together.

I went to a wedding once where there was so much Tiffany Blue I thought my head was going to explode. By the time I walked into the reception everyone was joking that "Okay, Okay we get it! Tiffany Blue...You like Tiffany!" That is not what I'm going for.

So what do you guys think? Do you like the navy and copper? Is it too dark for a summer wedding? What about other suggestions?

Has anyone out there been to a military wedding where half the groomsman wore uniforms and half wore a tux? I think it's going to look weird, but *R* is being stubborn on the issue. I suggested that all the groomsmen, even the Airman, wear tuxedos and for him to be the only one in uniform.

Okay, there it is, what do y'all think?